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Linksys Aware is a motion detection feature that joins the Linksys Shield parental control product as the latest subscription software features designed for the company’s Velop mesh networking product line.

Downloadable via a firmware and app update, Linksys Aware will initially be available for the Linksys’ Velop Tri-Band AC2200 router, and then implemented to other mesh products using a phased approach.

Not needing other motion detection devices or cameras to work, Linksys Aware uses Wi-Fi signal to detect movement across the home. The new feature also sends mobile alerts via the Linksys App, which can also be used to set sensitivity levels, or to turn the feature on or off.

Now available in the US via download, Linksys Aware includes a free 90-day subscription period. Afterward, subscription to the service will cost $2.99 per month, or $24.99 per year.

NETGEAR today announced its tri-band addition to its Nighthawk Wi-Fi 6 family.

The AX12 Wi-Fi 6 router (AX11000) is powered by a 64-bit quad-core 1.8 GHz processor, backed by 512 MB NAND flash and 1 GB of DDR RAM. The 12-stream AX11000 provides maximum wireless link speeds of 1.2 Gbps at 2.4 GHz, and 4.8 Gbps for each of the two 5 GHz bands.

For physical interfaces, the AX11000 has one 1 Gbps WAN port, four 1 Gbps LAN ports, and a single 2.5 Gbps/1 Gbps port. The single WAN port and one of the LAN ports can be combined for Multi-Gig support producing up to 2 Gbps WAN performance; the 2.5 Gbps port is configurable to be a 1 Gbps link. The AX11000 also includes two USB 3.0 ports which can used for Netgear’s ReadyShare function, allowing an external USB drive to connect to the network for NAS-like functionality.

Other AX11000 features include SmartConnect, 8-stream MU-MIMO, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, VPN...

NETGEAR today announced availability of the Wi-Fi 6 version of its Orbi mesh Wi-Fi system that was announced at CES 2019 in January.

The Orbi Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi tri-band Wi-Fi system (RBK852) consists of two AX6000 tri-band nodes, each powered by a 2.2 GHz quad core processor. Aside from using a four-stream 1.2 Gbps 2.4 GHz band and a four-stream 2.4 Gbps 5 GHz band for client connections, the RBK852 includes a third four-stream 2.4 Gbps band as a dedicated backhaul, providing fast throughput between the kit’s two nodes.

Other interfaces on the RBK852 include one 2.5 Gbps WAN Port and four Gbps LAN ports.

Additional listed features include an optional wall mount (sold separately) and VLAN-based guest network separation.

The second announced Orbi product is an AC3000 tri-band Wi-Fi extender and...

The TVS-x72N series of tabletop tower NAS products are powered by Intel’s Core i3-8100T quad-core 3.1. GHz processor and are upgradeable up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory.

Available in 6-bay or 8-bay models, these new NAS products get a single 5GBASE-T LAN port for five-times faster throughput than conventional Gigabit network interfaces.

The two TVS-x72N models are:

• TVS-672N-i3-4G: 6-bay, Intel Core i3-8100T quad-core 3.1. GHz processor, 4 GB RAM (2 GB x2)
• TVS-872N-i3-8G: 8-bay, Intel Core i3-8100T quad-core 3.1 GHz processor, 8 GB RAM (4 GB x2)

For storage, aside from the hot-swappable 6-bay and 8-bay hard drive capacities, the TVS-x72N series also includes two M.2 SSD slots for PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSDs, and a PCI slot that can be used to add more solid-state storage via QNAPs QM2 expansion card. Using QNAP CacheMount, TVS-x72N models can also be used as hybrid cloud storage gateways, connecting the NAS devices to cloud...

Consisting of four separate platforms, this next-gen set of Wi-Fi 6 products is supposed to improve upon earlier performance benchmarks and give a better user-experience during mass device on-boarding – particularly for dense networks and across a wide range of applications.

Each of the four new Wi-Fi 6 platforms differentiate from each other by format, scale of application, and computing profile:

• Qualcomm Networking Pro 1200 Platform (supports up to 12 spatial streams of Wi-Fi connectivity with up to 2.2GHz Quad-core A53 processor)
• Qualcomm Networking Pro 800 Platform (supports up to 8 spatial streams of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity with up to 1.4GHz Quad-core A53 processor)
• Qualcomm Networking Pro 600 Platform (supports up to 6 spatial streams of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity with up to 1.0GHz Quad-core A53 processor)
• Qualcomm Networking Pro 400 Platform (supports...

CableLabs is pitching a Dual Channel Wi-Fi (DCW) specification that uses a hidden channel for downlink-only traffic and a second channel supporting normal bi-directional traffic.

This CableLabs test report describes a CableLabs experiment that used specially-prepared APs and Laptops to simultaneously send download FTP traffic over one 5 GHz channel and video streaming traffic over another 2.4 GHz channel. The report claims 7-12X improvement in download capacity using the technique.

CableLabs has also published "Integration and Operation Guides" to implement DCW on...

The two new Router Limits network management features will be available via free firmware download from TRENDnet, and applicable to these three TRENDnet routers:

• AC3000 Tri-Band Wireless Gigabit Dual-WAN VPN SMB Router (TEW-829DRU)
• AC2600 MU-MIMO WiFi Router (TEW-827DRU)
• Gigabit Multi-WAN VPN Business Router (TWG-431BR) [Coming Soon]

Broken down per user, bandwidth monitoring gives TRENDnet customers the ability to track upload and download activity using a real-time chart of what is being consumed at any given time.

For speed testing, admins can remotely test their connection’s speed, between the router and the internet, giving them a better idea of what overall performance is like.

Available now, the latest TRENDnet firmware updates for the TEW-829DRU and...

Router and webcam maker D-Link has agreed to implement a new security program to settle charges it failed to safeguard its hardware against well-known and preventable hacks and misrepresented its existing security regimen.

Tuesday’s agreement settles a 2017 complaint by the US Federal Trade Commission that alleged D-Link left thousands of customers open to potentially costly hack attacks.

Continue reading on ArsTechnica

NETGEAR’s Nighthawk RS400 Cybersecurity Wi-Fi Router includes several security features, including anti-virus, anti-malware and data protection for all connected devices.

Powered by Bitdefender, the RS400 is designed to protect a small network, protecting devices from malicious attacks and sending alerts to the Nighthawk app on your smartphone, tablet or computer, as soon as something is detected.

For families, the RS400 also includes Circle’s smart parenting controls, adding bedtime scheduling, daily internet time usage, and content filtering for each member of the family.

The three-stream AC router's ports include four GbE LAN, one GbE WAN and two USB (v3.0 in front and v2.0 in the back). Maximum Wi-Fi link rates are 600 Mbps @ 2.4 GHz (40 MHz B/W) and 1625 Mbps @ 5 GHz (80 MHz B/W). Downlink MU-MIMO is supported on 5 GHz.

Available now, the NETGEAR Nighthawk RS400 includes three...

As a follow-up to its 2x2 EWS357AP, EnGenius’ new low-profile 4x4 EWS377AP Wi-Fi 6 access point is built for small and medium-sized businesses.

It sports Qualcomm’s 2.0 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A53s processor and a 4x4 antenna design, helping non-enterprise customers cross over to the 802.11ax standard. The EWS377AP delivers maximum link rates of 1,148 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and 2,400 Mbps at 5 GHz and uses WPA3 and WPA2-EAS security. Power options for the EWS377AP include 12V DC (adapter not included) and PoE via a built-in RJ-45 port.

Available now, the EnGenius EWS377AP is priced at $339 MSRP.

Bloomberg yesterday reported that Marvell is selling its Wi-Fi chip business to NXP Semiconductors for $1.76 Billion.

The report says "The all-cash acquisition includes Marvell’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology and related assets, and will allow the automotive industry’s biggest chip supplier to offer customers a broader range of options to connect devices to the internet."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-wi-fi-connectivity-unit-in-1-76-billion-dealhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-wi-fi-connectivity-unit-in-1-76-billion-deal.

This marks the second Wi-Fi chip manufacturer moving from being a direct Wi-Fi device supplier to essentially a provider of embedded Wi-Fi in the past few months. ON Semiconductor bought Quantenna back in March for around $1B.

U.S. antitrust officials investigating Broadcom Inc. are significantly broadening their scrutiny to focus on whether the chipmaker abused its dominance to sell some of its most important semiconductor products, according to documents and a person familiar with the probe.
Full article on Bloomberg.

Dan Goodin at Ars reports that pretty much all of Linksys EA, Velop, WRT and XAC Wi-Fi router models are regularly leaking full historic records of every device that has ever connected to them, including devices' unique identifiers, names, and the operating systems they use.

Continue reading on Ars

TRENDnet’s two new multi-gigabit USB-C 3.1 adapters are the TUC-ET2G and TUC-ET5G, each supporting up to 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps, respectively.

The new low-profile adapters don’t require any external power, connecting customers’ computers to faster networks via an integrated 4.9 inch USB-C 3.1 cable, and are compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. Other notes about the TUC-ET2G and TUC-ET5G include they support 802.1p (CoS) and 802.1Q (VLAN) and are compatible with Cat5e or better cabling.

The TRENDnet TUC-ET2G USB-C 3.1 to 2.5GBASE-T Ethernet Adapter is available now for $59.99 MSRP, while the TUC-ET5G USB-C 3.1 to 5GBASE-T Ethernet Adapter will be available in early June for $124.99.

TP-Link announced its budget-friendly Deco W2400 dual-band Wi-Fi system - a $99 AC1200 two-node mesh kit that can be purchased exclusively in-store at Walmart or on Walmart.com.

The product looks like a re-branded bundle of the three node Deco M4, announced last month, with per-node pricing reduced to $50 from $60.

TP-Link says the Deco W2400 kit covers up 3,000 sq. ft., connecting up to 100 devices. Additional nodes can also be added for expanded coverage.

Through Walmart, TP-Link is able to introduce mesh networking features, such as seamless roaming, adaptive path selection and self-healing, to a broader audience that would usually not consider mesh networking as a cost-effective home solution.

Other Deco W2400 features include user profiles, parental controls (set time limits and content filtering),...

Composed of EnGenius’ recently announced ESR530 wireless mesh router and a single EMD11 (AKA MESHdot) wall-pluggable mesh node, the AC1300 MESHdot Kit wireless system is now shipping and priced at $99 MSRP.

Powered by Qualcomm’s 717 MHz quad-core processor and a 4x ARM Cortex A7 processor, respectively, and armed with omni-directional antennas, the ESR530 and EMD11 produce maximum link rates of 400 Mbps @ 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps @ 5 GHz. For larger spaces, the MESHdot Kit can expand up to eight EMD11 MESHdots nodes.

MESHdot Kit works with two EnGenius apps; the EnMesh app is used for setting up the MESHdot kit and managing features such as Parental Control, while the EnFile app lets customers create their own cloud-like file services using USB storage attached to the ESR530 router.

Interfaces on the ESR530 include two GbE ports...

The first Wi-Fi performance test standard will change the way we test Wi-Fi products.

Continue reading on SmallNetBuilder.

TP-Link’s new set of compact-sized USB adapters include the Archers T3U, T2U Nano, and T2U Plus. All three products are dual-band wireless AC devices, support WPA and WPA2 encryption protocols and are Windows 10/8.1/8/7/XP and Mac OS X compatible.

Starting with the T3U, this new mini wireless USB adapter is the only one in this set supporting MU-MIMO and USB 3.0 ports. An AC1300 device, the T3U is also the fastest of the three new adapters with maximum link rates 400 Mbps @ 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps @ 5 GHz.

TP-Link also introduces two AC600 T2U models. The T2U Nano is a low-profile version of this USB adapter line, while the larger T2U Plus is the larger wireless adapter that includes 256QAM support and an adjustable 5dBi high-gain multi-directional antenna. Both T2U models have maximum link rates of 200 Mbps @ 2.4 GHz and 433 Mbps @ 5 GHz.

As for availability, all three TP-Link USB adapters can be bought online in April, starting with...

The next-generation Wi-Fi Protected Access protocol released 15 months ago was once hailed by key architects as resistant to most types of password-theft attacks that threatened its predecessors. On Wednesday, researchers disclosed several serious design flaws in WPA3 that shattered that myth.
Continue reading on ArsTechnica

With an MSRP of $69.99, EnGenius’ new ESR530 is a dual-band wireless AC router that can grow up to an 8-node wireless mesh network.

Powered by Qualcomm, the new mesh product was designed for the consumer market and includes seamless roaming and self-healing - functions typically found in today’s mesh wireless systems.

Customers can attach a USB storage device to the ESR530 and use EnGenius’ EnFile app to access their stored data from their mobile devices, giving them remote access from where ever they are. A second app, EnMesh, is a management tool that lets customers set up and manage their ESR530-based network remotely, letting owners manage features like guest networking and parental controls. Additional ESR530 nodes are easily added with the router’s auto-connect feature, simplifying the growth of a bigger wireless network.

The EnGenius ESR530 is available...