SMC rolls out cable modem, 802.11n hybrid
updated 09:25 am EDT, Mon April 13, 2009
SMC Draft 11n Cable Modem
SMC this morning revealed a combo cable modem and 802.11n Wi-Fi router that it hopes will provide the better of both networks. The Draft 11n Wireless Cable Modem Gateway supports DOCSIS 2.0 for modern cable networks but can support the faster Wi-Fi standard to share the connection and create headroom for the local network. On wireless, the router is dual-band and supports both 5GHz, for faster 802.11n links, and 2.4GHz for backwards compatibility. It also carries a stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall as an added layer of protection beyond the router itself.
The networking gear supports UPnP for media sharing on the local link and has four 100Mbps Ethernet jacks for wired devices. It can be administrated over a web browser instead of proprietary software. SMC doesn't provide the pricing or specific launch dates for the gateway but says the hardware will be available primarily through cable providers.
