A completely “connected” home is becoming easier with the new line of Cisco routers designed to expand the experience of a home network while making set-up, monitoring, and controlling it easier than ever before. As people’s habits of consuming bandwidth-heavy multimedia increase, Cisco has developed a router to keep up with this data demand and just because they made their products more advanced, doesn’t mean they are more difficult to use—quiet the opposite, in fact.The new technology is intended to work with the new wireless standard of 802.11ac. With speeds three times faster than the current standard, devices with 802.11ac compatibility are expected to hit the shelves sometime at the end of 2012 and wow streaming-media fans with uninterrupted smooth content. Cisco didn’t just stop there, they not only created devices that broadcast the new standard, but also made connecting and interacting with the network easier than ever before.
Cisco Cloud Connect controls your network and more
The new line of Cisco routers come along with Cisco’s Cloud Connect technology. Users now have anytime access to their home network and its connected devices, and can interact with their network in new ways using third-party apps. So far, there are only a handful of apps available but the current selection allows for child monitoring, wireless “beaming” of media to a Smart TV, and easy installation and monitoring of home security video equipment. The developer community for Cisco Cloud Connect is in it’s infantile stages but, expect it to mature faster than a little league pitcher.
We’ll definitely see a variety of developers working for appliance and electronic manufactures developing product specific apps to add value to their products. Imagine a refrigerator app that lets you monitor usage and temperature or a oven app that lets you preheat while on the train home from work. With endless possibilities, there is definitely an exciting future ahead of this technology.
SimpleTap = simple set ups
Part of the Cisco Cloud Connect platform is Cisco’s SimpleTap. Designed to make connecting devices to the network incredibly simple, users can connect their device with a single button tap in a WiFi Protected mobile app, and in the future, by swiping their NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled device over the routers NFC tag. This will make it easier for non-technical users to enjoy all the benefits of a wireless system and avoid the hassle that used to be making the proper connections.
For more info check out these articles from Time and Mashable.
Questions about how these new routers can benefit your home? Let us know in the comments and we’ll search high and low, beg, borrow (but we won’t steal) to get you what you want.
– Scott H.
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