MeshRouter
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Mesh WiFi startup Eero is now officially part of Amazon
Amazon has officially acquired Eero, the three-year old mesh WiFi startup based in San Francisco. Like other mesh WiFi systems, Eero's routers can be placed throughout the home, allowing users to avoid the "dead zones" that can occur when relying on a single router.
ASUS finally has mesh routers of its own
After years of being clunky concepts, mesh wireless routers are finally becoming viable options for your home, thanks to the likes of Eero and Google WiFi. At CES, ASUS finally unveiled its own mesh solutions, the HiveSpot and HiveDot routers. HiveSpot, the more powerful of the pair, is a triband AC2134 router, whereas HiveDot is a dual-band option with slower AC1300 speeds. They look like fairly simple pods, similar to Google WiFi, though it's unclear how big they are from the press photos.
Tropos rolls out new line of 802.11n outdoor mesh routers
Looking to give your massive outdoor wireless network a bit of boost? Then you might want to consider one of Tropos' new 802.11n mesh routers, which offer a little something for anyone with upwards of $3,000 to spend. At the top of the heap is the dual-band Tropos 7320 (pictured above), which boasts a modular design that can accommodate a whole range of antennas to suit your needs, and the ability to be powered by either a regular power adapter, Power over Ethernet, or an optional built-in battery backup module. The mid-range Tropos 6320 hangs onto most of those features but drops the modular antennas, while the basic Tropos 6310 goes one step further by ditching the dual-band capabilities in favor of plain old 2.4GHz. If that's all a bit too much for your needs, however, you may just want to snag one of Tropos' previous 802.11a/b/g routers, which have all been given a 29% price cut to make way for the new models.
Saxnet intros Meshnode III mesh networking router
Lookin' for a WLAN router with a 500MHz AMD processor within? If you're frantically waving your hand in a futile attempt to say yes, Saxnet's got your goods. The German firm's Meshnode III is a well-spec'd mesh networking router that features a "full x86-based system" within, four radio modules and "an integrated heating and cooling system" to boot. Additionally, this thing packs 256MB of RAM (expandable to 1GB), a pair of 512MB CF cards (expandable to 16GB each), 802.11a/b/g support, twin USB 2.0 ports, a rugged, water-resistant enclosure and Debian GNU / Linux runnin' the show. As you may expect, such a loaded device comes with a fairly stiff pricetag, but at least you've got a few months to save up the $1,150 it'll take to snap one up when it lands in January.[Via LinuxDevices]
NetEquality makes Meraki Mini WiFi router even easier to utilize
While the issue of stealing borrowing other's WiFi has taken on a whole new meaning now that the law is involved, there's still nothing wrong with hitting up your own mesh networking setup in order to extend your range without coughing up big bucks for name brand repeaters. Meraki's Mini WiFi router certainly gave the tinkering crowd a way to implement such luxuries on the cheap, but for those totally freaked out by the mere sight of PCB, NetEquality feels your pain. In a presumed effort to get uber-cheap networking abilities to the masses, the kind folks over there have wrapped the Mini in a neat wall-plug package, providing a "truly plug-and-play" method of adding a signal booster / repeater to your network. No Ethernet jack is built-in, however, so you'll need a wireless network to begin with, but coming in at just $79, this isn't a half bad way to extend the waves of your precious connection.[Via GigaOM]
