Cisco unveils new Linksys E4200 high performance home router

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Cisco has unveiled their high performance home network router, the Linksys E4200. Not only is this thing feature packed, it comes in a pretty nice looking case for something that will be tucked away and never touched. Maybe Cisco intends to change that and wants you to put this bad boy on your desk for the world to see? For $179.99, this thing packs a pretty hefty list of features:
  • Simultaneous dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) wireless-N
  • 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports
  • USB Storage Port with built-in UPnP AV media server
  • WPA/WPA2 encryption and SPI firewall
  • QoS traffic prioritization
  • 6 internal antennas, 3x3 MIMO
The USB Storage Port lets you add an external USB drive to your network and share files at home or over the Internet. The built-in UPnP AV Media Server allows for streaming of your video and media files to an Xbox 360, PS3, or other UPnP compatible device. Cisco also has plans to turn the USB port into a Virtual USB port with a future firmware upgrade, this will also enable printers to easily connect to the network so all users in the home can print wirelessly.

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I can’t wait for the iPhone to come to Verizon, so you’ll all shut up about it

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The boys who cried wolf (AKA The Wall Street Journal, et al) are all indicating that Tuesday will be the announcement of the long awaited iPhone 4 on Verizon. I hope they're finally right. Not because I'm going to switch, no, I'm actually pretty satisfied with my AT&T service, having been a customer for a long while before the launch of the first iPhone. I'll just be glad when the noise makers and complainers can have another option. I hope that Verizon's network works better for them than AT&T (although I kinda also hope it's just as bad) so that they'll shut up. I also look forward to another network getting some of the load so that my service will be even more reliable than it already is. I can't be alone in this thinking, if AT&T's network is so god damn horrible across the entire country as the people in San Fransisco and New York make it out to be, no one would use it. Fact is, myself and millions of other subscribers made the choice to use it long before the iPhone. I even used to live down the street from the world headquarters of Sprint, and still used AT&T because I got better service. I'm not discounting that there are people with horrible AT&T service. I've been places where that is the case, I know people who have this problem on a regular basis. It sucks, but chances are no has one forced you to use an iPhone this whole time. I'll also be glad when this golden phone finally does arrive, so we can stop obsessing about it. The phone will come out, AT&T's subscriber numbers will slightly decrease, Verizon will see an increase, Apple's profits will go up. The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. Choice is good, but the tech world needs to stop treating this like we're awaiting the second coming of Christ, and treat this like what it is, like what happens all around the world with the iPhone on multiple carriers. The same phone, on another network. (Image credit to Gizmodo, from back in 2005, proof people hated them before the iPhone)

Sprint lights up 4G service in New York

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfCM1BbmBM Sprint customers in the Big Apple with the HTC EVO, Samsung Epic or an Overdrive card got a much welcomed surprise today. 4G service came online today. Get ready to blow through batteries like never before! Hartford, New Haven, New Brunswick, Trenton and Tampa also got added to the ever expanding coverage list for Sprint's next generation service. Customers can currently get 4G service in 61 cities, including Chicago, Baltimore and Houston, and by the end of this year Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Denver and Washington DC. Sprint has some great videos up on the challenges of managing and expanding a network in an area like New York City. The first one is posted above, the other two are after the break.

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Verizon tests 10Gbps fiber Internet connection

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99sRhMdJqqI I can't think of anyone person who could fully saturate a 10gb fiber Internet connection for much of anything... legally... for very long, but Verizon seems to think it's important enough to show off that it can be done. They recently gave the Elks Lodge in Taunton, Massachusetts the chance. Using the FiOS infrastructure, a desktop with a 10Gbps network card and some fancy optical magic, they were able to push a 2.3GB file between the Lodge and their network switching center in around four seconds. Since the connection was symmetric, they were able to push huge amounts of data in both directions. While it will be a long time before this type of connection is available to consumers, if ever, it's great that Verizon is continuing to research and push the limits of their network. via Ars Technica