When Cisco bought Flip video, the maker of the super-simple USB camcorder, we were intrigued. What on Earth could a commercial router company want with a consumer camera company? Today Cisco has announced the first product of the partnership. It’s a wireless router, and there is no camera.
The router, or rather range of routers, comes under the name Valet and confusingly there are also identical versions from Linksys, another Cisco company, which lack the mysterious Valet spec.
Valet routers come with a USB stick which, when inserted into your computer will automatically configure the network settings for you. This is great news, especially for non-techy users, and it works on both OS X and Windows. According to Cisco, it takes around “20 to 30 complicated steps to set up a single computer”, and Valet cuts it down to just three.
This seems a little exaggerated. Assuming that your router comes pre-configured from your ISP, as is usually the case in Europe, you have – on a Mac – just two steps: click the network name in the drop-down Airport menu and then copy in the password from the back of the router. Even Windows, which requires a little more work, doesn’t run to anything like 20 steps.
The Valet routers cost a rather steep $100 to $150, and you can pick up a Wi-Fi USB dongle to connect older machines to the network for an outlandish $80. All of the range works on 802.11n, and all come with software that will let you control access for various devices, allowing you to stop the kids surfing porn on their iPod Touches, for example.
And the Flip connection? A mystery. The press release mailed to me uses the “F” word seven times, but even the explanation explains nothing:
With complementary backgrounds and expertise, our Cisco and Flip teams have combined forces to change the rules for home wireless with a product line that empowers consumers to easily set up, enjoy and manage all of their wireless devices anywhere in their homes.
Perhaps it’s the easy-plug and go USB tech? Or maybe something to do with both “Flip” and “Valet” having an “l” in their names? Or nothing at all, other than a simple trick to get tech bloggers to write about an otherwise ho-hum router? If so then well played, Cisco. You got me.
Valet Family [Cisco. Thanks, Jamie!]
