cisco

The wireless router is arguably the most important piece of computer equipment in your house, since it connects the rest of your gadgets to one another and the Internet.

Now that we're well into the new year, let's look back at the top five routers of 2011. These routers will stay relevant this year and maybe even beyond. They are a handful from among the many I reviewed last year that represent what consumers will find on the market. … Read more

What's it like to be a top manager or engineer in Silicon Valley and a woman? Google's Marissa Mayer, Flickr founder Catarina Fake, and Padmasree Warrior of Cisco Systems talked about that and more today at the CNET Women in Tech panel.

The three agreed that progress has been made, but that there's still a long way to go to get more women into the technology field.

Mayer said she believes we need to get more people interested in technology overall--men and women. Warrior said we need to find ways to keep women in the workforce and … Read more

Cisco Systems is pulling the plug on another one of its video-centric consumer products.

The communications company today acknowledged that it has ceased sales of its Umi video-conferencing hardware, which it introduced in October 2010.

"While we are ending the sale of Umi, the Umi service remains unchanged," a Cisco spokesperson told CRN in a statement. "Existing customers will continue to be able to use the service to make calls to other Umi subscribers or to Google video chat accounts."

CRN reports that the shelving of the hardware formally began last month.

Cisco originally pitched Umi … Read more

The wireless router is arguably the most important piece of the networking setup at your home or your office.

It's the central gateway that connects to the Internet, then shares that connection with all of the devices connected to it, via a network cable or Wi-Fi signal. Other services depend on the router, as well, such as file sharing, voice over IP, remote access, and VPN.

A router generally has to be on and functioning 24-7. There are thousands, if not millions, of data packages going through it every day, and you expect it to work without any hiccups. Ironically, it's also the device that most people pay the least attention to. In fact, the only time it's noticed at all is when it's not working right.

That said, it's very important to pick a router that's not just fast and feature-rich, but also reliable. Following is the list of the top five wireless routers I've reviewed this year that fit that description.… Read more

Cisco Systems released the original Linksys E4200 in January, which turned out to be a formidable wireless router.

Now as the year is ending, the company announced today the second version of the same router. And the Linksys E4200 v2 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N900 turns out to be one of the best, if not the best, router of the year.

The new E4200 v2 looks exactly the same as the original on the outside, with a sleek-looking design that looks more like an expensive jewelry box than a router. On the inside, however, it packs much more power than the … Read more

You have to give it to Cisco Systems for its perseverance.

The company, best known for supplying the guts of business and government networks, is doubling down on the tablet business with not one, but two potential follow-ups to its enterprise-centric Cius (pronounced see-us). Cisco said it is working on a larger and smaller version of the tablet for the spring and fall of next year.

Few consumers are even aware Cisco offers an Android-powered tablet, which had been in development for two years and quietly launched in August. It's a strange hybrid of a device: it has the … Read more

It's that time of year again.

If you're in the market for networking devices to upgrade your home's media-streaming capabilities, Black Friday is a great opportunity to fulfill that desire. As with everything else, not all networking devices are created equal. In fact when it comes to wireless routers, it's actually a better deal to pay the full price for one that works than getting a lemon for cheap.

But we're talking about getting the one that works for cheap here. And while I can't advise you on how great of a deal you'… Read more

A story on CNET's top tech turkeys rounded up the 2011 technology equivalents of dropping a Thanksgiving turkey on the floor right in front of a slobbering mastiff while your in-laws look on in horror.

We've had some spectacular tech fails this year ranging from the mildly disappointing (what, no iPhone 5?) to the epic (Sony PlayStation Network hack).

Hundreds of thousands of subscribers jumped ship from Netflix after it flailed around with big price increases and the stunningly ill-thought-out Qwikster spin-off. Now Netflix's stock is taking a nosedive.

RIM got red in the face after a multiday outage of the BlackBerry network that impacted customers around the world. That didn't help the company's reputation after RIM's quiet year on the hardware front.… Read more

Cisco reported a better than expected fiscal first quarter, which CEO John Chambers attributed to the company's restructuring paying dividends in a "limited capital spending" environment.

The networking giant reported first quarter earnings of $1.8 billion, or 33 cents a share, on revenue of $11.3 billion, up 4.7 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 43 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting non-GAAP earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $11.03 billion.

In a statement, Chambers said the quarter was solid. "Even in times of limited capital spending, … Read more