Netgear Joins Dual-Band 802.11n Router Parade; Announces "All Access Home"

In a massive pre-CES press release Sunday, Netgear announced a number of new products, not the least of which included dual-band 802.11n support. There have been very few alternatives to date, including Buffalo Technology's WZR-AG300NH Dual-Band Router, which can no longer be sold because of a patent lawsuit by CSIRO, Linksys's recently released Dual-Band WRT-600N, and D-Link's DIR-855 dual-band router still listed on their site as "coming soon."

The Apple Airport Extreme Dual-Band router cannot access both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously.

The primary focus of the press release was what Netgear calls the "All Access Home." This is the encompassing theme of CES for Netgear. In the press release, Patrick Lo, chairman and chief executive officer of NETGEAR said:

"With applications such as social networking websites, broadband video streaming, console gaming, and Voice-over-IP increasing in mainstream consumer adoption, the Internet and home networks have combined to create the backbone technology that is driving both productivity and entertainment in the connected home."

So what did they introduce? I'm not going to list them all, as you can find them in the press release linked above. They did introduce new network-attached storage (NAS) products in their ReadyNAS line. They also introduced some powerline networking products. But the Wireless-N products were the most interesting.

Netgear inroduced the following:

RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router (WNDR3300) - pictured above

This is a dual-band 802.11n router. Netgear appears to be continuing its use of internal antennas as this has an integrated array of eight internal antennas. MSRP is $129.99.

RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router (WNR3500)

This is a 802.11n router but not dual-band! It adds a five-port 10/100/1000 Mbps switch (one Gigabit Ethernet WAN and four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports), but why bother, without dual-band? MSRP is $159.99.

5 GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge (WNHDE111) and HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDEB111)
The NETGEAR 5GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge (WNHDE111) can be used as a standalone bridge or can function as a 5 GHz Wireless-N access point when added to an existing router or gateway. This can be added to an existing 802.11b/g wireless router to give you a dual-band Wireless-N network.

The HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDEB111) contains two WNHDE111 units to provide connectivity between a home network and consumer media devices like a Wii, a Slingbox, Xbox, and more. The two WNHDE111 units are Plug and Play, auto-configure when connected, and automatically discover each other.

MSRP is U.S. of $129.99 and $229.99 for the WNHDE111 and WNHDEB111, respectively.

RangeMax Wireless-N Dual Band USB Adapter (WNDA3100)

This is a USB 2.0 adapter that gives a system dual-band Wireless-N support. MSRP is $99.99.

And finally, Netgear did some crowing, announcing their CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards:

• HD/Gaming 5GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDEB111)
• Pre- DOCSIS 3.0 Wireless Cable Voice Gateway (CBVG834)
• ReadyNAS(TM) Duo 2-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage
• ReadyNAS(TM) Pro Multi-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage for Business
• Space-Saving Powerline Network Extender Kit (XEPSB103)
• Powerline HD Plus Ethernet Adapter Kit (HDXB111)