Google OnHub by TP-Link AC1900 Wireless Router Review

Introduction

Over the past few years, we have gone through an intense amount of routers here on TweakTown. Solutions ranging from our first look at 802.11ac with the RTA15 from Amped Wireless to some memorable solutions like the Nighthawk X6 and D-Link 890L that went outside the box regarding design. Taking this a little bit further, the Google OnHub is set to simplify wireless networking on both the hardware side and aesthetics.

If you were just to take a quick glance at the OnHub, you wouldn't think this small cylinder is a wireless router, in fact, it carries a resemblance to a small office trash can. On the hardware side of things, this router is honestly no different than many solutions we have tested, apart from one critical area that we will get to later on. With that said this solution is a 3x3 platform giving dual band capabilities of 600 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5GHz band. Additionally, the OnHub hides a few secrets inside which include a Bluetooth radio and a ZigBee SoC.

Specifications for the OnHub include from the top down a small footprint at 7.5 x 4.1 x 4.6 inches. Keeping in mind, we are looking at the TP-Link designed solution this router does not have the proximity sensor and instead opts for the front facing antenna. An ambient light ring runs around the top of this router, and when we dive right into the hardware side of this router, we have at its heart a dual-core SoC operating at 1.4GHz next to 1GB of DDR3 and 4GB of onboard eMMC flash. 8MB of NOR flash is also present on this router and while this router is clearly a unique solution it also comes in with just a single Gigabit WAN and LAN port.

The Google OnHub by TP-Link carries an MSRP of $199.99 with a two-year warranty.