RavPower Filehub Router (2019 version) for $56.99 at Amazon

If you’re travelling and need a quick internet connection, want to load your mobile phone or want to drag and drop photos from your camera card or mobile phone onto your stick, the RAVPower Filehub Router should be the right device for you. We’ll test if that’s true.

The RAVPower Filehub Router is designed for fast access to data such as photos, videos, etc.. You can also use the router to set up a WLAN network if only one LAN connection exists. If your laptop, mobile phone or tablet has almost no battery left, the RAVPower Filehub Router can help. It has an integrated power bank with which you can charge the respective device.

• RAVPower Filehub Router
  • at Amazon for $56.99 (activate coupon)

The scope of delivery

The RAVPower Filehub Router comes in a turquoise-blue box, which looks very modern and fresh for me. Inside is the router, a micro-USB charging cable and an english manual. The router and the USB charging cable are inconspicuously black, which provides a contrast to the modern packaging. This makes the device look very serious and valuable at first glance.

It should be criticized that the manufacturer still uses Micro-USB, while most Android users now have USB type C. iOS users go out empty-handed because no Lightning cable is included. Too bad!

Processing and Design

The RAVPower router measures 113.1 x 77.0 x 23.4 mm and is relatively small, but at 197.2 g it is quite heavy. The edges are rounded, which makes it look more modern.

The workmanship of the material is also satisfying. The plastic housing is well bonded and has no irregular gap dimensions. The rubber cap for the various connections, such as the USB loading port for loading and unloading and the mains connection, are also well finished and sit firmly in place. In addition, the SD card slot is fixed and doesn’t shake. The buttons of the router have a good pressure point, which also speaks for a good quality.

Another plus point are the different LED displays on the front side of the The RAVPower Filehub Router.

The functions of the router

NOTE: To start the network, press and hold the power button longer (5 seconds). Only then can you connect the router to your mobile phone. Unfortunately this is not mentioned in the manual!

The RAV FileHub App

If you use the in-app camera to take photos and videos, you can use the “RAV FileHub” app to store them on SD cards or hard drives and use the storage space of your mobile phone in a different way. The mobile phone must be connected to the WLAN network of the router and be within the reception range of 10 m. The mobile phone must be connected to the WLAN network of the router.

The app runs smoothly and there were no problems connecting the app to the network. Also the quality of the images didn’t deteriorate due to the transfer, so you don’t compress them. This is also a very positive finding, which speaks for the RAVPower Filehub Router.

One-button backup

To store data on the RAVPower Filehub Router, you need to connect a hard disk, USB stick or SD card. The LED “SD” will blink and you have to wait until it stops blinking. Then press the “SD-USB” button on the side for 5 seconds. When the LED flashes again, the router transfers the data from the other connected medium. The process is completed when the LED stops flashing again. Now you can access the “One-Button-Backup” via the app “RAV FileHub”.

Router Mode

If the RAVPower Filehub Router is connected to a DSL or LAN cable, it can convert the existing network into a WLAN network via the connection. Just like a normal router, you have a WLAN network by logging in and surfing the Internet.

Bridge and AP Mode

If the router is connected to an existing WLAN network, the router transmits this signal further and thus serves as an amplifier and builds up an additional network of 10 m radius (bridge mode). If a LAN cable is connected to the RAVPower Filehub Router, the signal is transmitted wirelessly, i.e. as a WLAN signal. This is dual-band WiFi with a frequency of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, between which you can choose (AP mode).

Wireless memory

You can transfer photos, videos and music directly to your mobile phone, laptop, tablet or the like via the router – without having a LAN connection. From the USB stick to the mobile phone/tablet/laptop (up to 5 devices); from the SD card to the USB stick and from the SD card to the mobile phone/tablet/laptop (up to 5 devices).

Battery life

When using 2.4 GHz, the battery of the RAVPower Filehub Router lasts eight hours. At 5 GHz the battery lasts 6 hours. This battery life is good for a device of this size. If you additionally charge a device via the power bank, the battery life is naturally reduced, as more applications are used. After charging for two hours, you still don’t notice that the Powerbank is “working”. It charges without warming up, which speaks for a low energy loss. The router makes a solid impression in the test and shows no weak points with regard to the battery.

Also the function as a power bank is given. With a battery of 6700 mAh you can charge e.g. a mobile phone about twice. But I would only use this function in case of an emergency, because the other functions also need power and the runtime of the RAVPower Filehub Router is greatly reduced if you connect a mobile phone.

Conclusion

The RAVPower Filehub Router runs really well. It does what it offers perfectly. In my opinion it is, nevertheless, with $59.99 too expensive. Many aspects play a role for me. On the one hand there is the predecessor for approx. $20 less. This can do exactly the same, has only 700 mAh less loading capacity and the layout of the app is not as mature as with the new generation, but due to the price a cheaper alternative. For daily use, the 2019 version is better as it has more loading capacity and the app is easier to use. The predecessor of RAVPower is a clear alternative for emptying the camera’s memory card a little while on holiday or using a WLAN network for a short time.