The best sides of the very fast 5G Wi-Fi wonderland come crashing together with NETGEAR’s just-announced hybrid cable modem and Wi-Fi gateway featuring 802.11ac technology. NETGEAR hopes to make the all-in-one computing experience more pleasurable for users while delivering an ultra-fast experience.
It’s planning to show a cable gateway that unites a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem with even speedier 802.11ac WiFi to share the connection in the home. The router side is like any other router, containing shared USB storage, DLNA media sharing, and the like, but the speed is the real benefit here.
Netgear hasn’t said how close it might be to shipping the cable gateway, but it’ll be showing the device at the ANGA Cable trade show this week, along with a 1.2Gbps download, 320Mbps upload cable modem that makes us wish some of our free calls and messages took up a little more bandwidth, just so we can show off their awesomeness in full speed.
NETGEAR Showcases Industry’s First 802.11ac Cable Gateway
NETGEAR will demonstrate industry leading products including DOCSIS3.0 Gateways with 24 x 8 channel bonding and 802.11ac wireless delivering connectivity up to three times faster than 802.11n
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, today announced that it will showcase several innovative solutions for cable operators, including a groundbreaking DOCSIS3.0 gateway integrated with 802.11ac wireless technology, at the ANGA Cable show taking place June 12- 14 in Cologne, Germany. In addition, NETGEAR will also demonstrate its 24 x 8 channel bonded DOCSIS®/Euro-DOCSIS gateway to support up to 1.2Gbps downstream and 320Mbps upstream data rate.
The NETGEAR 802.11ac DOCSIS3.0 gateway supports wireless connectivity that is up to three times faster than today’s 802.11n routers. With multiple antennae and dual band WiFi, the cable gateway increases the coverage area for HD streaming in the home while enabling consumers to download web content from any device in the home significantly faster than it would take on a similar 802.11n device.
The upcoming 802.11ac wireless standard is the world’s fastest WiFi, providing gigabit WiFi speeds allowing for web content to download faster, and large video or music files to synch more quickly. The increased speed of 802.11ac technology is ideal for mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, by providing up to three times the performance for a similar amount of battery consumption of devices utilizing the current 802.11n WiFi standard.
Other advanced features of the NETGEAR 802.11ac DOCSIS3.0 cable gateway include:
* NETGEAR Genie®: This app for PCs, Macs, iOS and Android® smartphones and tablets enables home users to control, monitor, repair, and manage their home networks easily through a simple, elegant dashboard.
* Guest network access: The NETGEAR Genie app makes setting up a guest network simple. Guests and visitors can go online through the gateway without the need for secure login information. The guest network also prevents users from seeing and accessing a household’s computers, printers, storage devices and other home network devices.
* ReadySHARE® USB Storage ACCESS: Easy shared access from any computer in your home network to external USB storage connected to the gateway.
* Media Server-DLNA: The DOCSIS3.0 cable gateway is DLNA ready and can stream to any DLNA compatible device in your house, including the latest Smart TVs, Blu-ray® players, media players, game consoles, handheld devices, tablets and more.
* NETGEAR Live Parental Controls: Centralized, flexible, and reliable parental control solution for all the devices on the network, including Macs, Windows PCs, smartphones and tablets, for a safe online environment for children and teenagers. No subscription is required.
* IPv6 Ready: Supporting IPv6 on both DOCSIS® and LAN.
* Packet Cable/EuroPacket Cable 1.1 and PacketCable 2.0 scalable.
NETGEAR is also showcasing its most advanced cable gateway that supports 24 x 8 DOCSIS3.0 channel bonding to support up to 1.2Gbps downstream and 320Mbps upstream data rates. This translates to up to three times higher data rate on the downstream compared to currently deployed products. These higher speeds enable advanced services for the residential and business customers of cable operators, resulting in additional revenue opportunities for the operators.
“Cable operators are increasingly being asked to address two critical challenges – superior wireless connectivity in-home and competition from FTTH technologies. NETGEAR’s next generation cable gateway solutions are designed to help our cable operator customers squarely address these challenges,” said Michael Clegg, Sr. VP and GM, Service Provider business unit at NETGEAR. “With 802.11ac now a reality, in-home WiFi connectivity is set for a quantum leap and will revolutionize the way we consume content wirelessly. NETGEAR’s leadership in the industry, and collaboration with key partners, enables us to introduce the innovative solutions that our cable customers require to successfully meet their subscribers’ expectations.”