Evidently hField Technologies has a good thing going with this inelegant Wi-Fire thingamajig, as it has just followed up versions one and two with the latest and greatest third iteration. The revamped Wi-Fire, which is more formally known as the HFWFG200, is said to be some 40 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than the previous incarnation, yet it promises to maintain a solid WiFi signal while up to 1,000 feet away from the source. In one of those classic “two steps forward, three leaps back” moments, the company has added in support for Linux and OS X-based systems, though the device only works with 802.11b/g devices. In other words, you won’t see 802.11n speeds out of this thing, and you’ll still get looked at funny with it affixed atop your laptop’s display. If you’re willing to swap dignity for connectivity, you can get one headed your way today for $59.
C’mon, say it with us: “phew!” Considering that just about everyone has been shipping “802.11n” wireless kit since draft 2.0 was put into play two summers ago, we couldn’t be more relieved to see the Wi-Fi Alliance confirm that it won’t change the baseline requirements of its 802.11n certification program when the format gets certified this September. Just as we’d heard, the WiFi standard will leave its stagnant draft status and sashay into the wondrous realm of officialdom in merely two months, with the updated test program to “preserve interoperability with more than 600 Wi-Fi certified 802.11n draft 2.0 products released since June 2007, while adding testing for some optional features now included in the standard.” Good thing, too — can you imagine the uproar if your forthcoming 802.11n dongle wouldn’t play nice with that draft-N router you snagged last June?
BT Broadband customers and O2 iPhone owners, rejoice — some 2,500 ATM machines near you will soon be converted to serve as free WiFi hotspots, courtesy of BT Openzone and Cashbox, perhaps the most mismatched pair of commercial metaphors ever put together. The initial rollout starts with 10 machines this week and numbers are expected to steadily increase. Non-BT users and iPhone heretics wanting to join in the fun will have to shell out £5.88 ($10) for 90 minutes or a more reasonable £9.79 ($16) for 24 hours.
Do you have some media to share with yourself (or with those in close vicinity)? The Linksys Wireless N Storage Router is a sleek and sexy refresh of the tried and true Wireless G, throwing in external R-SMA antenna connectors, USB connectivity (for your fave external drive) and an integrated media server. This bad boy can stream to PCs or UPnP AV digital media adapters, and it supports FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file systems in both read and write mode. Available now for $109.99.
Clearwire may not be as ubiquitous as you’d like it to be, but it’s taking a huge step forward in hopes of wildly expanding by linking up with Cisco. In essence, the two have joined hands in order to “enhance and expand CLEAR 4G mobile WiMAX services throughout the United States,” with Cisco providing the core infrastructure and Clearwire providing the guidance. Potentially more interesting is the notion that Cisco’s Linksys brand will soon be delivering “new mobile WiMAX devices,” such as routers that will presumably tune to WiFi and WiMAX waves. Specific product details are sorely absent, though Clearwire does reiterate that it’s hoping to have WiMAX service to more than 80 markets across the US by the end of next year.
Netgear’s coaxial-hijacking adapter kit MCAB1001 MoCA is now available. The pair of devices, which turns your cable outlets into a home networking solution with transfer speeds up to 270 Mbps, is retailing on the company’s online shop for a penny under $190, and if you’d like to watch an infomercial on how it works, chock full of oddly-chosen metaphors and trippy visuals, we’ve got the perfect read link for you just below.
Read – Product page Read – “MoCA in a Nutshell” video
NASA has signed an agreement with TTTech, a German Ethernet vendor, to construct “highly fault-tolerant networks for space-based applications,” according to NetworkWorld. TTTech builds a series of time-triggered products called TTEthernet that sits on top of standard IEEE802.3 Ethernet, the report said. The goal is to enable reliable, synchronous, embedded computing and networking, and be tolerant of multiple faults, according to the company.
Essentially, the goal is to be able to send critical data back and forth into space without having to worry about network congestion or dropouts. In fact, NASA already uses some of the technology in its Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (pictured). The report said that ultimately, NASA and TTTech will collaborate on space network standards that will lead to an open space Ethernet standard–one that’s suitable for deployment with upcoming NASA programs.
In what he’s calling “the single biggest infrastructure decision” in the country’s history,” Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s announced an A$43 billion (US $30.6 billion) project to create a nationwide high speed broadband network. The goal’s to get 90 percent of homes and business up to 100Mbps speeds with fiber optic connection, with a less impressive 12Mbps wireless / satellite for the rest. Up to 49 percent of the funds will be from the private sector; the government will initially invest A$4.7b, while A$20b will come from a national infrastructure fund and the sale of bonds. The venture’s expected to take seven to eight years, and Rudd said the government intends to sell off its stake after five years. Sure, it’s not 1Gbps by 2012, but hey, they might end up beating us at the “nationwide broadband” game.
The newest Wi-Fi router from Fon will add support for networked storage and automatic downloads to its internet-sharing capabilities.
On April 21, Fonera 2 will go on sale in Europe for €50 ($68). It will be available worldwide in May. (The official dollar price still has to be confirmed.)
Like the original Fonera and Fonera+ routers, the principals of this hippie-love-in-styled product still apply. You buy the router and hook it up to your internet connection as normal. The trick is that the router shares a part of your bandwidth on a public-facing connection. Other Fon owners can log in and use this public network for free. In turn, you — as a Fonera owner — can travel the world and use other Fon hotspots. It’s a neat idea and everybody wins, except the money-grabbing telcos.
The new version adds even more. You can hook it up to a hard drive and leave it running, pulling down BitTorrent downloads or files from sharing sites like RapidShare and Mega Upload. It does this all without a computer, so once you have it set up you can take your laptop out on the road and look forward to a new episode of Criminal Minds when you get home. It also uses less power than leaving a computer on all day and night. As Fon CEO Martin Varsavky says in the video, with computer-based overnight downloads, "the money you’re saving on the movies, you’re actually spending on electricity."
More: The USB port means you can hook up hard drives and access them over the network, working as a NAS (network attached storage) device as well as for backup of your computers’ data. We’re not sure if the router works with Apple’s Time Machine software, but as Varsavsky is using a Mac and mentions "Time Machine" in his video, we assume it does.
The Fonera 2 also automatically uploads any videos found in a folder named "YouTube" — just make the folder, pop in the video, plug in the USB drive and walk away.
Enough? No? OK, what about hooking up a USB 3G dongle and sharing the connection over Wi-Fi? That’s exactly what is happening in the video.
This collection of features is fantastic, and exactly what a router should be doing. When is the best time for heavy download activity? When you’re out, away from home and not using the connection. What is a router? We see it as a simple translator between us and the outside internet, but it really should be a hub for all our networking needs, including NAS and 3G.
In fact, the only thing the Fonera shouldn’t be used for is as a Wi-Fi hotspot at, say, CES. This January, a certain unnamed Wired.com editor brought his Fon router to set up a network at the Wired nerve-center in the Las Vegas Convention Center. It was only as the show started that we discovered the router would take 24 hours to upgrade its firmware. Luckily, we are nerds and we travel with Ethernet cables.
Interestingly, some progressive European telcos actually like Fon, because it enforces reciprocal sharing, rather than freeloading — which means that Fon users have to pay for their own internet service at home if they want to use the Fon network abroad. We’ll see if they take the same benevolent attitude towards the Fonera 2, which also encourages heavy use of both the upstream and downstream components of the bandwidth they supply.
If you’re looking for a fully loaded wireless router for a competitive price, the D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router might be exactly what you need. It’s one of the brainiest routers we’ve tested in the PCMag Labs, yet it’s simple enough for home users to set up and use with no problem.
This router has a USB port with 3G wireless capability, simultaneous dual 2.4-GHz- and 5-GHz-band Wi-Fi mixed mode, power-saving green technologies, and a ton of other customizable feature to satisfy even the most demanding personal networks. You get all this for very reasonable $169 (direct). It’s a great choice for heavy duty online gamers and small office users alike. Get the full scoop on this Editor’s Choice router in PCMag’s in-depth review.
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