Netgear has a new mesh router in its Orbi line-up, but as well as filling in dead-spots in your home WiFi, it also wants to save you money. The new Netgear Orbi Tri-Band WiFi Cable Modem Router System combines the mesh networking of the other Orbi routers with a built-in cable modem.
Apple may be killing its AirPort router family, but there are some great mesh networking replacements that promise just as much convenience but even more speed. Rather than focusing on a single box to which every WiFi device in your home is connected, mesh routers use two or more units in different locations, spreading coverage in the name of keeping performance at its best. Read on for our top four picks.
WiFi 11ax is headed to smartphones and laptops this year, with Qualcomm announcing its newest chip combining speedy WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0. The Qualcomm WCN3998 jumps the gun on 802.11ax, arriving well in advance of the new standard being finalized. However, the chip-maker says, it'll offer the key features - and probably those you'll get the most benefit from - for devices as soon as 2018.
It's a pretty big day for Google, as the company has announced a major expansion to the infrastructure that drives its Cloud network. This expansion encompasses much of the globe, with three new submarine cables and data centers in five new regions planned. These new regions will come online beginning later this year, while the undersea cables will all launch in 2019.
Huawei is getting into the mesh router business, unveiling the Huawei WiFi Q2, a multi-unit networking system that combines wireless and powerline backhaul. Announced at CES 2018 today, the WiFi Q2 also has an eye on the Internet of Things (IoT), promising a dedicated channel that will automatically shift connected device and smart home traffic into its own, separate lane.
Whether its playing a PC game or the game of life, one can’t afford to lose. Especially if the latter involves a wee little one. At CES 2018, network equipment professionals NETGEAR put on display their latest connected gear for all sorts of home users. Be it amateur or pro gamers who need the reliability of the Nighthawk Pro Gaming router and its companion LAN Switch, or the concerned parent who needs to see what the little one is up to from afar with the Arlo Baby Camera.
Linksys has revealed a more affordable version of its Velop mesh networking system, a dual-band model that's smaller and cheaper to take on Google Wifi and Eero. The Velop Dual-Band Whole Home WiFi Mesh System borrows the obelisk styling of its siblings, but drops the third wireless band and loses about two inches of height in the process.
When it comes to networking, there's arguably no group of users quite so demanding - and easily frustrated by lag - as gamers. That's just the cohort Linksys is targeting, and Xbox One players in particular, with the new Linksys WRT32XB, designed specifically with Microsoft's console in mind.
Your Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner will soon have another job aside from tidying up, with iRobot set to turn the 'bots into roving WiFi analysts. The company has had connected robot vacuums in its line-up for some years now, but a new software update iRobot plans to trial will allow them to not only connect, but assess wireless signal strength.
4G is dead, long live 5G! Or something to that extent. While the rest of the world is still trying to settle on the current 4G technology, the industry is already trying to push the next generation 5G forward. And while it might take years before it reaches the same reach that 4G has now, there’s really no reason not to get the ball rolling as early as possible. That’s why the standards body known as the 3GPP has just ratified a major part of the 5G standard, months earlier than it projected earlier this year.
Most mobile devices and operating systems these days include some form of parental control. Sooner or later, however, this per-device system becomes inconvenient and sometimes even ineffective. The best way to monitor, check, and curb Internet use is really at the source, which, in the case of a home network, is often the router. That is why NETGEAR and Circle Media have teamed up to install the Circle with Disney parental control system directly on NETGEAR’s Wi-Fi systems and routers.
With the increase in the number of connected devices in homes and especially in home or small offices, simple networking solutions, like home routers, can no longer keep up with the increased demand. Not to mention the sometimes complicated structure of buildings. For such challenging networks, you have a choice between using Wi-Fi range extenders or mesh networks, the latter of which is becoming more popular of late. Linksys is offering a sort of middle ground with the RE9000 Max-Stream Wi-Fi Range Extender that looks almost like a router itself and even acts like one when needed.