Gadgetory

there are plenty of wireless routers out there that are not particularly easy to set up for first-timers especially if you take advanced functionality for tomorrow's connected home environment but what if there was an easier way to connect a variety of devices while still keeping class-leading speeds the dark bass 900 maybe the most innovative case of the year with a built-in Qi charger interior lighting tempered glass that can be installed on either side and a fully modular interior that can be inverted if you so desire be quiet stepping up their game check it out in the description below google's onhub router claims to do exactly that and also promises to support both future and current wireless devices it does so by using an eco system that can be easily upgraded and expanded as time goes on it basically evolves as technology becomes available since its features set already incorporates things that are even broadly available yet the on hub is nothing new since it has been available for the better part of a year now actually I'm reviewing it today since some pretty serious firmware updates have just been pushed through which have changed and upgraded a bunch of things that includes better integration for home automation applications as I go through this review it is important to remember that the on hub isn't supposed to be a router the networking veterans love like some Linksys routers with DD VRT Flamm where rather it brings advanced setup options down to a more user-friendly level without the need of ton of knowledge Google calls it a new way to Wi-Fi so let's see if it's true priced at $200 the onhub certainly isn't inexpensive but its exterior design looks like a piece of artwork rather than an obvious networking hub of course there are less expensive options from Netgear a SUSE d-link etc that are there but not them look quite so good the onhub i have is a collaboration between Google and tp-link so coming from a respectable brand I'm expecting good things there's also another variant of the onhub made by hey-zeus which features a proximity sensor that allows you to boost Wi-Fi speeds to a particular device by simply passing your hand over its top I really want to try that out let's dive into the design of this huh like I mentioned before this is a beautiful piece of artwork which was expected since Google has always been about simplifying things to make them look sleek and elegant remember the Nexus Q it may not have been successful but it sure looked great on top of that they want the user experience to supposedly be less of a hassle once you plug everything in you're supposed to just be a few steps away from being connected across every device in your home if that's true Google may be onto something here the device itself stands on top of an aluminum base and the router shell is removable inside is where you'll find ventilation for all the antennas and other components if you don't prefer the blue shell Google offers limited edition shells that may suit your tastes I happen to score the bamboo variant and it looks even better let's touch base on the specs this version of the onhub has a dual core processor four gigabytes of emmc flash one gigabyte of memory Wireless support for a toe 2.11 a/b/g/n and a c-13 high performance Wi-Fi antennas and Bluetooth and ZigBee antennas that all means the five gigahertz band can take up to 1300 megabits per second whereas the 2.4 gigahertz band can do 600 megabits per second so all in all this means today's spec requirements but why should you consider switching your existing router to the onhub you might find the answer to that question at the end of this video since most of its best selling features are actually software related on top of the router you'll notice an ambient LED ring which indicates the current status of the router blue indicates that the on hub is ready for setup 2 means that it's on and active and finally amber means that there's something wrong and you should check the Google on app for details I need to point this out before I move on to the setup process this router only comes with a single outgoing LAN port that can be connected to an external device and that is strike one for me because my workstation PC my inner home phone and my Philips hue bridge are all wired to the existing router so if you intend to wire multiple devices to the on hub or using it as a wired hub you may need to look elsewhere I will be connecting the on hub to my existing butter to just have its features oh and there's also a USB port that Google still hasn't made functional the setup process was pretty simple for the on hub I plugged in power the included Ethernet cable and install the Google on app which is available for both Android and iOS the built-in speaker on the router produces an audio signal and once the phone recognizes it you're on to the next step to set up the Wi-Fi name and password talk about simple taking a closer look at the app it's a clean user interface that is meant to be the starting point for your interactions with numerous devices that are potentially connected to the on hub you're greeted with the overview tab that displays a virtual map of the number of devices connected to the hub when expanded it displays real-time stats of the devices and you can prioritize the Wi-Fi traffic to any one of them for up to four hours you can also perform a speed test within the app which is a nice touch sliding over to the Wi-Fi access tab you can set up a guest network plus you can review and share your password through Twitter text what's that email you name it but it's probably not a good idea though moving on to the settings portion which is more advanced but it's pretty simple actually you can adjust the brightness of the LED ring set the device mode to either NAT or branch that basically acts as a wireless router whereas bridge extends the range for your existing network but there are limitations to that first you won't be able to set up the priority devices DNS and when things can be edited you lose guest Wi-Fi it could also hinder Wi-Fi speeds and finally you'll be unable to pair home automated devices to the hub there's also the option to restart and factory reset the on hub the advanced networking sections lets you play around with DNS and when settings the latest addition to the on hub is the integration of home control within the app as you can see I've paired my Philips hue bulbs to the app and I can directly control the lighting but the features are limiting compared to the proprietary hue app why is this such a big deal the answer actually lies within the routers name on hub in this case the hub is a central part of an ecosystem that can control devices connected to it Google is working with companies like nest August and various other home automating companies to directly integrate their control features into need on app this is a smart idea to be honest because you wouldn't need to switch from app to app to adjust settings which could be a hassle sometimes being able to control all devices at the same time is a more convenient and viable solution I also want to touch base on if' tt-this essentially lets you create simple commands to automate basic tasks to smart devices in your home so how do you use this feature log on to ifttt.com slash on hub and create an account once that's done link your existing on hub to the account and start creating recipes or actions you want to perform in my case I've created two basic commands from my Phillips hue bulbs I do need to point out that my phone is the primary source of communication for example I've set up an action that states that if my phone disconnects from the on hub then turn off my studio lights and vice-versa just simple as that but I wished for an option where I could have enabled the setting during the night since triggering the lights on during the day wouldn't make any sense you can also do things like turn off air conditioner and lock the main door while your phone disconnects from network this dis assume you have compatible devices to make this happen but like I said before this might post security risks depending on your region and where you live but the best part is that all these devices can start talking to each other through the onhub router and you'll get notified instantly if something goes wrong think of the onhub as a spider at the center of a web of connected devices for now and into the future I'm fascinated by the way how technology changes from time to time stepping back to the era where Wi-Fi changed the way how we connected our mobile devices to the Internet and now we're connecting lightbulbs speakers TVs air cons and various smart devices to the cloud to enrich our lives at its best and the key to all of this is software and I think that IFTTT is just the beginning but there are a few limitations if you experience power outage your network will be down unless if you have backup but all in all you won't be able to monitor your devices from your smart phone and then there's the price I'm bet most of you will require a router with at least four LAN ports and the onhub certainly can be on your list I believe that the on hub was designed as a true proof of concept a product that shows to developers that it is entirely possible to have a smart secure and easy to control home automated service right at your fingertips when Google launched this last year developers started working right away to improve its performance and integrate home control to the app now with IFTTT support all you need are things like a smart thermostat smart home security cameras and smart lightbulbs basically anything that can be connected to the Internet and the good news is that if you browse through various recipes within the IFTTT website most smart connected devices are compatible and I do see myself using these features on a regular basis what do you guys think about this router in fact is it even worth calling it a router even though the honor features router like specs to me it's just an extension to my existing router and I want to hear your thoughts on home automation perhaps are you willing to jump onto the ecosystem now let us know in the comments down below i'm ebar with hurricane axe thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one