At its "Museum of Belkin Art" or MoBA event on July 10, the maker of all things gadget unveiled a plenitude of new and redesigned products, including several devoted to networking. Since the overriding message of the press shindig was new design chic-ness that lets Belkin doodads blend in anywhere, we'll start our museum tour at the Old Wine in Techy Sleek Bottles gallery.
The first lovely piece here displays the post-Henry Higgins garb that will adorn three wireless devices Belkin currently clothes in workaday Eliza Doolittle frocks--the $39.99 G Wireless Router, $59.99 G+ MIMO Wireless Router, and $79.99 N Wireless Router (at left). All will be reintroduced to society in October. A new fourth product, the $119 N+ Wireless Router will share the sleek, black, space-saving vertical design. The new device will have four Gigabit Ethernet wired ports, a connector for a USB drive to provide network storage, and a power-saving mode. A companion N+ Wireless USB Adapter will sell for $99.99.
Belkin-Powerline-AV+-3-port
The company has also jumped on the power-line networking bandwagon, which seems to be enjoying a resurrection after its painful decline late in the previous millennium. For $179.99 (also in October), you'll be able to bring home the Powerline AV+ Starter Kit, "a 3-port adapter (shown) to support multiple devices, such as AV equipment and a gaming console, as well as a single-port version to plug into a router."
A $149.99 Powerline AV Starter Kit will come with "one single port router for a computer or gaming console and another...to plug into a router." A $99.99 Powerline Starter Kit will have "one single-port adapter for a computer and another...to plug into a router." The company claims the devices will have a range of up to 984 feet through wall power lines and the ability to connect 16 bridged devices per station.
Disappointingly, despite the play on the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) name, Belkin did not have a surrealistic "The Persistence of MIMOry" router melting over table edges, dead trees, and a likeness of Salvador Dali.
Posted by Gary Berline
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July 14, 2008 11:53 AM
I can't say I've ever thought of my peripherals as "art," but I'm definitely a sucker for sleek design and attractive looks, so these are pretty good looking from my point of view. The real question though, is do they actually WORK? ;)
January 18, 2009 1:10 PM
Id have to say YES they work! I just purchased the Belkin POwerline AV+ Because using my PS3 out in our living room on wireless even with a repeater was a spotty prospect at best and was extremely slow.
I bought the belkin on the reccomendation of my Tech Buddy who owns Geek On Wheels and for whom I do web development work. Belkin couldnt have made it easier
simply plug them in hook them up to your reouter and the other to the device you want net access to and reboot everything and voila instant stable internet access via your homes wiring.
I used speedtest.net to check the PS3's bandwidth and consistently got 14Mbs down and 8Mbs up on my 20Mbs over 2Mbs FiOS connection and I consider that great over my old homes old wiring.
Big time props to Belkin!