Network Magic 5.5.
(Credit: Cisco)Seven months after the 5.0 release of Network Magic, which was the first release by Cisco, the software received a major update on Tuesday, becoming the standard network management mechanism for all Cisco routers sold under the "Linksys by Cisco" branding.
This 5.5 release of the software also includes support for 33 languages and an updated user interface that's easier to use.
According to Cisco, novice home users will now have comfortable control over devices on their networks from within a single network map window. The new interface also adds simplified access to printer and file sharing, a more straightforward process for adding wireless devices, and support for a broader range of devices.
Parents can now monitor how the Internet is being used by any member of the family at any given time. For example, an admin user can set limits for Web browsing, game playing, and overall Internet usage for a particular computer within the network via a few mouse clicks.
Network Magic 5.5 comes in four versions: Basic, Essential, Pro, and Mac Add-on. Other than Mac Add-on, which allows a Mac to be managed, the other versions reflect the comprehensiveness of the software. For example, the Basic version, which is free and included with Cisco's routers, has only basic functionality. The Pro version, on the other hand, has all the bells and whistles.
I tried Network Magic Basic with one of Linksys' new Wireless-N routers, the WRT400N, and found that it was a handy tool. However, you do need to install it on a computer before you can manage it. The installation deposits a few start-up processes onto our hard drive that run each time the computer starts, which to some extent adversely affects the computer's performance, unfortunately.
Nonetheless, this is a useful application for those who want to find out what's really going on in their networks.
Network Magic 5.5 is available immediately and costs $50 for the Pro version, $30 for the Essential version, and $25 for the Mac Add-on version. During the launch period, however, you can get any of them for 20 percent off.
(Credit:
Sonos)
A bit of news from the Sonos camp: the company has delivered a minor update to its iPhone controller app, and offered a short-term bundling deal for new customers.
The company launched its iPhone controller app--which lets any iPhone or iPod Touch control the company's multiroom digital music system--in October of 2008. Many Sonos owners liked the app more than the system's own CR100 remote (which is included in the two-room, $1,000 system, or available separately for $400). Today's minor upgrade adds multilingual support (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish, in addition to English), alarm and sleep functions, and PC-free setup (instruct your Sonos to access network music folders without the need to install software on a computer).
The upgrade also enables the playback of DRM-encoded WMA files from the likes of the Zune Marketplace. Sonos is also trumpeting the fact that Apple's decision to drop DRM from its iTunes Store means that newly purchased iTunes music will stream perfectly on the Sonos system (though DRM iTunes music you've purchased in the past will need a de-DRM'd version--which requires an upgrade fee through Apple.)
Separately, Sonos is also running a short-term bundling deal for its hardware. Those who don't want to go for the $1,000 two-room bundle (one ZP90 base station, one ZP120 amplified base station, and one CR100 controller) can instead get $150 to $200 off when purchasing either the ZP90 or the ZP120 plus the CR100. The deal runs through May 31, 2009.
We've long prodded Sonos to lower its prices, but $600 to $700 for a one-room system is still too rich for our blood. If you've already got an iPhone or iPod Touch, a better choice would be to pick up a single ZP90 for $350, and just grab the free Sonos controller app--you'll just need a stereo or a pair of powered speakers to hear your music. (That's assuming you don't already have an Apple TV or an AirPort Express--in which case you can cobble together your own Apple-ized multiroom audio system as well, albeit without access to the wider range of non-iTunes music services available on the Sonos.)
Check out Sonos' demo video of the iPhone controller app below (we've tested it, and can vouch that the video is a good representation of the software and hardware.)
... Read more
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.
(Credit:
Cisco)
For a lot of home users, staying protected online is complicated, especially when they have multiple computers and networking devices (and who doesn't, nowadays?). Installing and keeping security software properly updated can be a daunting task.
Cisco now makes it simpler by integrating Internet security inside its Linksys by Cisco Wireless-N routers. This means you won't even have to install a separate online security suite on each computer within the home network anymore.
The company announced Tuesday its collaboration with Trend Micro to introduce the Home Network Defender (HND), a multi-layered software security solution that helps provide network protection home-network devices including PCs, online game consoles, Wi-Fi enabled phones, and personal media players.
... Read more
The new Media Hub NAS servers, MNH400 and NMH300, from Linksys.
(Credit: Linksys)Network-attached storage servers, in my opinion, have generally not been user-friendly enough. Even the easiest-to-use ones require some getting used to.
This is looking to change with the two new Media Hub series released under the networking giant's marketing brand "Linksys by Cisco" at CES this year, the NMH400 and the NMH300.
The NMH300 series is ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
(Credit:
Cisco)
After hinting at a "digital stereo" product in The New York Times last week, Cisco unveiled the details of its Wireless Home Audio System today, which will be released under the networking giant's "Linksys by Cisco" consumer networking brand. At first glance, the system--which is actually a suite of six products that will be available separately or in a variety of preconfigured bundles--bears a remarkable resemblance to the Sonos Multi-Room Music System. Like the Sonos, the Linksys product has a large-screen remote and offers networked base stations designed to live in several rooms of the house where they can play digital music from networked PCs or online audio sources (Internet radio via RadioTime, Rhapsody subscription service in the U.S., and the AudioLounge premium service in Europe). The Linksys device can also use a "zone" system, so different rooms can access different audio sources, or be linked together for synchronized playback of a single audio stream in multiple rooms simultaneously.
...Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
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Networking is a dark art, and putting the word "home" in front of it makes it no simpler. Debugging a home network is not for the faint of heart--the intelligence of the on-screen wizards peters out after the first few obvious fixes, and soon you're checking help forums, running ipconfig commands, and tweaking DHCP settings.
Their industrial design has gotten a lot better. But would you trust Linksys to build an easy wireless home audio system?
(Credit: Linksys)So today's news from The New York Times--that networking giant Cisco Systems is getting into the consumer electronics business--filled me with dread.
The idea of piping audio files from your computer to your home stereo or other audio devices is valid: I'm a big fan of the Sonos Multiroom Audio system, and Logitech and Apple have also made a go at it. But all three of these companies specialize in consumer products. They understand--nay, live and breathe--the process of hiding complexity under a clear user interface.
Playing music from multiple sources in a single playlist on a Sonos system is simple. Connecting a Mac or iPhone to an existing home network is almost invisibly simple.
Cisco's purchase of Linksys got the company into the consumer home-networking space. While setting up my Linksys wireless router for the first time was relatively painless, thanks to a downloadable applet, I had to use their free phone support line several times over the next few years to debug mysterious problems that cropped up.
The support itself was great--a real person always picked up immediately, and they were always able to resolve my problem eventually--but the complexity of the underyling technology just couldn't be hidden. Any support call that asks you to log into your router to check your DHCP settings is not simple, even if you are walked through the steps.
Cisco's a solid engineering company. If it manages to hire some great UI designers and brands these products appropriately--coming up with names that are more interesting than these would be a start--it has a fighting chance. If it thinks that enabling multiroom audio is just a few simple tweaks to its existing home networking products, forget about it.
The 4-port HomePlug AV PLS300 adapter.
(Credit: Cisco)It doesn't matter how powerful your home wireless router is, there might still be some corner in the basement the signal can't reach. This is when you need an alternative solution, such as a pair of Powerline adapters. Powerline adapters basically extend the length of the network cable by using the existing electrical wiring--this means you can bring your network port anywhere in the house where there's a power outlet.
The Home AV PLK300 PowerLine adapter kit.
(Credit: Cisco)For that reason, it's pretty exciting that Cisco on Monday will announce its third release of Linksys by Cisco Powerline adapters. The new lineup includes both the HomePlug Turbo and the HomePlug AV specifications. The former caps at 85Mbps and is suitable for regular traffic such as Internet browsing or sending and receiving e-mail. The latter caps at 189Mbps and is optimized for applications that require more bandwidth, such as high-definition video streaming or gaming.
Improvements over the previous generation include a better, more compact design and more ports. They won't obstruct the wall sockets anymore and now you can use them to connect up to four devices right out of the box without buying an additional switch.
The new Powerline products from Cisco are delivered with a preconfigured password that can be changed by running the installation wizard. The products work straight out of the box and are compatible with any other HomePlug-certified Powerline adapters.
Both the new Powerline Turbo and Powerline AV will be available in November, costing $150 and $180 per kit, respectively. A kit includes one Powerline 4-port Ethernet adapter and one 1-port Ethernet adapter. You can also buy a single adapter but you need at least two to cover the two ends of a network connection.
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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!
Linksys' Mac version of the LELA software enables general Mac users, possibly for the first time, to successfully set up a router that's not an AirPort.
(Credit: Linksys)
Linksys today announced its one-step-further support for Mac by releasing its OS X version of the Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA) setup wizard. LELA is a desktop application that helps take away the hassle and complexity of setting up a router by using easy-to-understand terminology and illustrations to guide consumers through the process.
This is great news for Mac users, especially those who are used to setting up routers using a desktop application rather than the Web-interface. I personally have met a lot of Mac users who somehow believe that Mac computers only work (well) with Apple's AirPort products because they come with the setup software.
LELA has been included with Linksys' recent lines of router including the WRT310N, the WRT160N, the WRT110, and the WRT54G2, and it will work with upcoming routers, too. Until today, the software only works on Windows computers. The Mac version of the software (that requires Mac OS X 1.4 or later) will support all the routers currently supported by the PC version. Going forward, new Linksys products will ship with a LELA setup disc that includes both PC and Mac setup wizards.
You can download the new LELA here. Of course, you can always use the router's Web interface to setup a Linksys router, which might be a totally new experience to Mac user as Apple's AirPort products generally don't support Web-based management.
