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A cinch to go wireless [New Straits Time (Malaysia)](New Straits Time (Malaysia) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A wireless smart home is seen as a necessity these days. With the availability of home networking solutions, consumers can enjoy seamless connectivity between multiple devices. Video streaming, music and file sharing and other bandwidth-intensive activities are now available at your finger tips. However, the home network is proving to be a complex mix of various devices connecting to different platforms and consumers are demanding reliability and speed to meet their digital lifestyle needs. Having your various smart devices running on individual connections at home (for example, your smartphone on 3G at home) add to the bills. Most have taken to connecting it to the default wireless router provided by a telecommunications service provider. However, does that wireless router really allow optimal connectivity to all your devices? Is your wireless router user friendly? Does it help to manage your power consumption? Probably not. More people are connecting multiple devices such as smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, computers, game consoles and printers to their home network and engaging in bandwidth-intensive activities such as streaming videos and playing online games. However, they are not upgrading their router to meet the current digital lifestyle needs. The router plays a central role not only in connecting devices to the Internet but also in connecting multiple devices to each other to enjoy wireless freedom when they stream movies from the computer to the TV, share photos from the smartphone with the tablet, print wirelessly and more. Upgrading the router not only enhances the performance of the wireless connection but also optimises the capabilities of the devices. There is a growing trend for consumers to purchase their own wireless router. Choosing your own wireless router will help you to create the ultimate home networking experience with better video streaming performance, a smoother gaming experience and most importantly, greater speed and range. With a good router, you can experience a transmission speed of up to 450 Mbps at home. This will enable you to have the best experience in streaming music and video and across multiple devices (smart TVs, tablets, notebooks and smartphones) at the same time. A good router will also enable you to set up a small office and enhance your productivity by allowing staff to share file storage in a networked attached storage device, share printer wirelessly and access your documents within the network remotely. KEY FACTORS There are three key factors to keep in mind when going about creating a simple and powerful wireless network at home: software simplicity, performance and design. When choosing your router, make sure the software that comes with it is simple to use. You should only need to do a few clicks, follow some simple instructions and get things done in a simple manner. For example, the "Cisco Connect" software that comes bundled with the latest range of Linksys E and X Series makes it easy for you to set up, manage and add multiple devices to your network. It also comes with a Parental Control feature that allows you to control when and how your kids' PCs, notebooks or tablets access the Internet! A downloadable Cisco Connect Express app also adds to the ease of managing your network from a mobile device within your home. In terms of performance, the router needs to ensure the best video streaming experience, coverage and speed within your home while ensuring a secure connection. For example, if there is a notebook and iPad streaming YouTube videos at the same time, you will experience lagging transmission if you use a low end router that cannot support video streaming, even though you are subscribed to a high speed broadband plan from your Internet service provider. Do not let the router be your bottleneck! Design-wise, just like your notebook, phone, bag or shoes, no one wants to buy an ugly product. Your device should match your home environment, especially since it is an important device that should not be hidden. Recent developments in designs that eliminate visible antennas have taken into account the desire for sleek contours, while not compromising on advanced functionality. Technological advancements have allowed for internal antennas, which are virtually less obtrusive and visually more pleasing. Even though the antennas are now hidden within, it is still powerful enough to provide the desirable speed and coverage. In fact, the Linksys E4200 Wireless-N router is equipped with six built-in antennas. Routers are now able to have innovative designs which consumers will be proud to display in the home environment. CHOOSING A ROUTER The router you choose is your home's brain. It should give you easy access to the Internet and your wireless devices whilst providing you with a secure connection. When choosing your router, keep the current and future needs of your family or small business in mind. The Linksys E4200, for example, is a Dual Band with maximum speed up to 750 Mbps that comes with a USB port. Home theatre ready, the RM599 router gives HD quality performance for smart TVs, Media Players, Game Consoles and more. It also streams HD or 3D video and music plus multiplayer gaming and connects multiple devices - TVs, Blu-Ray players, gaming consoles, tablets and notebooks. The Linksys E4200 is able to stream video across multiple devices at the same time. Users can also connect USB devices (like external hard disk) to the router to share photos and music on the smart TV, tablets or notebooks in the home network. (c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |