After dipping its toe in the smart wireless router space last year by partnering with Asus and TP-Link, Google has begun selling its own WiFi routers. The aptly-named Google WiFi is a $130 router that you can set up and control using a smartphone app, making it easier to manage than most traditional routers. If […]
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Apple is getting out of WiFi router business (while Google is getting in)
Apple is shutting down its division that makes the company’s AirPort wireless routers, according to a new report from Bloomberg. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to any close Apple watchers: the company hasn’t released a new WiFi router in three years. But it is interesting that Apple seems to be getting out of […]
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Google WiFi pre-orders begin at Google Store, Amazon, and Best Buy
Google’s first consumer WiFi router is now available for pre-order for $129… or you can buy a 3-pack for $299. The reason you might want to consider buying more than a single router is that Google WiFi uses mesh networking to provide better coverage across your home. If you live in a studio apartment, one […]
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Netgear’s new router is its fastest (and most expensive) yet
Netgear is launching its first WiFi router that can be used high-speed 802.11ad wireless networks as well as 802.11ac. The Netgear Nighthawk X10 also has a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor, support for 10Gigabit wired networks, and a built-in Plex Media server, which allows you to stream media from connected storage without turning on a PC. Those features […]
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$129 Google WiFi is Google’s first router
Google is launching a WiFi router, cleverly called Google WiFi. While the company had worked with TP-Link and Asus to launch OnHub routers in the past, the new Google WiFi router is designed and sold directly by Google. It’s a modular router system too… so you can buy one router and put it in a […]
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Deals of the Day (9-30-2016)
If you haven’t upgraded your WiFi router in a while, now’s as good a time as any to make the move to a model with dual-band 802.11ac capabilities. Newegg is offering an Asus AC1200 router for $50 (after rebate), which is about half the list price for this model. Amazon also has a Linksys AC1200 […]
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Netgear joins the quest for better WiFi through multiple devices
Having trouble getting WiFi to blanket your whole house? You might need a better router: switching from a $30 802.11b/g/n router to a dual-band 802.11ac WiFi router a few years ago did wonders for the connectivity in our house. But sometimes that’s not good enough… and over the past year or so a number of companies have […]
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FCC settlement means TP-Link routers might support third-party firmware after all
Remember how TP-Link decided that the simplest way to comply with FCC’s new rules for wireless routers was to make it difficult for users to load third-party firmware on the company’s products? Yeah, it looks like the company has agreed to “work with the open-source community and Wi-Fi chipset manufacturers to enable third-party firmware.” So […]
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TP-Link’s $350 Talon AD7200 is the first 802.11ad router
So the good news is that you can now buy the first wireless router to support 802.11ad or WiGig technology. The even better news is that it supports crazy fast wireless data transfer speeds. While 802.11ad might sound like a replacement for 802.11ac WiFi, it isn’t. Instead, the new WiGig protocol is designed to offer speedy, […]
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Google’s OnHub routers get smart home features with IFTTT
Google’s OnHub series routers are designed to be easy to use and attractive enough that you might not want to hide them underneath or behind furniture (which can actually improve performance since the signal won’t be obstructed). But another thing that sets OnHub devices from Asus and TP-Link apart from most other routers is their support for […]