Netgear’s CES lineup involves the usual network devices–media servers, 3G routers, and Powerline AV plugs–sprinkled with interesting features. Really, you never thought you needed so much networking equipment, but these things do make living in a digital world easier (but that’s just us. We’re a bunch of nerds). The lineup is headlined by the Digital Entertainer Express EVA9100, a media receiver that streams content from multiple sources (including the internet) to an HDTV. Seen as a stripped-down version of the company’s existing streamer (the Digital Entertainer Elite EVA9150), but without an internal hard drive and Wi-fi connection to keep the price down to $230.
The EVA9100 still keeps its predecessor’s basic stream-and-play capabilities though, allowing it to pull content from the internet (for movies and TV shows from Hulu, Netflix, CBS, etc) as well as from the home network (from connected computers, portable devices, and network-attached storage devices, which it detects and organizes into a media library) for instant playback on an HDTV via an HDMI connection. It’s limited to a wired Ethernet connection, but users can opt to pick up Netgear’s EVAW111 wireless USB adapter to give it wireless capability.
The two routers, the MBRN3000 and DGN2200M, aren’t your regular DSL internet-slingers; the $150 MBRN3000 is a mobile broadband router that comes with a USB port for plugging in a mobile 3G/4G or WiMAX modem The router then shares the mobile data connection to multiple users through a Wi-fi 802.11n connection.
Avoid long network cables: These HomePlugs will let you setup a network using your house's electrical wiring.
The DGN2200M adds to the previous router’s feature set, featuring a dual WAN connection that allows it to share an internet connection from both ADSL and 3G/4G/WiMAX. This makes sure you’ll always be connected, relying on the standard ADSL connection as its primary source, while giving the option to connect through a mobile network as a backup. The $180 DGN2200M also uses an 802.11n connection.
Finally, Netgear has also unveiled a pair of HomePlug kits called the PowerLine 200 AV and the Powerline 200 AV+. Both are standard HomePlug kits that allow you to establish network connections using a building’s existing electrical wiring (which is really nifty; especially when two points are too far away and a wireless connection isn’t a viable option—imagine a PC in the basement and a router way up along a far corner of the second floor). Both connect PCs with a 10/100 Ethernet connection but have slightly different form factors; the Powerline 200 AV model is a basic compact plug that sells for $150, while the AV+ adds a pass-through socket for $170. Both kits ship with two adapters.
Tags: HomePlugs, Media Streamers, NetGear, Routers, Wireless and Networking
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