SMC ships draft-N Wi-Fi routers, adapters

SMC today began shipping its new series of adapters and routers that meet the draft 2.0 spec for 802.11n wireless, allowing the routers to match the final criteria of the format when it goes live next year. The Barricade WGBR14-N (shown) is reportedly optimized for games, peer-to-peer downloading, and other features that demand high throughput; stream optimization tricks combined with a multiple-antenna MIMO setup ensure low latency even on the wireless network, SMC says. The 802.11n link peaks at 300Mbps and is supplemented by four gigabit Ethernet jacks for even faster connections. SMC adds a hardware firewall with stateful packet inspection. The new Barricade can be administered by any computer with a modern web browser and ships now for $175.

Devices that need a wireless add-on or completely wireless networks can use the EZ Connect SMCWEB-N access point, the company says; it includes the same wireless and security features as the Barricade but focuses on either serving up 802.11n wireless as an access point or creating an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge for as many as four wired devices through a 100Mbps switch. SMC also allows web configuration for the EZ Connect and sells the device today for $115.

A third introduced device, the EZ Connect SMCWUSB-N, provides users of Windows 2000, XP, and Vista PCs a USB adapter with 802.11n Wi-Fi access when an internal card is impractical or impossible. It supports the security of the Barricade and EZ Connect access points as well as secure setups, and is available now for $63.