wireless-n

LAS VEGAS--You'd better not leave this among the candies, at the risk of swallowing it.

TP-Link showed off at CES 2012 what is arguably the tiniest Wireless-N router yet, called the 150Mbps Wireless N Nano Router (model TL-WR702N). This router is about just the size of a square of white chocolate and looks like one, too.… Read more

LAS VEGAS - While most networking vendors intend to introduce the latest and greatest at CES, EnGenius this year focuses on something that as old as wireless networking itself: range.

Yet that might be the most important aspect of a wireless router. The company announced today at CES 2012 a new family, called Engenius XtraRange, of routers designed to offer significantly longer range and better coverage than competing products.

EnGenius says that on top of the extra range, its new routers will also provide top performance for the existing 802.11n standard, making them a good fit for "bandwidth-intensive … Read more

The WNDR3800 N600 Wireless Dual-Band Gigabit Router isn't intended to be Netgear's top-of-the-line wireless router for homes. That's the role of the WNDR4500, which makes no compromises and offers 450Mbps wireless speed on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

However, in our testing, we found that the WNDR3800 is arguably the best router among those recently announced by Netgear. For one, despite the fact that it only supports the 300Mbps standard, its real-world data rates on the 2.4GHz band are better than the WNDR4800's.

Furthermore, the WNDR3800 offers something that its big brother doesn't: it can host a USB external hard drive as a personal cloud storage option. It even comes with a piece of software called ReadyShare Cloud PC-Agent, which enables VPN-like access for the remote computer, as though the remote computer were in the same local network as the router.

On the other hand, the WNDR4500's storage capability is limited to that of a local network.

The router also offers great range and signal stability. It comes with a helpful Netgear Genie desktop application and a very easy-to-use and robust Web interface that both help novice and advanced users alike to set up and manage a network.

At a street price of around $150, it's a good choice for homes and home offices.

For more information on the WNDR3800's features and performance, check out CNET's full review of the Netgear WNDR3800 N600 Wireless Dual-Band Gigabit Router.… Read more

As I've mentioned in the past, the single best way to improve Internet performance in your home is to plug your PC directly into your router. After that, the best bang for the buck comes from ditching your old 802.11g router in favor of an 802.11n model.

And you don't need a lot of bucks to do that. Newegg has the D-Link DIR-601 802.11n wireless router for $19.99 shipped. That's after adding it to your cart and applying coupon code EMCKBGK58 at checkout.

The benefits of 802.11n are numerous and well-documented: faster throughput, better range, and stronger security options. Your mileage can and will vary depending on things like the size of your house, placement of the router, and so on. But speaking from personal experience, 802.11n blows 802.11g out of the water.… Read more

The HD Media Router 1000, model DIR-657, is the first in the Media router series that D-Link introduced at CES 2011, and it's a totally new router. At least on the outside.

Unlike previous routers, such as the DIR-655, DIR-825, and DIR-855, the DIR-657 doesn't have external antennas that stick up from its back anymore. Following the lead of Cisco and other vendors, D-Link now uses the internal antenna design, making the new router seem much more compact than previous models. The router's chassis is as sleek as many other new routers, and attracts fingerprints very easily. … Read more

Cisco announced today the availability of its first dual-band wireless bridge, the Linksys WES610N Wireless-N Dual-Band Entertainment Bridge. This is similar to the TEW-680MB from Trendnet and the DAP-1513 from D-Link.

The WES610N offers four Ethernet ports and can connect to an existing Wireless-N network, either on a 5GHz or 2.4GHz band. This means you can connect up to four nonwireless Ethernet-ready devices to an existing wireless network. The device is designed for home entertainment products, such as TV set-top boxes, game consoles, and other devices that tend to come without built-in wireless adapters.

The new Linksys bridge features … Read more

For a long time, iPad owners have complained about the device's lack of storage space. Almost overnight, they now have so many options to conveniently carry more data on the go. First came the Seagate Satellite, then the Kingston Wi-Drive. Then Hitachi announced its G-Connect. Finally, today, Maxell unveiled something of a novelty, the AirStash.

In a nutshell, this is a USB SD card reader which, like all card readers, allows users to connect an SD card to a computer and use it as an external drive. However, this is the first card reader that incorporates a Wireless-N access … Read more

Well, I was hoping to round out this week of freebies with one last $0 deal, but nothing really jumped out. I mean, hey, there's always OpenOffice.org, the awesome free alternative to Microsoft Office, right?

Today's official deal isn't free, but it's downright dirt-cheap. Newegg has the Asus RT-N10+ 802.11b/g/n wireless router for $14.99 shipped. That's the price after redeeming a $10 mail-in rebate (PDF).

Update: Sorry folks, it's already sold out. But OpenOffice isn't! And neither is LibreOffice, which several commenters have noted is even better.

I … Read more

Generally, getting a VPN for your business that allows remote users to access the local network via the Internet as though they were physically at the office means you'd need a real server or a relatively expensive VPN router. It doesn't have to be that way anymore with the RV110W Wireless-N VPN Firewall that Cisco announced today.

This is a router designed specifically for small businesses of five employees or fewer. Its built-in PPTP VPN server is limited to supporting up to five concurrent remote users. The good news is that the router is very easy to use … Read more