While Wi-Fi AD speeds (7.2Gbps) are definitely part of the 2017 landscape, it is more about what a mix of good Wi-Fi, the right range extenders, and Ethernet cabling can do for home networking to supporting the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT), VR, 4K streaming and home security.
NETGEAR released a comprehensive range at the recent 2017 Consumer Electronics Show and several devices won CES Innovation Awards
One of the most sought-after products was a NETGEAR S8000 8-port gigabit Ethernet switch with 4 x 1000Mbps link aggregation for up to 4Gbps streaming to 4K video, VR, and backup devices. Port aggregation is becoming indispensable for large data files – Netflix’s 4K highly compressed video streaming is 7GB per hour. A 4K uncompressed movie occupies about 5.3GB per minute – around 700GB for a movie.
Also in vogue for 2017 is the return of small to medium business based Network Attached Storage (cloud storage is still too slow and incurs costly data charges), PoE+ web managed switches, 4G LTE fall over modems, and business-grade Wi-Fi access points.
Patrick Lo, NETGEAR CEO and Founder, said, “For more than 20 years, our innovative networking solutions have continually expanded the outer limits of speed, connectivity, and intelligence. We connect the world – whether it be people to people, people to things, or things to things – both inside the smart home and outside in the mobile world, to enhance people’s lives.”
“Now, a growing number of devices have the intelligence to speak directly to each other through the connected home and mobile networks made possible by NETGEAR. Whether it’s in streaming media, securing your home, or sharing business-critical data, NETGEAR is creating a new — and better — relationship between you and your world to help you thrive,” he added.
Wi-Fi AD7200 is fast but you need AD equipped end-points for maximum speed
iTWire covered the X10 AD7200 announcement last October and is yet to review the R9000. Early international reviews state that it can indeed stream 4K video content over Wi-Fi, especially when married to a ReadyNAS Networked Attached Server and using port aggregation.
Wi-Fi AD7200 is made up as follows: 2.4HGHz x 800Mbps, 5GHz x 1733Mbps and 60GHz (AD) of 4600Mbps. The latter speed requires AD endpoints that won’t really come into mainstream use for a year or so. In the interim, there will be AD USB dongles to add this functionality to computers. But the real reason to buy this is future-proofing – most routers are bought with a 5-10-year usage time frame. Note that 60GHz signals are “shorter” meaning that they don’t extend as far as 5GHz and 2.4GHz respectively.
With that in mind, you can save money using NETGEAR’s excellent AC5300 router (R8500) that received iTWire’s tick of approval as it edged slightly above other AC5300 contenders for the most mature firmware and its active antenna. But it was very close!
Tri-band Mesh router – what Orbi means
Orbi is a mesh system – in other words, you can “weave” Wi-Fi around the home and to the garden shed by meshing satellite units together. Where ever you are in the mesh, your device will connect to a single SSID and the strongest signal. That is different to a typical range extender.
Each Orbi covers about 185m2 of home space at up to AC3000 speed (dual band 2.4GHz and 5GHz 400Mbps, 866Mbps and 1733Mbps) with MU-MIMO and Beamforming. Importantly each provides up to four gigabit Ethernet ports and one USB 3.0 port. One connects to the existing gateway modem via Ethernet and the others are placed strategically around the home with the help of a placement app.
Wi-Fi cameras can keep you safer
While I was impressed with the quality of the Arlo range of security cameras I cautioned readers that lack of local storage (cloud storage only) on some models and lack of a comprehensive network-based security platform limited the appeal. Never-the-less it is now a very comprehensive range and deserves consideration if only for the incredible flexibility offered across the range.
In December, NETGEAR acquired Place meter an industry leader in computer vision analytics for transforming video into meaningful data that makes the physical world safer, smarter and more efficient. Place meter’s world class technology will merge with the Arlo Smart Home Security team to apply smart machine learning to NETGEAR products, beginning with cutting-edge video analytics solutions for the Arlo camera platform.
NAS (Network attached storage) is not scary – it is easy
Cloud storage can be expensive and slow – after a shooting a 100 or so 12MP photos (average size 4-5MB) I can have 500GB to upload to the cloud. But even at blazing fast – not – speed of 256kbps upload (Telstra Ultimate cable 100Mbps down and 256Kbps up) it takes well over 5 hours to upload.
When NBN offer synchronous cloud (same speed both ways) I will consider it. For now, a NAS attached to the network gives me 1000Gbps (or more if I port aggregate) potential speed (if you plug the smartphone into the network) or over Wi-Fi AC it takes about 5 minutes.
Same goes with streaming video – file sizes for HD content are usually 2GB for a movie. It is far faster to download the movie to the NAS and then stream from there (if you provider allows it) and some NAS have built-in DLNA and Plex media servers (eliminates the need for a separate computer to act as a streaming device).
NAS is also good for small business that may want to move to the cloud but cannot get the upload speeds or cost effective links.
The nice thing is that Netgear’s ReadyNAS also allow remote connection (good for the home user too). It comes in 2, 4, 6 and 8 bay models and you can popular them with drives of your choice – theoretically up to 80TB! Look closely at the 200 and 300 series.
