D-Link DFL-CPG310 Review: Decent UTM, Funky VPN

D-Link joins MoCA

D-Link yesterday announced its membership in the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), an open, industry-driven initiative promoting distribution of digital video, data and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home.

D-Link currently has no products with MoCA-compliant features.

First Certifications announced for Wireless USB Products

D-Link and Iogear have both announced certification for their first Wireless USB products.

D-Link's DUB-2240 4-port Wireless USB Hub and DUB-1210 Wireless USB adapter, and Iogear's Wireless USB Hub & Adapter Kit have both received Certification against the Wireless USB 1.0 Specification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).

D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router Review:Draft 2.0 arrives

Update2: D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, others get Wi-Fi N Certification

D-Link and Netgear today announced the first products to receive draft 2.0 802.11n certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

D-Link's DIR-655 Xtreme N Router and DWA-652 Notebook Adapter and Netgear's RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router – Gigabit Edition (WNR854T) and RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router (WNR834B) passed the Alliance's Certification test suite.

Products from other companies, including Linksys and Intel also have received the Wi-Fi Draft 2.0 certification. The official list can be found here.

According to the D-Link release, certification "guarantees interoperability among 11n products, adherence to security protocol and backward compatibility with previous generations of Wi-Fi gear, including popular 802.11g products".

The products will all be able to display the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 logo.

Gigabit Smart Switch Feature Comparison Table

This chart summarizes key specs and features for the smart switches featured in our $250 Gigabit Smart Switch Roundup and Dell PowerConnect 2708 reviews.

D-Link announces SMB VPN firewall

D-Link yesterday announced a new VPN SSL Firewall targeted at SMB buyers.

The D-Link DFL-S500 protects against viruses, worms, spyware, and hackers on VPN connections by integrating network and endpoint security. The firewall has seven LAN ports, two WAN ports, and a user-configurable server port. Other features include remote management, bandwidth control and access policies, SNMP support and e-mail alerts

The DFL-S500 is expected to ship by the end of June. Pricing was not announced.

Update:D-Link announces dual-band draft 11n media bridge

D-Link today introduced a wireless Ethernet bridge using dual-band draft 11n technology at Microsoft's WinHEC event.

The D-Link Xtreme N Duo MediaBridge (DAP-1555) allows users to add 5 GHz Draft 802.11n capabilities to existing wired or wireless routers or other Ethernet-based products. The DAP-1555 works with dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) draft 802.11n wireless devices as well as legacy 802.11a/b/g products. Up to five MediaBridge adapters can be used to connect a router to Ethernet-capable devices such game consoles, digital video recorders and networked media adapters.

Security features includeWPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) for push-button secure wireless network configuration as well as WEP, WPA or WPA2 wireless security. Other features include a 5-Port 10/100 switch and UPnP support.

D-Link ready with 11n Draft 2.0 upgrades

D-Link today said it has Draft 2.0 product upgrades available for download for its Draft 802.11n Xtreme N product line.The firmware and driver upgrades have also achieved 'Connect with Intel Centrino' certification.

The 2.0 draft of the 802.11n specification brings the industry closer to final ratification, providing the next set of technical requirements for enhancing existing draft 11n products. The technical changes occurring between the draft 1.0 and 2.0 deal primarily with the protection of the legacy devices.

Upgrades are available for the following Xtreme N products: DIR-655 Gigabit Router; DWA-556 PCI Express Desktop Adapter; DWA-643 Notebook ExpressCard; DWA-552 Desktop Adapter and; DWA-652 Notebook Adapter. D-Link's 1.0 products and 2.0 upgrades are based on Atheros' XPAN draft 11n technologies.

Upgrades for all of D-Link's draft 802.11n products will be available this quarter.

D-Link adds wireless management to 10/100 smart switch

D-Link today announced that it will soon add wireless management features to its DES-1228P 24-Port 10/100 smart switch with PoE. The new features will support the upcoming DWL-3140AP, a small, "smoke detector-sized" access point.

Centralized AP management features will include WEP, WPA and WPA2 security, configuration templates, quick discovery of APs, AP mapping utility, full-time AP status controls, AP load balancing and the ability to maintain all AP traffic history and generate reports with statistical diagrams.