Netgear introduces 802.11a wireless broadband router

Netgear has introduced an 802.11a cable/DSL wireless broadband router that combines the high-performance benefits of a built-in 802.11a-compliant wireless access point with the functionality of a router. Connectivity is provided by a 4-port 10/100 Mb/s switch.

The router has dual processors and provides wireless data transmission speeds of up to 72 Mb/s in “turbo” mode in the 5.4 GHz spectrum while connecting multiple PCs to a DSL or cable modem. At an introductory price of $553, it’s primarily aimed at the small business market, although home “power users” will also be customers, predicted Kevin Allan, the company’s product line manager for business Internet access security products.

“Over time, we’re going to see the prices of 11a come down into the home sector as people start to see the speeds, the security, the ability to support more users and [as] volumes increase. From the start, the goal is to provide integrated router and access points for small business users and some power users at home,” he said.

Allan said that Netgear, for now, has not received “a lot of pushback” from broadband ISPs who are not eager to see their network offerings shared.

“I have the feeling that over time, for these products to be deployed [and]connected to cable services, they’re going to have to have some kind of feedback that tells you how many users are going to be on the network,” said Allan, who added that Netgear is working with the CableLabs consortium in setting up CableHome home networking specifications. “For now, I think it’s going to be kind of a wild frontier. There really isn’t criteria set up by the ISPs to allow them to see beyond just the physical connection.”

Allan said that 802.11a wireless offers a big advantage over emerging 802.11b fixed broadband wireless systems.

“11a is faster,” he said. “If it’s a simple one-user connecting out to the Internet, 11b will be good enough until broadband speeds start to pick up. Until then, 11a is probably more of a compelling solution to small businesses or homes where you have multiple users transferring sizable data files.”