Monday, December 23, 2002

D-Link has announced the AirPlus Xtreme G IEEE 802.11g draft compliant wireless networking line of products. When shipping in January, the initial line will consist of the $129.99 DI-624 Wireless Router with 4-port switch and $79.99 DWL-G650 CardBus Adapter, both running 54Mbps speeds backwards compatible with 802.11b. Both come with a 3-year warranty.

Thursday, December 19, 2002

Gateway is offering a Gateway Wireless Connectivity Bundle for $99 after rebates for anyone with a cable modem subscription purchased through them. The bundle includes an Intel wireless router, the RCA cable modem, and either a PC Card or USB adapter for one client system. Gateway covers about 85 percent of the cable modem accessible areas of the US with relationships with AT&T Broadband, Charter, Comcast, Cox and EarthLink - Time Warner.

Wednesday, December 18, 2002

DirecTV DSL may have a savior. Speakeasy is creating a program called DirectSwitch to move the 160,000 stranded users to its DSL service. They'll include free installation and hardware. More details are on the Web site or DirecTV DSL users can call 800-556-5829 from 6am to 7pm Pacific time Monday through Friday, or 9am to 5pm Saturdays.

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

According to a memo posted on their Web site, DirecTV Broadband, the digital subscriber line (DSL) service from DirecTV, is going under. Thirty days after December 16, 2002, the service will discontinue. The company is working with last-mile carriers to see if alternatives can be found for current customers. Get more information at www.directvdsl.com.

Intel now says that when the first laptops ship next year with its Banias Mobile Platform (with a new CPU, lower power consumption, and integrated Wi-Fi), the computers will initially support only 802.11b. Original Banias plans called for dual-band 802.11a/b, but that will follow later, but still in the first half of the year. Read the full story at 802.11 Planet.

Monday, December 16, 2002

Covad Communications is augmenting its digital subscriber line (DSL) offerings with long distance and local calling as part of a new bundled service for small businesses. Initially, the package -- featuring high-speed Internet access, e-mail, Web hosting, and service for up to eight phones -- will be available in the San Francisco area. If successful there, Covad is eyeing an additional 15 markets for 2003. Read the full story at Boston.internet.com.

Thursday, December 12, 2002

SMC Networks is now integrating the TZO Dynamic DNS Service from Tzolkin Corporation into its Barricade family of wired and wireless cable/DSL broadband routers. The TZO service allows people with dynamically assigned IP addresses from their broadband service provider to host a Web site -- TZO keeps the DNS records on the Internet up to date with whatever IP address the user is automatically assigned.

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Toshiba America Information Systems's new PCX5000 DOCSIS Wireless Cable Modem Gateway with JumpMASTER Self-Installation Wizard is now available to the public in CompUSA stores. It uses Safe@ security software from SofaWare, a company owned by VPN leader Check Point Software Technologies. It has four built-in 10/100 Ethernet ports and supports 802.11b clients. The product's retail price is $299.

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), with SMART Modular Technologies, is making a miniPCI card to go into laptops that will support both 802.11b and Bluetooth. Using a channel skipping technology, the card minimizes interference and boosts Bluetooth throughput by as much as 50%. Look for this card in laptops in mid-2003.

Linksys has launched a new network-attached storage (NAS) device. The EtherFast Instant GigaDrive (EFG80) is $549 and has 80GB of storage courtesy of an internal IDE hard drive. The unit can take up to a 120GB if you swap drives, plus a second drive bay can take up to another 120GB drive, for a total of 240GB maximum. It's the first NAS that supports Universal Plug-and Play (UPnP). It has a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port for connecting to your hub or switch, or can connect to a wireless network using a bridge like the Linksys Wireless Ethernet Bridge (WET11). The unit's own operating system resides in 16MB flash memory so it can be accessed even if a drive failure takes place.

Pioneer Electronics last week unveiled a three-way Wireless Gateway Modem that includes a four-port Ethernet switch, a wireless 802.11b access point, and a DOCSIS 1.1 compliant cable modem in one device. The BTM-850W also supports HomePNA 2.0 phoneline-based networks.

Monday, December 2, 2002

Phonex Broadband is lowering prices. The NeverWire 14 HomePlug powerline-based networking devices will drop from $129 to $99, or they can be purchased as a two-unit set for $189. As many as 16 NeverWire units can be used on a single network.