3. Branching Out

Also wanting in on the networking action are companies better known for their motherboards, peripherals and other computer products. I've already reviewed a number of products from ASUS and covered most of their new offerings in my Networld+Interop 2004 report. A quick stop by their busy booth uncovered the WL500GX Broadcom Afterburner-based router and a look at the recently-delayed WL-HDD 11g AP + 2.5in Hard Drive (pictured below).

ASUS WL-HDD

Gigabyte Technology is focusing on wireless products as their entry into the networking world and has a full line of 54Mbps and 108Mbps Super G based products. Gigabyte thinks their differentiation is in making it as easy as possible for customers to use their products. Their Smart Setup II feature already automatically configures the WAN side connections of their routers and the Smart DHCP feature automatically resolves IP address conflicts that can occur in multiple router setups.

The new SCT III feature is focused on making wireless security setup as easy as possible. Focused on the same problem as Buffalo Tech's AOSS and Broadcom's SecureEZ setup, SCT III appears to be more like Broadcom than Buffalo's solution. The user need only enter their desired security code (which is actually the WPA-PSK key) into a setup wizard pop-up and SCT III takes care of getting WPA-PSK security set up in the wireless client and router in under a minute. I hope to give it a workout myself when I review the GN-A17GU SuperG Access Point shortly.

MSI is another mobo maker that wants to flesh out its offerings with networking products. My quick stop at their booth revealed a line of 11g products including an AP and Router and CardBus, PCI and mini-PCI clients based on a mix of Conexant PRISM and RaLink chipsets.

MSI also had a small line of Bluetooth products, but most were computer peripherals (mouse, keyboard, keypad, game controller). In all, I didn't really see any unique features and would say that MSI will have a tougher time than ASUS and Gigabyte in getting its networking products on the map, at least from a product feature point of view.