The popularity of laptops and netbooks has given a boost to the use of WiFi USB ?Dongles? to access the Internet. But these dongles are essentially designed to be used with one machine at a time and are preferred only while we are on the move to check our mail or perform some other urgent tasks. And, of course, they are still very expensive to use.
The other option we have to dawdle on the net is the good old ?ADSL? that comes as a payload with landline telephones connections. It?s cheap and it?s fast, but it?s wired, hence confined to one place. But if you love your mobility and have more than one computer at home and want to avoid those long entangling network of wires and cables, then you are left with no choice but to use a wireless router.
Wireless networking, though not rocket science, is still a rather complex task for the average computer user like us. To help overcome these hurdles, Belkin, a leader in connectivity solutions, has launched their flagship home use wireless router, ?Play Max?, in India this week.
The matt-grey coloured, upright plastic console is well contoured with rounded corners and edges to appear sleek and elegant. On the front it has one neon (on the flattened top corner) that glows lemon green when powered-on and connected to the net, and blinks red when there is no connectivity (though I would have preferred an array of LEDs to show the strength of signal and other related activities).
On the rear panel it has two USB2 ports (to connect a printer and an external storage device), four Gigabit Ethernet ports (for wired connections), and a yellow coloured WAN port to connect to an ADSL broadband modem along with the 12 volts DC power-in socket and a red ?Reset? button.
With no external antenna of any sort, this dual band (N+N) router has ?three-dimensional whole home? (3D) coverage, meaning you will get a consistent signal through the walls and floor even in your bedroom in a duplex apartment.
The ?Play Max? router is designed for user friendliness and easy installation. Out of the box, it comes with tags attached to the wires and a simple diagram showing how the connections have to be made in three easy steps. The only time-consuming process is the installation of software from the accompanying CD on the main computer. Once the software is installed and cables plugged-in, the rest of the set-up is simple. Just key in the supplied ?SSID name? and ?Password?, and you are connected to the wild-wild world of the Internet wirelessly.
Belkin has taken out all the complex work of setting up your router by providing a pre-customised wireless password and SSID in the box, saving you the hassles and frustration that otherwise plaguing the procedure. I could manage it in three minutes flat, minus the software installation time, and got my network functioning.
The ?Play Max? works on dual band, dual concurrent Radio (2.4GHz and 5GHz ISM, 802.11a/b/g/n) radio frequency and uses MIMO technology (multi input, multi output) to be able to stream HD content and attain rated speed of 300Mbps.
The router is designed to create a wireless network at home connecting a number of PCs and Notebooks to perform various tasks, like playing games, stream videos, download torrents and using common USB printer and external storage device.
The ?Play Max? WiFi router comes with a plethora of funny sounding (like; Torrent Genie, Bit Boost, Music Mover, Daily DJ, Print Genie, Memory Safe, etc.) but other wise useful software tools (Belkin calls them ?Apps?) that can be easily configured on your computer (Windows and Mac OS X alike) to make your life a bit cables free. For MRP of Rs 8,199 the Belkin ?Play max? Wireless router will fill your house with connectivity signals anywhere and everywhere including balconies and terrace and brand you as a minor geek for neighbours.