LINKSYS E4200 WIRELESS-N ROUTER: BRINGING SEXY BACK INTO THE EQUATION

Routers are one of those things that always seem to end up in the deepest and darkest crevices of the home. Putting them in such places are in no way functionally ideal, but who really has a choice unless the sight of an odd antenna or two poking out from the bookshelf is your idea of geek aesthetics.

Linksys, a name that has been involved in the router business for a number of years now, fully recognizes this “problem” and is aiming to remedy it with a red dot award winning design concept on their new Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Router.

Combining all their router technology goodness – such as six internal antennas, 300Mbps/450Mbps (2.4/5.0GHz) throughput, and a USB port for network storage – with a healthy dose of aesthetic charm, it looks like this router may actually look good enough to be worthy of a space on the display unit now.

Performance:

• Maximum performance of up to 300 Mbps (2.4) and up to 450 Mbps (5.0GHz)
• Simultaneous dual-band (2.4 and 5.0 GHz) with four 10/100/100 gigabit ports
• 3X3 internal MIMO special stream configuration on the 5.0 Ghz band for ideal performance for streaming HD videos, gaming and voice
• Internal and external amplifiers for maximum speed at greater distances for added in-home mobility
• Six antennas for maximum range

Features:

• Quality of Service (QoS) for prioritizing bandwidth for movies, voice or music
• UPnP media server for adding on storage to serve your Internet-enabled TVs or media server PCs
• USB port for easily adding external storage drives
• red dot award winning design, with its contemporary and stylish exterior

Software:

• Advanced security: WPA and WPA2 and Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) Firewall
• Plans to support IPv6 in July 2011
• Cisco Connect software for enabling simple setup, network management tools (parental controls, guest access) and optional advanced settings