How PowerLine adapters work in a network.
(Credit: D-Link)If you want to take your network connection to a far corner of the house where the wireless signal can't reach, the best way to get this done is with a pair of PowerLine adapters. These little devices basically extend the network connection through the electrical wiring of the house and turn any power socket into a network port.
Generally, you need at least two adapters to make a PowerLine connection. Each adapter can be plugged into a wall power socket and each also has a network port. Once plugged in the wall socket, the adapters will have power and will transmit the data signal between the two.
D-Link recently released its next-generation PowerLine HD Network Starter Kit the DHP-303, which comes with a green twist. The kit includes two adapters that are equipped with D-Link Green Technology. This allows them to detect data transmissions to automatically power down when idle.
PowerLine adapters generally use very little energy and this kit is the first I've seen that's designed to even further reduce the power usage.
D-Link's new PowerLine HD Network Starter Kit
(Credit: D-Link)Other than that, the DHP-303 kit offers similar features as other products from Netgear, Cisco, or Belkin. It's capable of delivering speeds up to 200Mbps, fast enough for HD media streaming. It has support for Quality of Service to help prioritize data, enable smooth video streaming, and reduce lag for gaming. It also features an easy way to create a secure connection between the two adapters. You can simply get this by pressing on a button on each of them while connected. Users of Windows Vista will also be able to view the device in the operating system's Network Map.
The DHP-303 PowerLine kit is compatible with any device that uses a regular Ethernet port, including computers, printers, set-top boxes, and game consoles. All you need to do is connect one of the adapters into the router and the other into the network device, and then plug each into a power socket.
Unfortunately, D-Link's DHP-303 adapter has only one network port. This means if you want to connect more than one network device at the remote location, you will need to get a hub. New PowerLine kits from Belkin or Cisco offer up to three or four network ports at the remote location.
To make up for this, the DHP-303 kit seems greener and more importantly, comes with a friendlier price tag of $140, about $40 cheaper than the other vendors.
Casual home users might not need something like this, but the business world will definitely want the new NAS server from D-Link.
Last week, the company announced its all-new Stack DSN-1100 iSCSI SAN Array NAS server, which offers up to 7.5TB of storage and 425MBps of bandwidth. It achieves this high throughput speed thanks to IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregate Groups technology that combines the speeds of the device's four Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The new DSN-1100 NAS server.
(Credit: D-Link)The NAS server include five bays, each of which can take a 3.5-inch SATA (or SATA-II) hard drive of up to 1.5TB. The company says that the bays will be able to accommodate higher-capacity drives after a new firmware update. These hard drives can be configured to RAID 0, 1, 1+0, and 5.
The DSN-1100 features an embedded, user-friendly IP-SAN Device Manager, a suite of utilities that allows monitoring and control via the Storage Management Initiative-Specification command set. Users can also remotely configure and monitor their SAN storage subsystems.
Thanks to its internal 10Gb iSCSI SoC configuration, the DSN-1100 can handle more than 80,000 input/outputs per second.
Other features of the new NAS include:
- Compact Cube Chassis for easy office placement (10.7 inches high by 6.6 inches wide wide by and 10.2 inches deep.)
- 200-watt power supply
- CHAP authentication to halt intruders
- SSL security to manage the console
- Up to 72 hours of battery backup on full charge
- VLAN zoning for traffic segregation to secure access and jumbo frames
- Highly integrated, multi-core SoC for greater power efficiency
The new DSN-1100 NAS server is available now with the estimated price of $1,799.99.
The 450Mbps TEW-773GR from Trendnet is fast.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)Before I begin, let me say this one more time: The 802.11n wireless specification (or Wireless-N, which is currently still in draft state and therefore is also known as Draft N) is a wireless networking standard that offers speeds up to 300Mbps. That is a lot faster than the previous and popular specification 802.11g (or Wireless-G) ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
D-Link DIR-685: When wireless routing is just part of the job
D-Link's Xtreme N DIR-685 wireless router.
(Credit: D-Link)During 2008, I complained about all of D-Link's wireless routers, such as the DIR-825 or the DIR-855 because of their common, old-school, bulky designs. Thursday, however, I was more than impressed by the all-new Xtreme N Storage DIR-685 wireless router.
It's possibly the first router that really offers a lot more than just routing.
First off, the DIR-685 is ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
D-Link's DNS-726-4 NVR Pro at CES 2009.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)The first NAS server I've run into that features a surveillance system is the Synology DS107+, and I was very impressed. Thursday, D-Link announced two NAS servers that work more like Internet-based surveillance products--or network video recorders (NVRs)--than storage devices. They are the DNS-722-4 and the DNS-726-4.
Both products are based on D-Link's two-bay ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
The SideStage add-in extension monitor from D-Link.
(Credit: D-Link)It's been just two days at CES, and I am already very tired of Alt-Tabbing and looking at my Dell XPS 1330's little screen. I sorely miss my Dell 30-inch UltraSharp LCD at home. Bragging aside, it's really hard to work with multiple little windows on a little screen, especially when I need to look at more than
...Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
I've reviewed multiple wireless routers from D-Link. Part of the reviewing process involves "trying out" the support service of the vendor, and so far, I've been happy with D-Link's customer support, which just got a boost.
The company on Monday announced a partnership with Unisys Corporation to power its D-Link Care Support Packages--a flexible set of hardware maintenance services.
Unisys--a global information technology services and solutions company--will provide service logistics and maintenance services for D-Link network device customers in North America. The support packages start at $49.99 and offers end-to-end networking and equipment coverage for managed switching, network storage, IP surveillance, and WLAN devices.
D-Link says the partnership will allow it to dispatch certified networking experts within four hours of a call or the next business day, depending on the service package.
The new DAP-2590 access point.
(Credit: D-Link)D-Link is going to the office. The company announced on Monday its first wireless-n access points for small to medium businesses. The APs offer a much larger coverage area, as well as better bandwidth, than those designed for home users.
The new APs include the AirPremier N Dual Band Access Point DAP-2590 and the Dual Band Access Point DAP-2553. They support 5GHz and 2.4GHz frequencies, as well as multiple wireless standards (a, n, and g). They also have Power over Ethernet (PoE) capability.
PoE lets the device draw power directly from the network cable and therefore be mounted where power outlets may not be readily available. The DAP-2590 is encased in rugged metal housing and is Plenum-rated, meaning it meets the fire codes for placement in air passageways.
Both new APs feature three detachable antennas to provide optimal coverage with maximum wireless signal rates of up to 300Mbps in either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless band. They also support Wi-Fi Multimedia quality-of-service features and are able to handle all data, video, and voice applications.
For security, the APs support both personal and enterprise versions of WPA and WPA2 wireless encryption with support for Radius server backend. They also implement Microsoft Network Access Protection, which restricts access based on a client PC's identity and compliance with corporate governance. Additional safety measures include MAC address filtering, wireless LAN segmentation, disable SSID broadcast, rogue AP detection, and wireless broadcast scheduling.
The DAP-2590 is available now for an estimated $410. The DAP 2553 will be available later this year with a significantly friendlier price tag of $180.
I reviewed D-Link's DIR-855 wireless router recently, and complained that it didn't offer NAS or print-serving capability. On Wednesday, the company fixed that by introducing the Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit DIR-825.
(Credit:
D-Link)
Like the DIR-855, the DIR-825 is a true dual-band gigabit router, meaning it can spontaneously offer Wireless-N signals in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. The DIR-825, however, comes with SharePort technology, which allows for turning the USB port of the router into a virtual-network USB port that supports external hard drives for NAS functionality and other USB devices, such as printers.
The new router also features D-Link's HDFuel technology, and belongs to D-Link's green family of routers. The former optimizes the wireless bandwidth for HD content, while the latter means the power used for the router's wireless signal and wired-network ports are adjustable (either automatically or manually) to conserve energy.
The best news is that SharePort, as well as other technologies mentioned above, are going to be made available this week via a firmware update to certain existing D-Link USB Wireless-N routers, including the DIR-628, the DIR-655, the DIR-855, and the DGL-4500. If you are the owner of one of these, remember to update the router's firmware.
The new Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit DIR-825 is available now for an estimated $200.
This is the D-Link DIR-855, one of the three new D-Link routers that belong to the company's Green Initiative.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)D-Link claimed today to be the first company to offer green Wi-Fi home networking. While the "first" notion of the claim is debatable--I've seen routers from other vendors with an eco-friendly design--the green aspect is more than welcome.
The company said its green initiative that adds eco-friendly features to the Xtreme NT line of wireless routers could reduce the devices' power consumption by 40 percent without sacrificing performance.
These new features cut down the power usage by automatically detecting link status and network cable length then adjusting the power accordingly. The new routers also feature Wi-Fi scheduling that allows customers to easily program when the Wi-Fi radio signals are turned on and off to further save energy consumption. Though this is not really new, many other routers allows for selectively turning off the wireless signal, D-Link has made this a lot easier to use and provides a user-selectable radio shutdown option that's adjustable by day and start/end times.
D-Link's new environmentally conscientious routers include: D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router (DIR-655), D-Link Xtreme N Duo Media Router (DIR-855), and the D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router (DGL-4500). These prodcuts are RoHS- and WEEE-compliment, meaning they are certified to be safe from hazardous materials and are made of recycled materials that could be disposed of properly. Apart from the Green upgrade, these routers also support IPv6, a much larger address space that allows greater flexibility in allocating addresses and routing traffic.
All D-Link's new routers are now available for purchase with the price varying from $150 to $350.
