Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn't mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who've had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard. The upgrade targets wireless signals at devices' specific locations, offering a big speed boost at shorter distances -- Netgear estimates up to a 60 percent improvement at a 50-foot range. R6300 and A6200 owners can swing past the source links today for their tune-up, while those using Netgear's other 802.11ac devices should expect brisker speeds around the early summer.
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR) (www.netgear.com), a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, today announced support for Beamforming+ (www.netgear.com/80211ac) on the NETGEAR R6300 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router and the NETGEAR A6200 802.11ac Dual Band WiFi USB Adapter (www.netgear.com/landing/fastestwifi/). Beamforming+ is also available through a free firmware upgrade for current NETGEAR customers of the R6300 WiFi Router and the A6200 WiFi USB Adapter. The new router firmware improves WiFi performance and range when connecting to other WiFi devices. You'll see even more improvement in WiFi performance and reliability when you connect your R6300 Router to a PC or laptop configured with an A6200 Adapter or with an 802.11ac device with Beamforming support. A second R6300 acting as a client bridge would also provide a higher performance solution for critical video over WiFi applications.
NETGEAR Beamforming+ is a smart, signal-focusing technology that extends coverage, reduces interference and dead spots, and boosts the speed of your 802.11ac WiFi connections. Beamforming+ refers to NETGEAR's implementation of the Beamforming standard with a fine-tuned WiFi design for improved WiFi range and performance, which the company demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
NETGEAR Beamforming+ recognizes the location of a wireless device on your network and directs the WiFi signal directly at the device, constantly checking and tracking moving devices such as your mobile phones and tablets. This targeted approach amplifies the WiFi signal by adjusting the phase of the transmitted signal, delivering stable WiFi connections for voice and video. The result is a highly tuned WiFi network that optimizes overall wireless performance and delivers the experiences you want, such as fast downloads, clearer voice calls, uninterrupted HD video, and lag-free gaming.
"Beamforming is the next big thing in WiFi signal technology, and NETGEAR is proud to bring it to you on our market-leading 802.11ac wireless products. 802.11ac is the wireless standard you need to support the increasingly heavy demands on your network for voice, video and data," said Sandeep Harpalani , NETGEAR director of product marketing for retail networking products. "With NETGEAR Beamforming+, we raise the bar further by providing significant improvement in performance, especially at long distances where connection speeds and reliability are challenging. Our test data demonstrates that when we enable Beamforming+ on our R6300 WiFi Router, we see performance increase by 60 percent at a distance of around 50 feet when connecting to an 802.11ac device."
The next evolution in wireless technology, the upcoming 802.11ac wireless standard is the world's fastest WiFi, providing Gigabit WiFi speeds so you can download web content faster and synchronize large video or music files more quickly. The increased speed of 802.11ac technology is ideal for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets by providing three times the performance for a similar amount of battery consumption of devices using the current 802.11n WiFi standard. As a result, many companies are now releasing smartphones with 802.11ac WiFi, such as the Samsung Galaxy S®4 and the HTC One®, with additional 802.11ac-enabled smartphones, tablets and TVs from other leading manufacturers anticipated to debut in the coming year.
In 2012, NETGEAR was the first to announce an 802.11ac product family to take advantage of the upcoming standard. The NETGEAR R6300 WiFi Router is the industry's first 802.11ac router offering Gigabit speeds and supports combined WiFi speeds up to 1750 Mbps (450 Mbps @ 2.4 Ghz 802.11n + 1300 Mbps @ 5 Ghz 802.11ac). The R6300 is backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n to provide optimum interoperability with legacy WiFi devices and maintaining maximum performance on 802.11n wireless networks. The NETGEAR A6200 WiFi Adapter is the industry's first-to-market 802.11ac dual band WiFi USB adapter that enables you to easily upgrade your existing PC or laptop to 802.11ac performance.
Download the Beamforming+ firmware to enhance the R6300 WiFi Router from the NETGEAR support site: http://support.netgear.com/product/r6300. You can upgrade your A6200 WiFi Adapter here: http://support.netgear.com/product/A6200. The Beamforming+ firmware update for all other NETGEAR 802.11ac routers is anticipated for early summer.