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The new Base Station still has only three Ethernet ports. Most routers have four.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

I finally got a chance to review Apple's first true dual-band Wireless-N router, the new Airport Extreme Base Station.

The new router, like the previous model, makes a great home router for novice and especially Mac users. It incorporates MobileMe for remote access and administration, offers fast wireless speeds, and has a very good range.

Savvy and Windows users, however, will find a lot of networking features missing, including the very popular Wi-Fi Protected Setup, the capability to filter Web sites, and access to manage the router's setting via a Web browser.

The Airport Extreme Base Station's great and eye-catching design will make a lot of you fall in love with it. However, if truth be told, it's not a router for everyone.

To find out more, read the in-depth review at CNET Reviews.

The Selectable Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WRT320N.

(Credit: Cisco)

It seems the transition to dual-band wireless networking is in full force at Cisco. The company announced Thursday three brand-new Wireless-N products that operate in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies.

Sharing the same marketing brand "Linksys by Cisco," these new media-enabled home products include a bridge, the WET610N, and two routers, the WRT400N and the WRT320N.

The WET610N Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge is designed to add high-speed Wireless-N connectivity to devices that have an Ethernet port. Examples of these devices include desktop computers, set-top boxes, game consoles, network printers, and certain models of TVs.

The new Bridge operates in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies and features built-in quality-of-service functionality that's optimized for streaming video, home theater, and gaming applications. It's available now and costs $99.99.

The WRT400N and WRT320N routers supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. However, while the WRT400N offers connectivity in both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands at the same time, the WRT320N can only operate in one band, either 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

The WRT320N makes up for this by offering Gigabit Ethernet and a better price. It costs only $129.99, while the non-Gigabit WRT400N costs $150. They are both available for purchase now.

Apart from these routers, Cisco also released awhile ago the WRT610N, which offers simultaneous dual-band and Gigabit Ethernet.

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.

Bearing the same futuristic, compact design, the WRT610N is slightly larger than the previous models of the same design.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Linksys announced its latest router today, the WRT610N, and it might just be the first router that offers everything you would want and then some.

First off, it's a true dual-band wireless router. This is important because I've run into not-so-true dual-band wireless routers before, like the D-Link DGL-4500 or the Netgear WNDR3300. The D-Link can only work in either 2.4Ghz frequency or 5ghz frequency at a time making it not so much of a dual-band router. The Netgear, on the other hand, can work in both frequencies at time, however, in dual-band mode only its 5Ghz frequency access point offers Draft N 2.0 performance, while the 2.4Ghz access point works at the old school 802.11g speed (maxed out at 54 Mbps). The Linksys WRT610N is the first I've got my hands on that offers simultaneous Draft N 2.0 dual-band. It has two separate Wireless-N access points, one uses the 2.4Ghz frequency while the other uses the 5Ghz frequency, and both can be set to operate at the same time.

The WRT610N comes fully loaded with gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port for its network storage capability

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Bearing the same sleek, internal antenna design as previous model the WRT310N and WRT110, the WRT610N has a slightly larger footprint, though overall still very compact. The little increment in size allows for a better ventilation solution, presumably to address the heat issue that I noticed in the WRT310N. The biggest improvement of the WRT610N, apart from the dual-band feature, is its USB port on the back. This port when hosts an external hard drive turns the WRT610N into a full feature network attached storage device that supports FTP server and UPnP Media Server. The router also supports high-speed wired connection with all of its ports being gigabit-capable.

The WRT610N comes with Linksys popular Linksys EasyLink adviser (LELA) software for both PC and Mac. It supports WiFi Protected Setup for quickly adding wireless clients to the network. Most impressively, it's also Linksys's attempts into "green" tech. The device is mostly made of recycled materials. For this reason, the WRT610N bears the Energy Star certification and cost only only $149, a great deal for such high-end router.

Now that's probably more than most of you would look for in a router. For me, though, I am not entirely satisfied. First, the WRT610N doesn't have a built-in print server. And secondly, I really wish they had chosen a better name for it. The device's official full name is "Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router WRT610N," and calling that a mouthful is a gross understatement. Try saying it and you will agree!

Together with the WNDR3300, Netgear recently introduced the HD/Gaming 5Ghz Wireless-N Networking Kit. The kit includes the Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge (WNHDE111). Despite the confusing name, the device itself is rather straightforward.

The WNHDE111 has the same design as the Netgear WNR834B router and that means it's bulky, actually very bulky for an access point/bridge device. But nonetheless, thanks to the internal antenna design and its vertical posture, the WNHDE111 manages to have a relatively small footprint. However, there are a couple of other things worth mentioning about this device than its appearance.

Supporting 5Ghz Draft N2.0 wireless specification, the Netgear WNHDE111 can work as either an access point or a bridge.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

First, the WNHDE111 is a 5Ghz wireless device. Since the 5Ghz spectrum is not as heavily used as the 2.4Ghz spectrum (which is shared between many wireless routers and home electronics), devices working in this frequency tend to offer much better speed and range, as well as signal stability. Secondly, the WNHDE111 can be set to work as either an access point or a wireless bridge.

In access point mode, the WNHDE111, once connected to a router, immediately creates a Draft N 2.0 wireless network that uses the 5Ghz frequency. This is a good addition to your existing 2.4Ghz wireless network. However, it doesn't help much if your network consists of only 24.Ghz wireless or wired clients. In this case, you need the second WNHDE111 working in a bridge mode. This mode allows the WNDEB111 to works in conjunction with another WNHDE111 (in access point mode) or with another 5Ghz wireless router (like the WNDR3300) to bring the wireless signal to up to two wired clients via the WNHDE111's two Ethernet ports. These clients can be computers, or any other network devices, such as TV set-top boxes and game consoles.

You can get the Netgear WNHDE111 now for about $100 ($200 for the kit), which is a reasonable price. The device is a good addition to your existing 2.4Ghz wireless network and its flexibility to support either wired clients or 5Ghz wireless ones is valuable for both the home and small office environment, especially those that are saturated with a 2.4Ghz wireless signal.