Cisco revamps whole Linksys E-series of routers, switches
updated 07:30 am EDT, Tue April 5, 2011
Cisco remakes rest of lineup with new design
Cisco today revamped the rest of its E-series routers and SE-series switches to match the design aesthetic of the E4200. The E1200 and E1500 make up the baseline and provide 300Mbps 802.11n Wi-Fi only on the 2.4GHz band along with four 100Mbps Ethernet ports. The E1500 adds a SpeedBoost function along with a third receiver and an external signal amp to get the signal faster.
The E2500 and E3200 are both simultaneous dual-band routers that will pipe a signal over both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Most of the E2500's features are similar to that of the E1200; the E3200 not only adds the signal boosting but gigabit Ethernet jacks and "virtual USB" to share devices attached to a computer on the network. The already known E4200 supports up to 450Mbps, separate sets of antennas for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and media server support.
The SE series is a rare home-facing option for switches. The SE1500 is basic and has five 100Mbps Ethernet ports. Moving to the SE2500 upgrades to gigabit Ethernet and introduces a sleep mode. Power users can get the SE2800 for a total of eight gigabit ports.
All of the lineup should be available today. The E-series routers start at $60 for the E1200 and move up to $80, $100, $160, and $180 for the E1500, E2500, and E3200 respectively. SE switches start at $30 and move to $55 and $75 for the SE2500 and SE2800.
