Cisco introduces consumer routers and maybe kills Linksys
22nd April 2010.
On the back of launching a new set of Linksys routers, parent company Cisco is introducing its own routers, and losing the Linksys brand as a manufacturer.
Immediately after the e-series launch the Linksys brand seems to have been quietly dropped in the US. A visit to Linksys.com will now redirect you to the Cisco website. And indeed Cisco has announced that for the first time it will be selling routers directly to consumers under its own brand.
Scott Kabat, Cisco's director of confusing namingMarketing for Consumer Products, says that "this is very much a reflection of Cisco's goal of becoming a household brand." Then rather confusingly adds that the Linksys brand will be retained for more techie-oriented routers. The only way that this seems to make sense is if Cisco is the manufacturer which now sells two ranges of routers the new Cisco Valet range, and the Linksys range. Got that? Good.
So what do we know about the Valet range? Well there's two new routers which are clearly based on the standard chassis that LinksysCisco has been using until now. And that's no bad thing.
The Cisco Valet will focus on ease of setup, and utilises the knowledge of the PureDigital team (makers of the Flip camcorders) which Cisco acquired last year. The Valet will come in two versions, the basic Valet (M10) has a MRP of $99 and comes with 10/100 ethernet ports and only two antennae. The Valet Plus (M20) comes with a larger wireless range thanks to 3 antennae, gigabit ethernet and a price tag of $149. Each Valet will come with a USB flash drive that buyers insert into their computers to configure them for use with the router automatically - this is a nice touch and should help a lot of people.
The Valet seems to be for the US maket only at the moment, but expect the Valets and associated brand confusion to arrive on UK shores shortly.
