802.11ac is the future of Wi-Fi, D-Link says

LAS VEGAS -- D-Link said today at CES 2012 that it fully supports and is ready for the new era of Wi-Fi that's based on the new 802.11ac standard.

This resonates with the announcements of TrendNet, Cisco, Broadcom and other networking vendors. D-Link doesn't have any 802.11ac products to demo or showcase at the show, however.

The 802.11ac standard the upgrade to the existing 802.11n specification (known as wireless N) and is considered to be the wireless standard for the "post-PC era" of data connectivity. This is because over time, the number … Read more

Power-line networking data rate to double, HomePlug says

LAS VEGAS--Your home's electrical wiring is about to get supercharged for data speed, should you choose to use it as cabling of a computer network.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance (HPA) announced today the availability of the HomePlug AV2 specification. This is the upgrade to the current HomePlug AV, used in Powerline AV 500 products such as the D-Link DHP-501AV, the Netgear XAV5001, or the D-Link DHP-540, that offers up to 500Mbps throughput speed.

HPA says that this new HomePlug technology enables significant performance and coverage for broadband networking over power-line wires while remaining fully interoperable with existing HomePlug AV-based … Read more

Verizon adds twin 'global-ready' jetpacks to its 4G LTE hot-spot portfolio

LAS VEGAS--I wish I had one of these while covering this show.

Verizon announced today at CES 2012 not one, but two, new 4G mobile hot spots: the Jetpack EuFi890 and the Jetpack MiFi 4620L. The carrier said both offer 4G cellular speed up to 12Mbps down and 5Mbps up, and are global-ready, which allows customers to use wireless data services in more than 205 countries (more than 125 with 3G speeds).

Other than that, the common features of the two also include:

Supports up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices Supports virtually all Wi-Fi clients regardless of their platform.Backward-compatible with … Read more

D-Link flagship DIR-857 router gets USB 3.0, cloud service

LAS VEGAS--D-Link's latest top-tier router almost includes a kitchen sink.

The company showed off today at CES 2012 the Amplifi HD Media Router 3000 (model DIR-857). This is the first home router on the market you'll soon be able to purchase that comes equipped with USB 3.0. On top of that, the router's included USB port now supports D-Link's SharePort cloud technology. The router is part of D-Link's cloud services strategy, which also includes the hybrid router model DHP-1565, a sub-$50 Cloud Router (DIR-605L), and a new Cloud Camera.

SharePort has always been a unique feature of D-Link USB-equipped routers that enables the router to support any USB device as though it were connected to a network computer directly. Over time this technology has evolved from allowing only one computer to access the connected USB device at a time, to multiple access, and now, the ability to share data via the Internet.… Read more

D-Link's DHP-1565 hybrid router hits the spot

LAS VEGAS--D-Link finally gets it right with its new hybrid router.

The company demoed today at CES 2012 the all-new Amplifi Wireless N PowerLine Gigabit Router (DHP-1565). This is part of the company's Cloud Services, which also includes a sub-$50 cloud router (DIR-605L) and the flagship DIR-857 that were also announced at the show.

In my opinion, the DHP-1565 is a much-needed upgrade to its first hybrid router, the DHP-1320 Wireless N PowerLine Router.

Nothing is wrong with the DHP-1320. In fact, it's a great router. The only problem is that it lacks both of what I consider "must-have" features for routers and a power-line device: Gigabit Ethernet and support for the latest 500Mbps Powerline AV standard.… Read more

D-Link Cloud router gets down-to-earth pricing

LAS VEGAS--D-Link today unveiled a portfolio of Cloud Services that includes a new router that costs just $40.

The device in question is the Cloud Router (model DIR-605L), which is basically a single-band Wireless-N router that offers a top wireless speed of 300Mbps.

Like all products in the company's new Cloud Service portfolio, it supports cloud-based management, allowing users to remotely monitor it via the mydlink portal and mydlink apps on iOS- and Android-based mobile devices.

D-Link said the DIR-605L helps bring "cloud capabilities to the masses" by allowing users to see and monitor which Web sites … Read more

Netgear Media Storage router makes Apple Time Capsule so last year

LAS VEGAS - Apple Time Capsule, Netgear is about to open a can of "so yester-year" on you!

The networking vendor announced today at CES 2012 its totally new Media Storage Router (model WNDR4700), a major upgrade to the previous version, the WNDR4500, which was the company's top-tier home router for 2010.

At a glance, the new WNDR4700's features seem similar enough to its predecessor. The new router integrates storage functionality that offers consumers backup, storage, streaming and wireless networking solution in a single package. … Read more

Thunderbolt storage now gets bus-powered with Elgato

LAS VEGAS--Mobile Mac users now can finally say goodbye to their USB or FireWire portable drives.

Elgato showed off today at CES 2012 the first bus-powered Thunderbolt drive, the Elgato Thunderbolt SSD.

While bus-powered--a feature that allows storage devices to draw power directly from the peripheral port, negating the need for a separate power adapter--has been widely popular with USB portable drives, it has been a challenge for the Thunderbolt connection. The Thunderbolt port is slated to offer up to 10 volts of power, but because parts and pieces of the Thunderbolt interface, such as the cable itself, require energy … Read more

LaCie turns Thunderbolt budget-friendly with eSATA hub

LAS VEGAS--If you have a Thunderbolt-enabled computer but just can't afford Thunderbolt storage, LaCie has something that will ease the pain.

The company showed off at the start of CES the first Thunderbolt hub that also supports an eSATA connection, called the eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series.

This is a device about the size of a portable external drive that comes with two Thunderbolt ports and two eSATA ports. Users can connect up to two eSATA drives to the hub and it will instantly make them work with a host computer via one Thunderbolt port. With the other port, you … Read more