Networking -- Engadget

Xbox 360 802.11n adapter rebirths on Costco site, ships November 10th for $88

by Ross Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 at 4:54PM

You can't keep a phoenix down and this Xbox 360 wireless n adapter seems to be a bird of similar feather. After discretely showing up on US retail sites and subsequently managing to drop off into internet obscurity, the 802.11n-compliant peripheral has returned to the scene via Costco's site, this time with a November 10th shipping date and a more attractive than before $88 price tag. With only five days until the 10th, will this finally be the price and date that stick? Who knows -- but at least this time we won't have to wait long to find out.

[Thanks, WeakSasco]

Comcast announces new bandwidth throttling scheme (update: old news)

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 5th 2009 at 3:58PM

Comcast customers have been no stranger to bandwidth shenanigans over the years, from the whole torrent filtering mess to the 250GB monthly cap. Now the company is back with a new data throttling scheme intended to put the kibosh on excessive traffic during those times when the network is already being overwhelmed. The two-tiered system is put on alert if either more than 70 percent of your max bandwidth (downstream or upstream) is used for more than 15 minutes or if your particular Cable Modem Termination System gets congested and it decides that you're partially responsible. Should you run afoul of the traffic warden, expect to find yourself down-throttled for at least 15 minutes, or until your average bandwidth utilization rate drops below 50 per cent for 15 minutes. If there is no congestion, however, you shouldn't notice any difference whatsoever -- unless, of course, John McCain gets his way. Warning: PDF read link.

[Via Slashdot]

Update: Due to crossed wires when researching this piece, we mistakenly reported that this policy was new. It is not. In fact, the throttling detailed above has been in effect for nearly a year.

NEC's Aterm WM3300R is like a souped-up WiMAX version of the MiFi

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 27th 2009 at 4:26AM

Not every company has the design chops to make it in modern consumer electronics. Case in point: NEC's Aterm WM3300R. While it looks like a thermostat you'd wall-mount at the local health center, it packs enough technological appeal to make up for that clinical dowdiness. See, it's a pocketable WiMAX router with integrated 802.11b/g WiFi -- think MiFi only with the relatively blazing speeds of 40Mbps (downstream) / 10Mbps (upstream) WiMAX instead of EV-DO or HSPA and a battery capable of about 2.5 hours of shared usage. The WM3300R can also be USB-attached to a PC as a WiMAX modem. Drop another ¥5,000 (about $54) and you've got a spare battery to keep the mobile action going. Expect it to be released in early November in Japan for an estimated ¥25,000 or right around $272. You seeing this Sprint, Clearwire?

[Via Akihabara News]

Walmart to rival Best Buy's Geek Squad with own in-home install crew

by Darren Murph posted Oct 25th 2009 at 7:07PM

We've never truly been at ease with that Geek Squad crowd. Something about "the people" they hang with and "the places" they hang at just worries us, so we're pretty thrilled to see another mega-corp stepping in to take the place of the now-deceased Circuit City FireDog crew. Starting sometime before the holiday season, Wally World will be partnering with N.E.W. Customer Service Companies in order to offer in-home installation to customers buying anything from a wireless router to a HTIB. The service plans will be sold on prepaid cards ranging from $99 to $399 in value, and each install includes a "preliminary consultation and a tutorial after installation is completed." Granted, it may be a bit tough to get the dude looking to spend $5 on a new plasma to spring for such a service, but hey, it's not like competition is a bad thing.

[Via Hot Hardware]

Samsung LTE USB modem winds up in FCC database

by Ross Miller posted Oct 24th 2009 at 9:09AM

Samsung's made some lofty boasts regarding its LTE support before, and here we go with some official documentation of US-bound products care of the FCC. The agency's database lists device A3LSLCU100 (catchy name, eh?) as a pre-production LTE USB modem from the company -- and that's about it. As for the usual fun of looking at over-saturated internal / external photos, good ol' Sammy's got a window of 180 days of confidentiality that started September 24th, so by our count, we've got potentially quite a while before we see something. The best we get now is this label outline above -- one more, equally nondescript shot after the break, if you're curious.

Continue reading Samsung LTE USB modem winds up in FCC database

First 'white space' network hits Claudville, Virginia

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 21st 2009 at 3:41PM

Well, this one's been years in the making (literally), but it looks like the very first white space network using those newly freed up broadcast TV channels has now been lit up in Claudville, Virginia (population 916), which should just be the first of plenty more rural communities to come. As you might expect, the network was no small undertaking even considering the size of the town, and involved an "experimental license" from the FCC, network infrastructure from Spectrum Bridge, and a slew of equipment that Dell, Microsoft and the TDF Foundation contributed to the local school and computer center. No word on anything like actual speeds just yet, but we're guessing the Claudville residents will be plenty pleased regardless, as they've been stuck with nothing more than dial-up or expensive satellite internet until now.

CRTC sets net neutrality rules for Canada, allows throttling as 'last resort'

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 21st 2009 at 2:18PM

The FCC may be yet to act on Chairman Genachowski's proposed net neutrality rules, but the agency's Canadian counterpart, the CRTC, has made a fairly significant ruling of its own on the matter today, and it seems like it may have manged to disappoint folks on both sides of the debate in the process. The short of it is that the CRTC will allow internet service providers to practice "traffic shaping" (a.k.a. bandwidth throttling), but only as a "last resort," and only after it has issued a warning that the throttling will take place (30 days in advance for regular users, and 60 days for wholesale customers). What's more, the CRTC is also recommending that ISPs "give preference to Internet traffic management practices based on economic measures" before cutting into customers downloads -- in other words, charge more for extra bandwidth, or offer discounts during non-peak hours.

Read - CRTC ruling
Read - The Globe and Mail, "CRTC sets Web 'throttling' rules"

TRENDnet 'world's smallest' Wireless N travel router now on sale

by Darren Murph posted Oct 21st 2009 at 3:01AM

Looking to take 802.11n to places you never thought possible? You know -- like your studio apartment on the Upper East Side? TRENDnet's Wireless N Travel Router (which was announced way back at CES) is tailor made for cramped spaces, fitting within the palm of your hand and offering up a single WAN port, a carrying case and a USB socket. Unfortunately there's no internal battery to keep this puppy alive in the wild, but for $79.99 we can't kvetch too much.

Apple quietly updates AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, promises improved performance

by Darren Murph posted Oct 20th 2009 at 12:43PM

Just as it did in March, Apple has subtly updated both the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, this time improving performance on both. According to new testing between today's model and yesterday's edition, the AE Base Station (which ships within three days for $179) can hum along at up to 25 percent faster thanks to undisclosed tweaks to the antenna design, while the Time Capsule's improved antenna promises the same. Just as before, both of these devices support dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz transmissions, though we can't seem to find an "802.11n draft" phrase anywhere on either page. Apple hasn't gone out of its way to say that both of these are certified with the final specification, but it's certainly a possibility. Finally, the new Time Capsule promises Time Machine backups in Snow Leopard that are some 60 percent faster than before; we're not sure whether to celebrate with new buyers or weep with existing ones, but it should ship within three days for $299 (1TB) / $499 (2TB).

Read - Updated AirPort Extreme
Read - Updated Time Capsule

Apple 3x3 access point hits the FCC with 5.8GHz bands

by Ross Miller posted Oct 19th 2009 at 10:41PM

The FCC did let one Apple product through to its online database tonight, although nothing that'll excite you quite like magical mice or revved up iMacs. Instead we're looking at models A1354 and A1355, a pair of 802.11 a/b/g/n 3x3 access points with the exact same, nondescript label picture that indicates some heft to the unit. There's not much to say here, although the A1354 had a revision on the antenna gain in the 5.8GHz band. At this point it's just another thing to add to that penciled-in list of rumored Apple announcements for tomorrow morning.

Read - BCGA1354
Read - BCGA1355

QNAP's NAS lineup sacrifices another bay, creates TS-110

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 19th 2009 at 8:37AM

For many, four bays is a bit excessive. Two bays? Nice and cozy. One bay? Maybe a bit too snug for some, but QNAP is hoping its mono-bay TS-110 will be just right for others. It features the same 800MHz Marvell processor and 256MB of DDR2 RAM on the TS-410 and TS-210, with the discretely vanilla styling of the latter but at roughly half the girth. It keeps the same DLNA, FTP, file serving, and MySQL support of the other two, all configured through a fancy AJAXy web interface. No word on price yet, but we'll find out soon enough as it's set to ship by the end of the month. Meanwhile, we eagerly await the TS-010 announcement, which should rely entirely on theoretical storage.

Gallery: QNAP TS-110 NAS

CEIVA Pro 80 digiframe accepts new images from MMS, networked PCs

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 7:24PM

Timely, no? Exactly a year to the day after the CEIVAlife and CEIVAshare went on sale, the creator of those has decided to out its first digiframe since, and we've got to say -- the Pro 80 is a refreshing change of pace in the drab digital photo frame world. Aside from accepting images via the traditional means (USB, memory cards and telepathy), this one can also take in new pixels via a cameraphone or computer... wirelessly! The built-in WiFi module enables networked PCs to pass along slideshows, while PicturePlan customers ($6.95 per month) can send photos in from their mobiles. In case that's not nearly enough to excite you, there's also free CEIVA Channels (ABC News, ESPN, etc.) to keep you occupied. She's all yours for $179.99, or $147.99 if you snag it this holiday season.

Finland says that 1Mb broadband is a right, not a privilege

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 15th 2009 at 1:03PM

Whereas all of those old episodes of Dexter available on the torrent trackers are not going to download themselves.
Whereas no man or woman in a civilized society should be denied access to Garfield Minus Garfield.
Whereas Finland has a population 61 times smaller than that of the United States.
Whereas no household deserves to be "farther than 2 kilometers from a connection capable of delivering broadband Internet with a capacity of at least 100 megabits of data a second" (unless, of course, you're "in far-flung corners of the country," in which case you're out of luck).
Whereas this is the same nation that brought the world Nokia and public restrooms that can only be accessed via SMS.
Now, Therefore YLE reports that FINLAND has made 1-megabit broadband Web access a LEGAL RIGHT starting in JULY 2010, with the ultimate goal of making 100Mb available to all in 2015. Now APOCALYPTICA has no excuse for never updating its MySpace page.

[Via CNET]

Read - Finnish government promises fast broadband by 2015
Read - 1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right

Sun FlashFire's record-breaking storage performance will make network admins giddy

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 14th 2009 at 8:33AM

Sun's FlashFire's record-breaking storage performance will make network admins giddy

Most businesses look for a good mix between value and performance for the hardware they lock in the server closet, the majority of those leaning toward the "value" side of the equation. However, for those companies that dodged the economic downturn entirely and want only the best, there's the FlashFire storage array from Sun. It's 2TB of rackmountable bits able to perform 1.6 million read and 1.2 million write operations per second, with a sustained throughput of 12.8GB/sec. Sun says these are records, and we can't find anything to refute them, the closest being the RamSan-440 from Texas Memory Systems, offering an (until very recently) impressive 600,000 I/O operations per second with a 4.5GB/sec throughput. TMS, it's been brought.

QNAP brightens up its NAS offerings with new TS-210 model

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 12th 2009 at 11:03PM

What's this? A QNAP NAS that doesn't stick to the company's traditional dark industrial look? Amazing but true, and yet another sign that the company is increasingly looking to bring the NAS out of the office and into the home -- a move that could only be further bolstered by a certain celebrity endorsement. Effectively replacing the company's previous TS-209 model, this one sticks to the same two-bay setup (for up to 4TB of storage), but steps things up to an 800MHz Marvell processor, along with 256MB of DDR2 memory, 3 USB ports, and all the usual UPnP / DLNA support you'd expect. No word on a price just yet, but we'd presume it'll be less than the $449 QNAP is asking for its four-bay TS-410 model.

[Via Electronista]