Whether we accept it or not, we all are short-tempered when it comes to a poor Wi-Fi connection. Be it chatting with friends, surfing for important information, sending official e-mails, or downloading videos – we want it all in a matter of seconds. Keeping our needs in mind, Google released their first OnHub router in August, which promises a fast and secure Wi-Fi connection. Google assured this to be the first in a series of routers designed to be easier to set up and use. And there we go; today Google launched the second router in this series – ASUS OnHub. Now this newbie has been created in partnership with ASUS, which justifies its name. It is the same as the one made by TP-Link with a few interesting and innovative features.
Let’s get on to the design first. ASUS OnHub is a tall cylindrical-shaped router with a base that is much wider than before. The base tapers off as it gets taller. One main difference in the appearance is the now-signature OnHub LED ring, which is imprinted at the bottom and no the top. Now let’s move on to the specifications of the device. This is a dual-band AC1900 Wi-Fi router, which has one Gigabit LAN port and one USB 3.0.It supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz network connections. The top speed on the 5GHz band is up to 1,300Mbps and on the 2.4GHz band is up to 600Mbps. This newbie has a built-in Bluetooth and supports the Home Automation wireless standard. If you are a fan of the first router in the series, then you will notice a few similar specifications.
As far as setting up the ASUS OnHub is concerned, you will obviously require a live Internet connection and an Android or iOS portable device. Now if you are wondering what is so new and innovative in this newbie, let’s answer that question for you. This router has a preinstalled Wave Control feature that lets you boost the Wi-Fi speed for a particular device with just the wave of your hand. Yes, you just need to wave your hand over the top of this router to uplift your Wi-Fi speed. It’s that simple. However, what’s unclear is that if several devices are using the Wi-Fi connection, how will the router identify the device you need to prioritize?
As far as managing the router is concerned, the Google OnHub control app currently lets you give priority to a device on your network for a certain amount of time. How? By selecting the device. Setting up a default device to get boosted when using the Wave Control feature might be possible. But nothing is confirmed as of now. One thing is confirmed though, and that is the price of the ASUS OnHub. This router costs $219.99, which is definitely not cheap. The price is double that of many AC1900 routers and $20 more than the previous model. However, it is a good option for people who are into the hand wave thing.
Google has also confirmed the release of the first firmware update for its OnHub router. One of the updates will be the Smart Antenna feature, which will intelligently select the best combination of antennas in the device’s 360-degree array to deliver a stronger signal. The update will download and install automatically. So folks, if waiting is not your cup of tea, then the ASUS OnHub is available for presale as well and will ship sometime in November.
Source: CNET
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