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Home networking 'made easy'
07/01/2008 12:25 - (SA)
Las Vegas - After years of overhyped technology and unkept promises, network company NetGear said on Sunday that it has delivered the elusive Holy Grail of consumer technology: a system to seamlessly allow wireless storage and distribution of digital content throughout the home.
"Our customers in their homes or small offices should be able to utilise high-speed broadband networking for any application, including communications, information gathering or entertainment, from any corner of the house without any interruption," said Patrick Lo, chairperson, chief executive and founder of Netgear.
Lo said that the new products would make home networking as "ubiquitous and intuitive as heat or electricity".
Using the new devices unveiled at the conference, a Netgear executive demonstrated simultaneous wireless streaming of a high-definition movie, live HD gaming and video downloading - and even removed a hard drive from the storage device - without the slightest glitch in picture quality.
The new products include the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless N Router, which incorporates new "meta-material" antenna technology developed by Netgear.
The router contains eight antennas, which Netgear says ensures quality streaming despite potential interference from other wireless gear including microwave ovens, cordless phones and neighbouring Wi-Fi networks.
The router also included a dedicated button to automatically set up a secure connection between the router and any other standard client. Typically, users must work through a software application to set up secure connections.
Netgear also introduced the ReadyNAS Duo, a media server designed to centrally store any digital media including videos, photos and music.
In an unusual feature for a consumer device, the ReadyNAS supports hot swapping - allowing users to remove a drive without interrupting streaming or other use of the device. The device has four hard-drive bays and can handle up to four terabytes of data.
The company unveiled the HD/Gaming 5GHz Wireless-N networking kit, which essentially upgrades an existing network to deliver high-performance video.
The kit comes with two units. Users attach one to their current router, which could comply with the older Wireless B or Wireless G standards. The other device connects to other clients such as a gaming console or HD-TV to create a wireless connection. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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