New home wireless products designed to make networking even simpler
Cisco this week unveiled Valet, a line of home wireless networking products designed to make installation, configuration and operation even easier than it already is. Linksys routers already have color-coded cables and step-by-step configuration software that seem pretty simple to follow, but perhaps even this is too complicated for some customers.
As PC World colleague Patrick Miller reports, Valet allows a user to establish an Internet connection in five minutes. It includes a USB flash drive to configure each PC on the home network with WiFi access without control panels or complicated passwords. The base Valet offering includes 10/100Mbps speeds but for a little more money you can get an additional four Gigabit Ethernet ports, an extended reach antenna and a USB connector for older PCs that do not have WiFi capabilities.
Valet also includes software that allows users to set up access controls and be proactively alerted to viruses and malware.
Cisco also unveiled four new 802.11n Linksys routers, dubbed the E-series. They include the Valet-style configuration software as well as the Web-based GUI for more granular configuration. Speeds on the new Linksys routers range from 10/100Mbps to Gigabit Ethernet, and dual band functionality in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz spectrum. The highest end router allows users to share external storage and includes a media server for streaming media to an Xbox or PS3 gaming device.
Valet represents the first time Cisco will sell consumer routers without the Linksys brand, according to this story from the Associated Press. It will retain the Linksys brand for more sophisticated, higher-end home networking equipment.
Cisco acquired Linksys in 2003. It’s been going back-and-forth on dropping the brand name for the past couple of years.
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