NETGEAR Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router

Two Simultaneous Networks In One Wireless Router Optimized For Bandwidth-Intensive Video Streaming And Gaming At 108 Mbps Speeds Over 802.11a- And 802.11b/g-Compliant Networks

13-Oct-04

NETGEAR, Inc., a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, today announced that its new Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router (WGU624) has been certified by Microsoft Corp. for interoperability with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and Xbox Live. The Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router was made available to customers earlier this month. NETGEAR is exhibiting its wireless networking solutions, including the Double 108 Mbps Router, in the Partner Pavilion of Microsoft's ""Digital Entertainment Anywhere"" Launch Event, being held today in the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router is designed to address the growing need to support multiple networked devices and applications in the digitally connected home by enabling data prioritization in wireless home networks. It simultaneously establishes two 108 Mbps wireless networks: a 2.4 GHz 802.11g wireless network for Web access, e-mail, and downloads, and a 5 GHz 802.11a wireless network for premium traffic such as high-quality video streaming and large file transfer. Equipped with Super A/G technology from Atheros Communications, the Double 108 Wireless Router delivers a super-fast 108 Mbps data transfer rate over both the 802.11g and 802.11a streams, while maintaining backwards-compatibility with both wireless standards. The Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router is also the first to market with Atheros eXtended Range XR technology, offering up to three times the range of basic 802.11g technology. With Windows XP Media Center 2005-based PCs, consumers get the best version of Windows ever for the home, offering the full capabilities of a Windows XP-based PC with exciting new experiences for music, digital photography, movies, and television. ""We're delighted to be working with Microsoft as we strive to offer customers a wider range of options for networking multiple entertainment devices in the digital home, "" said David Henry, Product Line Manager for Home Routers at NETGEAR. ""Our customers like to watch movies and home video files on their TV sets, but the content often resides on the PC. They want to stream wirelessly to the TV but find too much congestion on their existing wireless network to maintain the throughput required for a seamless experience.""We believe that 802.11a wireless technology is optimal for realizing uninterrupted video streaming. Therefore, a combination of the NETGEAR Double 108 Mbps Router with the Microsoft Media Center Edition PC and Extender is the complete solution for streaming video without jitter or delay while serving the entire network,"" Mr. Henry added. NETGEAR worked closely with Microsoft to test and verify seamless interoperability. Consumers can confidently install the Double 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router as the core of a home wireless network, secure in the knowledge that its performance is optimized for video streaming and online gaming with the Microsoft-enabled products. Customers are unchained from their PCs when enjoying digital content, as the Double 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router wirelessly streams video content from Media Center Edition PCs to the Media Center Extenders for display on the home television set. Xbox Live gamers will benefit from the added speed and range of the router, which includes a dedicated hardware DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) port to make online gaming simple and secure. ""NETGEAR is a valued associate whose innovations help us realize our vision of Digital Media Anywhere with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005,"" said Kevin Unangst, Director of Windows Consumer Marketing for Microsoft. ""Media Center Edition customers will benefit from NETGEAR's easy-to-use, innovative, and high-performance home networking products."" By utilizing the 802.11a network, users can separate and stream bandwidth-intensive traffic for priority applications such as home-based businesses and video streaming from the often-crowded 2.4 GHz band, which can be hindered by interference from microwave ovens and cordless telephones. Since 802.11a provides 13 non-overlapping channels and is scheduled to offer 24 non-overlapping channels by summer 2005, users will no longer be forced to compete with their neighbors' wireless networks for bandwidth. Users can continue to utilize the 108 Mbps 802.11g 2.4 GHz network for lower-priority applications such as e-mail, online gaming, file downloads, and Internet browsing. The NETGEAR Double 108 Mbps Wireless Router (WGU624), and its companion Double 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card (WG511U), are available at a suggested retail price of $129 for the router and $79 for the PC card.

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