Cisco E4200 - The Gaming, NAS, Home Router

Cisco E4200 is the latest home networking release from Cisco to provide some serious benefits to a busy home full of online parents and teenagers. The E4200 Maximum Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Router offers true dual-band with 450Mbps on the 5GHz band; Gigabit Ethernet; fast throughput; a long range; Network Attached Storage functionality; a nice set of networking features; and a good Web interface. The 2.4GHz does not offer the 450Mbps throughput, but it is fast.  The guest network is nice to have, and will allow up to 10 guests at one time.

If you have an active online household, share files across your network and want the fastest rouuter to make this happen, then checkout the E4200.  Cost is about $180.

Thanks to Eric Blizard for pointing out the E4200.

WD Livewire - Extend the Internet in your house!

Recently purchased a WD Livewire ($100) to extend my wired network upstairs to a bonus room with an Xbox, DVD player, printer, etc.  Livewire gives you two adapters, 1) you plug into your router and an electrical outlet, 2) you plug the other adapter into any outlet in the house where you want to extend your wired network.

The adapters give you 4 ports to wire-in Internet capable devices.

I am getting far better throughput and consistent 125-150 Mb/s on my internal network.  The Wifi I was using to reach the bonus room would typically drop-off and sometimes the signal would drop all at once.  This no longer happens.  I am a big fan of the WD Livewire.

Thanks to Bill Koch for turning me on to the WD Livewire.