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NETGEAR had more to share for CES 2019, including a 5G Hotspot, new Nighthawk DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem and higher security for Orbi.

The Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot (shown above) is the first announced standards-based millimeter wave mobile 5G device, available exclusively on the AT&T Mobile 5G Network. It uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon X50 5G modem, the world’s first commercial 5G NR modem featuring millimeter wave. No pricing or availability was given.

The CM1150V Nighthawk Cable Telephony modem for Xfinity Voice is the world’s first-to-market retail DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem with two telephone ports that automatically prioritize voice over internet protocol (VoIP) traffic. Although it is designed to support Multi-Gig high speed service plans, that feature won't be launched until "mid Q1" (2019). As indicated above, the CM1150V will be available later this month and lists for $250.

NETGEAR's...

NETGEAR today announced it will be shipping a Wi-Fi 6 (draft 802.11ax) version of its top-0f-line Orbi RBK50 in the second half of this year.

The company released relatively few details on the RBK152, only saying it will be Qualcomm-based, use a quad-core processor, support 12 streams and have a dedicated 4z4 Wi-Fi 6 backhaul. The announcement didn't say whether the client-facing radios would be Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Pricing was not announced.

This would be the second Wi-Fi 6 product based on Qualcomm's AX chipset NETGEAR has announced. It has yet to release the RAX120 Nighthawk AX12, which was quietly announced back in November, for general shipment. The RAX120 is available only through an invitation-only "Premiere Membership Beta" program, with no announced pricing.

In addition to the high-end RT-AX88U (dual-band 4x4, AX6000) and ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 (tri-band 4x4, AX11000) Asus announced today a mid-range Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) router, the RT-AX58U, based on Intel silicon.

The AX3000 class router supports draft 802.11ax on both bands with 2x2 MIMO as well as OFDMA, MU-MIMO and ASUS' AiMesh. It's based on the Intel WAV654 chipset,

Pricing and availability are not publicly known yet.

TP-Link is moving aggressively toward 802.11ax (aka Wi-Fi 6), being the first to announce a low-cost dual-stream router and Mesh Wi-Fi system.
TP-Link re-introduced two of its new Broadcom-based "Archer" family AX routers that were announced last month, the Archer AX6000 and Archer AX11000.

The new Archer AX1800 (shown above) is the least expensive Wi-Fi 6 router announced by anyone so far. At $130 MSRP, it's significantly cheaper than both the $350 AX6000 and $450 AX11000. The entry-level dual-stream Broadcom-based router is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU and has maximum link rates of 574 Mbps at 2.4 GHz (40 MHz B/W) and 1201 Mbps at 5 GHz (80 MHz B/W).

Other features include beamforming, MU-MIMO, OFDMA, Link Aggregation, band steering, VPN services, and compatibility with Alexa and IFTTT. Available...

Linksys announced its first new products since it was bought by Foxconn last March.

The MR8300 MAX STREAM AC2200 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi Router appears to be its EA8300 with new firmware that will form a mesh network with a single Velop Mesh node. It lists for $199.99 and will be shipping shortly.

The only other Linksys announcement was of its Linksys Shield "premium" subscription software service for "Velop Tri-Band" users. The terse announcement did not indicate any free trial periods and listed a Parental Control (content filtering) subscription at $4.99/mo. or $49.99/yr., available February 2019 and a Network Security subscription for $1.99/mo., $19.99/yr., available "later in 2019".

Linksys is the only major consumer networking product company that has not announced its Wi-Fi 6/802.11ax...

D-Link is adding three new items to its list of home automation products, including two new smartplugs (indoor and outdoor models) and a water sensor. The company is also updating their mydlink app with updated features to accommodate newer and more older products.
First off, the slimly-designed Indoor Wi-Fi Smart Plug (DSP-W118) works with Google Assistant, Alexa and IFTTT, doesn’t require a hub, gets over-the-air upgrades and has controls for outlet power, scheduling and timer functions.

The second smart plug, the Outdoor Wi-Fi Smart Plug (DSP-W320), has features similar to the new indoor model, but is encased in a IP44-rated weatherproof case for outdoor use and includes two plugs versus the indoor model’s single plug design.

Both plugs have 125V/15A ratings and work with the mydlink app.
Lastly, D-Link’s Battery Wi-Fi Water Sensor (DCH-S161)...

ASUS' Lyra Voice mesh router /Alexa powered smart speaker combo announced at last year's CES, now has a price and ship date. The company announced today it will be available "in the coming weeks" for $219.99 MSRP.

The hardware hasn't changed since last year's announcement and still is built around an 802.11ac (aka Wi-Fi 5) 2x2 three radio tri-band design. It also has Amazon Alexa built in and can be used as a Bluetooth-paired speaker.

The main change is that instead of just working only with ASUS Lyra mesh routers, it now will mesh with any ASUS router supporting its AiMesh system.

Visit the Lyra Voice product page for more info.

D-Link has refreshed its Exo wireless router family and added mesh capability to the five routers and two extenders announced today.

All the new Exo routers have Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN, 4 LAN), USB 3.0 port for storage sharing and support some management capabilities through Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

The two mesh extenders each have one Gigabit Ethernet port that allows them to work as Ethernet bridges for wired devices.


The new router family will all include a security suite powered by McAfee that includes parental controls with content filtering. The McAfee suite includes five years of free protection for all connected devices and two years of free McAfee app-based antivirus protection for Windows, MacOs, Android and iOS devices.

All Exo routers and points are expected to be available in Q2 of 2019. MSRPs are:
AC3000 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $199.99...

D-Link has announced a router with built-in 5G radio.

The DWR-2010 5G NR Enhanced Gateway features an embedded 5G NR (New Radio) NSA module and can operate on the sub-6 GHz or mmWave frequencies in 200 MHz (2 x 100 MHz) or 800 MHz (8 x 100 MHz) configurations.

The new router is based on Qualcomm's SDX55 chipset and supports 3GPP Release 15 and VoLTE. The Wi-Fi side has a Wi-Fi 5 AC2600 class dual-band radio supporting MU-MIMO.

Ethernet port complement includes three switched gigabit LAN ports, one gigabit switchable LAN/WAN port and one multi-gigabit 1/2.5 LAN port.

Since the product won't ship until the "second half of 2019", neither pricing nor detailed specs were revealed. The only performance clue provided was that the router "enables download speeds more than 40x faster than current average fixed broadband download speed in the U.S. of 70 Mbps", which would be around 2.8 Gbps.

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Designed for workers on the go, QNAP’s portable TBS-453DX NASbook is a portable caching NAS device.

It uses four M.2 2280 SATA SSDs (not included) for storage and is powered by Intel’s 14nm Celeron J4105 quad-core 1.5 GHz processor and 4 GB/ 8 GB DDR4 dual-channel RAM (upgradable to 8 GB).

When enabled with the upcoming Cloud Gateway Service (available in the upcoming QTS 4.4.1 release), QNAP says their new desktop NAS lets customers map up to 20 cloud storage spaces and access cached online files as quickly as if those files were sitting on local storage.

TBS-453DX runs QTS operating system and can also be used as a media device via Plex or Roon server and also supports video play to TVs and displays via HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz), and can convert 4K videos to various universal formats.

The current TBS-453DX lineup includes:

• TBS-453DX-4G: 4 GB DDR4 RAM (2 x 2 GB), upgradable to 8 GB
• TBS-453DX-8G: 8 GB DDR4 RAM (2 x 4 GB)...

The new QNAP TS-x83XU series of enterprise NAS products is comprised of seven different models, each powered by an Intel Xeon E processor and ECC DDR4 memory (upgradeable to 64 GB).

Ranging from 8-bay to 24-bay models, the TS-x83XU series NAS supports hot-swappable 3.5”/2.5” SATA HDDs/SSDs and includes two 10GbE SFP+ ports using Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx SmartNIC controllers, and two Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps ports. All TS-x83XU models support VMware, Citrix, and MS Hyper-V and Windows Server 2016.

The first five models listed below also include four GbE LAN ports, four PCIe Gen3 expansion slots (one slot comes with a pre-installed 10GbE NIC) and four Type-A USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps ports.

• TS-883XU-E2124-8G: 2U rackmount with 8 drive bays, Intel Xeon E-2124 quad-core 3.3 GHz processor (burst up to 4.3 GHz), 8 GB ECC RAM (4 GB x2), 350W single PSU
• TS-883XU-RP-E2124-8G: 2U rackmount with 8 drive bays, Intel Xeon E-2124 quad-core...

EnGenius’ AC1300 MESHDot Kit is composed of the EMR3500 wireless mesh router and a small wall-pluggable wireless node called a MESHdot (EMD11). Both devices in the kit are Qualcomm-powered and designed for consumer use.

The EMR3500 router uses a 360° antenna that helps it connect to up eight MESHdot nodes on the wireless network. The MESHdot node itself is a plug-and-play device that plugs directly into a wall outlet and uses EnGenius’ EnMesh technology to provides wireless connectivity to mobile devices around the home.

As a whole, the MESHdot kit includes familiar features including automatic firmware updating, guest networking, and parental controls such as getting real-time data on who’s on the network, creating and maintaining rules to banning connections, enforce scheduled internet access times, or restricting access to social media, search engines and online video content.

MESHdot Kit includes two apps used to install, manage,...

The Archer AX11000 is a tri-band design with a second 5 GHz radio. It competes most directly with ASUS' ROG Rapture GT-AX11000, which is also a three-radio draft 11ax product. Although NETGEAR's Qualcomm-based RAX120 is also billed as...

Our first look at the performance of NETGEAR's RAX80 and ASUS' RT-AX88U shows little benefit functioning as AC routers.

Read on SmallNetBuilder

Qualcomm revealed their new flagship chipset today in Hawaii aimed at the high-end phones of 2019, and it comes with a lot of firsts. The Snapdragon 855 mobile platform features Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) support, 802.11ay support in the 60GHz band and WPA3 security support, all 3 not seen before in any mobile chipset.

Soon be released alongside TP-Link’s new OC200 Cloud Controller, the Omada Business Wireless System will consist of the OC200, two 802.11n/ac access points, centralized controller software, and a mobile app. Designed for businesses, TP-Link mentions Omada would be a good fit for places “such as schools, resorts, retail stores and more.”

The included OC200 cloud controller uses auto-discovery to speed up the setup process and is manageable via mobile app or computer, while Omada’s pair of Wireless AC EAP200 series APs provide dual-band service to the office wireless network.

Other features mentioned include a customizable portal for easier guest sign-in via Facebook or SMS, and a limited lifetime warranty.

The TP-Link Omada Business Wireless System will be available in mid-November, along with the OC200. Pricing for both items hasn’t been...

The first of the two new APs is the EWS357AP, a 2x2 802.11ax access point powered by a Qualcomm chipset. Targeting small and medium businesses, EnGenius believes their new access points will help early adopting SMBs bridge over to the latest AX standard.

The low-profile EWS357AP will support 1x1 and 2x2 clients and is backward compatible with legacy Wi-Fi standards, as well as supporting AX-compatible devices. Features include OFDMA, uplink/downlink of MU-MIMO, BSS Coloring tags and target wake time for power saving, as well as having mass configuration capabilities.

Along with the EWS357AP, EnGenius is also announcing the EWS377AP, a 4x4 access point designed for higher density areas. Not much was mentioned regarding EWS377AP's feature set, so be sure to check out the EnGenius website for more information.

Available in early Q1, the EnGenius EWS357AP’s MSRP is set at $189 MSRP, while the...

Synology's DS119j $100 NAS is the least expensive NAS you can buy.

Read on SmallNetBuilder.

NETGEAR today decided to let some of us write about its draft 11ax routers.

Companies usually introduce new products--especially first-in-category / next-generation / top-of-line routers--with as much fanfare as they can muster. But NETGEAR is taking a different approach with its first two draft 11ax routers.

The company isn't issuing a press release to spread the news. Instead, they briefed me yesterday and provided the briefing deck to write coverage from. They also are taking a similar approach to ASUS with availability, letting product initially trickle out to retailers.

The Nighthawk RAX80 AX8 8-stream AX6000 WiFi Router and Nighthawk RAX120 AX12 12-stream AX6000 WiFi Router are worst-kept secrets anyway, at least to SNB readers. Both were outed from FCC...