Though primarily a storage product maker, WD is showing skill in networking as well

Nov 14, 2012 14:23 GMT  ·  By

Western Digital may never turn wireless networking products into a primary revenue source, but that doesn't mean it can't excel at making such things. The My Net AC1300 HD Dual-Band Router and My Net AC Bridge show that clearly.

Essentially, these two provide buyers with the benefits of the more or less best 802.11ac wireless technology on the market at the moment, plus the WD exclusive FasTrack technology.

For those unfamiliar with FasTrack, the technology identifies when high-bandwidth entertainment services like Netflix, YouTube, online games and Skype are started.

In such cases, the network grants them priority, so that communication and gameplay may proceed without lag or image stutter, or anything else.

Taking into account the 450 (2 GHz band) + 1300 (5 GHz) Megabits per second (Mbps), that means very smooth sailing at all hours, provided the servers on the other end of the Internet aren't overloaded or crashed of course.

That said, the range of the My Net AC1300 router is of 30 to 75 feet (10 to 22 meters) and the My Net AC Bridge lets owners convert up to four devices (smart TVs, Blu-ray disk players, media players, game consoles, etc.) from wired-Ethernet to wireless.

"The recent introduction of our My Net family of routers brought several new breakthroughs to the market, including our acclaimed FasTrack prioritization technology, amazingly simple setup and the My Net N900 Central router with storage," states Scott Vouri, general manager for WD's connected life solutions group.

"The My Net AC1300 and My Net AC WiFi Bridge build on those breakthroughs, setting a new standard for wireless speeds and delivering maximum HD streaming performance for our customers, while driving multiple devices on the home network at the same time."

My Net AC1300 Router and My Net AC Bridge are shipping through certain US retailers and online at wdstore.com. The former is priced at $189.99 / 149-189.99 Euro, while the latter ships for $149.99 / 117-149.99 Euro.