Netgear Blankets CES With Nighthawk Pro Gaming WiFi Routers And Smart Security Cams

Netgear is showing off some of its new gear that will be on display at CES 2018 and among that gear is a new Siri-enabled Arlo Baby camera that looks like a bunny. Arlo Baby Camera is the world's first smart baby monitor according to Netgear and integrates with the Apple Homekit. The Arlo monitor is paired with an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad and offers a live video stream of the baby via the Arlo Baby camera feed.

There is two-way audio for talking and listening to the baby along with other people near the camera. Parents can also quick view the most recent snapshot recorded by the camera. With Homekit integration, the camera stream can be launched using voice commands. There are also Arlo security cameras and a light suitable for outdoor use.

NETGEAR also has a new Armor Security Service to protect any device connected via a NETGEAR router. NETGEAR Armor is powered by Bitdefender. The Armor firmware will provide central security to protect all PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets, and smart home devices from cyber threats. The subscription includes the Bitdefender Family Pack anti-malware software for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android devices.

Netgear wrote, "NETGEAR Armor includes Bitdefender Family Pack anti-malware for Android, iOS, Windows PCs, and Macs whether at home or anywhere. Using intelligent behavioral detection, NETGEAR Armor closely monitors all active apps and the moment the service detects suspicious activity, it takes instant action to prevent trouble, as it is designed to respond within three seconds to even the newest known threats. By turning on the optional Autopilot feature, all cybersecurity decisions can be made without pop-ups or dialog boxes to distract you from your work or play."

There is also a new Netgear insight app and web portal that is meant for remote management of a medium or small business network. The family of products is expanding with two new switches that have 28-ports each. Both switches are Smart Cloud Switches and have a mobile app and support remote setup, monitoring, and management features. The switches support VLAN, Auto-VoIP, port trunking, QoS and priority queuing, port-based rate limiting, ACLs, storm control, and port mirroring. The switches also have IPv6 management and static routing for IPv6 and IPv4.

The management solution for the switches is free for basic for up to two devices and $4.99 per year for other devices. Premium coves app and Insight Cloud portal for $9.99 yearly. The switches are $329.99 for the basic unit or $599.99 for a PoE+ version.

On the gaming front, Netgear has two new Nighthawk Pro Gaming products that aim to cut lag and enhance gameplay. The products include the Nighthawk Pro Gaming WiFi Router (XR500) and Nighthawk Pro Gaming SX10 10G/Multi-Gig LAN Switch (GS810EMX). The XR500 uses enhanced software to optimize the network connection and stabilize ping, reduce lag, and keep gamers always on with wired and wireless connectivity.

Performance can be optimized with a Gaming Dashboard that has a geo filter, QoS and Network monitoring. The router has a dual-core 1.7GHz processor inside, quad-stream Wave 2 WiFi antennas with MU-MIMO and a quartet of external high-power antennas. The switch is a 10G switch able to prioritize streams with QoS and has hard-wired speeds for gamers wanting the best competitive edge possible. It supports a variety of speeds with a pair of auto-adaptive ports that support 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps or 10Gbps. The Gaming Dashboard let gamers see at a glance what is going on with the network and what ports need optimization for the best gaming quality. The router is available now for $299.99 and the switch is available for $299.99.

The last product is the Orbi Outdoor Satellite that is part of the Orbi Whole Home WiFi system. The Satellite is meant to add up to another 2500 square feet of WiFi coverage outdoors, so you can be connected outside no matter the weather. The satellite is weather resistant and supports fast streaming for 4k video and more. The device is available now for $329.99.