Performance

EnGenius XtraRange ESR300H router review: Short on everything

Speaking of a total letdown.

I was very excited to get my hands on EnGenius' latest router, the ESR300H--the first in EnGenius' new XtraRange family--expecting to have some fun, at least with its range. There was no fun to be had at all.

The ESR300H is a basic single-band wireless router with almost nothing to show for itself. If it had come out two years ago, it would have been a decent router. Now that the Wireless-N standard has fully matured, the ESR300H is far behind its time.

The router offers 300Mbps Wireless-N on the 2.4GHz band. It indeed showed some extra range, being able to broadcast a Wi-Fi signal farther than others of the same pricing. Effectively, however, in my testing, it should be used within about 75 feet if you want decent wireless performance.

And even when used in close range, the connection wasn't guaranteed to be so decent all the time.… Read more

Networking, storage at CES 2012: Thunderbolt and the cloud on the rise, 802.11ac is hot

LAS VEGAS--Despite the scariest cross-wind landing I have ever experienced, when arriving in Las Vegas last Saturday, CES 2012 panned out mostly smoothly, with no unpleasant surprises.

As predicted, 802.11ac was big at CES 2012, while Thunderbolt and cloud-based services proved to be on the rise.

Though there were no working 802.11ac (or 5G Wi-Fi as the technology is called by BroadCom) devices at the show (all products showcased here were just mock-ups or nonfunctioning prototypes), every single networking vendor I talked with--such as TrendNet, BroadCom, Cisco, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin, and Buffalo--committed to offering 802.11ac devices … Read more

RunCore goes wild with SSDs, enters consumer market

Editors' note, February 3: We posted our full review of the RunCore Pro V Max SSD.

LAS VEGAS--If you haven't heard of solid-state drives made by RunCore, you're not alone. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the company is a little guy on the SSD block.

RunCore tried to prove just that here at CES 2012 by showing off SSDs in all imaginable designs, from a standard 2.5-inch drive to PCIe-based drives to proprietary drives for mobile devices.… Read more

IoSafe silences Solo G3 drive, recommends Synology

LAS VEGAS--IoSafe has finally learned that silence is golden.

In addition to the new Rugged Portable Thunderbolt that was announced with a bang, the maker of disaster-proof storage devices also unveiled today at CES 2012 the brand-new Solo G3 external hard drive.… Read more

IoSafe unveils Thunderbolt drive with lightning and a hidden message

LAS VEGAS--If you don't know what a Thunderbolt drive is, and most importantly, how vulnerable your data can be, IoSafe wants to sear that in your mind.

Following its tradition of the last three CES shows, (and as I predicted prior to CES 2012), the maker of disaster-proof hard drives pulled off a spectacular show this year to unveil its Rugged Portable Thunderbolt drive. This time the demo came with a little twist.

The new drive itself is very similar to the previous USB 3.0 Rugged Portable that was introduced at last year's demo--and shot with shotguns. … Read more

Synology NAS OS 4.0 gone beta, Cloud Station revealed

LAS VEGAS -- Synology, the makers of the most robust and feature-rich NAS servers on the market, now looks to the sky, too.

Despite the fact that by the end of 2011, most NAS vendors used the "Cloud" designation for certain features of their products , Synology has refused to use it for its NAS servers which in fact have many Internet-based features. The company changed its mind today at CES 2012.

It showed off that the show the latest build of its Linux-based operating system for its DiskStation NAS servers, called Disk Station Manager (DSM). Version 3.2 … Read more

Amped Wireless R10000G router gears to redefine Wi-Fi coverage

LAS VEGAS--Most of us live in an apartment of about 1,000 square feet or less; Amped Wireless says it new router can cover an area 10 times larger.

The company showed off at CES 2012 the new R10000G High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Router. Powered by a 620MHz processor, dual high-power Wi-Fi 600mW amplifiers, and dual high-gain 5dBi antennas, this new router is set to deliver up to 10,000 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage.

To put things in perspective, most regular routers have a wireless output power of 50 milliwatts (mW); the R10000G is 600mW.

Amped Wireless says … Read more

Thunderbolt strikes all Seagate GoFlex external drives at once

LAS VEGAS--Seagate's super flexible GoFlex external hard drives just got even more flexible.

The storage vendor unveiled today at CES 2012 its support for the Thunderbolt connection by showcasing the Thunderbolt adapter for its GoFlex family of external hard drives.

In case you're not aware, Seagate's GoFlex lineup of external hard drives, first introduced in May 2010 with the GoFlex Go, has been the most flexible solution for directly attached storage to date. This is because, unlike external hard drives from other vendors that come with a fixed type (or types) of connectivity, Seagate's GoFlex external … Read more

Seagate GoFlex Satellite to get Internet and more

LAS VEGAS--If you own a GoFlex Satellite from Seagate, I have some excellent news.

Seagate announced today at CES a new firmware that turns the wireless storage expander for mobile devices into another much superior device. This is by far the most significant upgrade to the product.

First of all, the upgrade will give all of the existing GoFlex Satellites the capability to connect itself to an existing Wi-Fi network and share that connection with other Wi-Fi clients connected to it. This means, when your iPad is connected to the Wi-Fi network of the Satellite to stream content from it, you don't have to disconnect and reconnect it to another Wi-Fi network to gain access to the Internet. You'll have both the expansion of storage space and the connection to the Internet at the same time, as long as you use the Satellite in an area of another Wi-Fi network you're authorized to access. … Read more

Cool stuff: Seagate contemplates 4G LTE for mobile storage hot spot

LAS VEGAS--When on the go, you want to stay connected at all times and carry as much data as possible without having to physically carry a lot, right?

Soon you'll be able to do just that.

Seagate revealed and demonstrated at CES 2012 the prototype of a product tentatively called the Personal Server 4G LTE Wi-Fi. This is basically a combination of what the company's GoFlex Satellite has to offer and a 4G LTE mobile hot spot in one compact box.

Seagate said this is result of a 1.5-year collaboration with Verizon, which will be the exclusive … Read more