In the News

NETGEAR Shipping N300 PoE Access Point
By Tim Higgins
NETGEAR has announced a PoE-powered N300 small-biz access point. The NETGEAR WN203 ProSAFE Single-Band Wireless-N Access Point is a 2.4 GHz N300 class access point aimed at small business buyers. It includes dual internal antennas and two RP-SMA connectors for adding optional higher-gain external antennas.

Cloud computing is about to get personal
By Patrick Lo
While businesses have been deploying cloud technology for some time, it's only recently that personal cloud services have emerged. The advent of the personal cloud means content, applications and computing power can move off the device. So, will we still need sophisticated tablets, PCs and smartphones if the power resides elsewhere?

Test Time For Netgear’s 1 Gig DOCSIS 3.0 Gateway
By Jeff Baumgartner
A DOCSIS 3.0-powered device from Netgear that’s capable of producing downstream bursts of 1 Gbps is in “multiple” lab trials and is starting to enter field trials, according to Naveen Chhangani, director of product management for Netgear’s service provider unit. That’s his progress report about six months after Netgear became the first DOCSIS vendor to achieve CableLabs certification for a data/voice gateway that can bond 24 downstream channels – enough to produce max downstream speeds of 960 Mbps using 6MHz-wide channels (in North American DOCSIS configurations), and eclipse the 1 Gbps mark in EuroDOCSIS systems that utilize 8MHz-wide channel spacing.

Netgear ProSafe Plus XS708E 10GbE Switch Review
By Kevin O’Brien
The Netgear ProSafe Plus XS708E 10GbE switch is part of a new family of ProSafe switches that are designed for SMBs to address the concerns of both enormous network traffic growth and the increasing performance capabilities of networked storage. Most storage arrays are sold with 10GbE these days either standard or as a reasonably priced option and 10GbE is likewise gaining traction in the server market. While gigabit Ethernet remains the standard, the benefits of 10GbE are immense, but a long time stumbling block has been the capital investment in equipment to support the interconnect, especially for small businesses.

NETGEAR R6250 Smart WiFi Router Reviewed
By Tim Higgins
Now that I've retested NETGEAR's top-of-line draft 802.11ac R6300, we can proceed to the first of its new 11ac routers to be powered by Broadcom's second-generation router SoC. Like the R6300, the R6250 is a "Smart" router, running its "genie" admin GUI, with Android and iOS apps for remote access and admin control. Unlike the R6300, the R6250 is an "AC1600" router.

NETGEAR 802.11ac A6200 USB WiFi Adapter Runs Through The Lab
By Sean Kalinich
When we first saw that the NETGEAR A6200 was a USB 2.0 device we were concerned about performance. After all there is a limit to how much data you can push through a USB 2.0 port. Sadly this limit is below what 802.11ac is capable of. We were glad to see that even with that limitation you still get great performance and with fairly small price tag.

Netgear Shows Off Connectivity Platforms for Small Businesses
By Nathan Eddy
Networking specialist Netgear is highlighting its suite of connectivity solutions for the smart home and small businesses at the MedPi trade show in Monaco, including the Powerline 500 Nano PassThru 1-Port (XAVB5401), a new-generation 500M bps product that extends Internet access to any electrical outlet, supporting faster speeds for applications such as HDTV, multiple HD or 3D video streams, streaming multimedia and multiplayer gaming.

Netgear Launches ReadyData 516 Desktop Device
By Nathan Eddy
Networking solutions specialist Netgear announced an addition to the ReadyData family—the first device in desktop form, ReadyData 516, which is aimed at small to medium-size businesses (SMBs). The device provides edge-to-core data protection, which enables a business to manage storage centrally and replicate data from a remote or branch office to corporate headquarters or a central site.

Netgear to target mid-market with future SDN capability
By Jon Gold
While much of the hype for software-defined networking is focused on large-scale data center deployments, some companies are taking a different angle. According to Laurent Masia, a product line manager for Netgear, the idea is to make the task of managing a network simpler for smaller organizations that might not have much IT expertise.

Netgear revamps ReadyNAS storage range
By Kelvyn Taylor
Netgear was a relative latecomer to the NAS market, launching its first products in 2007 after the acquisition of storage company Infrant and its ReadyNAS products. Its portfolio has since expanded to encompass markets ranging from home users to enterprises. The company has recently announced a major overhaul of the entire home and SME product line (the enterprise-class ReadyDATA products are unaffected).

Netgear Announces ReadyDATA 516
By Josh Shaman
Netgear has announced the ReadyDATA 516 6-bay NAS unit designed with enterprise-class features and simple usability for SMBs. The ReadyDATA 516 is a great fit for organizations that don't have a data center or for an application such as multiple branch offices requiring on-site storage used in conjunction with the ReadyDATA 5200 2U 12-bay NAS.

Netgear kicks off $1M contest for apps on routers
By Dean Takahashi
Apps are moving everywhere, even into your Internet routers. Netgear is validating that point with the announcement today of a $1 million contest to find the best app for a Netgear router.

Netgear entices developers with million-dollar app contest
By Dong Ngo
To attract software developers, Netgear today launched its Million Dollar App Contest with the aim of diversifying the company's Netgear Genie+ marketplace. The networking vendor hopes the contest will encourage creation of innovative apps for its routers and NAS servers.

NETGEAR M4100-D12G Intelligent Edge Switch Reviewed
By Doug Reid
The M4100 carriers NETGEAR's lifetime warranty, which gives me confidence in the reliability of a network device. I've been using NETGEAR switches for years and haven't had one fail yet. I had a few challenges figuring out some of the configurations on the M4100, but overall, my experience with the M4100-D12G was positive. I recommend you consider NETGEAR's M4100 switches if you're looking to aggregate and route inter-VLAN traffic on your network!

NETGEAR XS708E ProSafe Plus 10GbE Switch
By Bruce Normann
There are other 10GbE models in the ProSAFE product line that have more capabilities than the XS708E, more ports, more management features, etc. and they all push the price/performance line down from where it was. The XS708E has the potential for making the biggest impact though, because the price is so attractive. The barrier to implementing 10GbE in your SMB is virtually gone, as of now.

Netgear boosts 802.11ac WiFi performance with Beamforming+ firmware upgrade
By Brittany Hillen
On Monday, Netgear added support for Beamforming+ to its R6300 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit router, as well as its A6200 USB adapter, offering users better wireless Internet performance and reliability. For those who already have one (or both) of the devices, a firmware update has also been rolled out that adds Beamforming+ support to the devices. With the added support, users will see their 802.11ac gain additional speed, among other things.

Netgear 802.11ac update adds beamforming, delivers up to 60 percent faster WiFi
By Jon Fingas
Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn't mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who've had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard.

NETGEAR Announces draft 11ac Beamforming Upgrades
By Tim Higgins
NETGEAR has released free upgrades adding beamforming to some of its draft 802.11ac products. Actually, it's "Beamforming+" that NETGEAR has enabled on its R6300 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router and A6200 802.11ac Dual Band WiFi USB Adapter.

Netgear WNDR3700v4 N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router Review
By Ken Brown
Today we look at the re-released Netgear N600 Wireless Dual-Band Gigabit Router, the WNDR3700v4. Obvious by the router’s model number you can see that this is the fourth revision of this very popular router.

NETGEAR Puts An AC Router In The Middle
By Tim Higgins
The R6250 Smart WiFi Router is aimed at buyers who want a lower cost alternative to AC1750 routers, but without giving up the ability to support the highest 1300 Mbps draft 802.11ac link rates.