Western Digital enters router market

Digital has unveiled its first line of wireless home networking products, designed specifically to accelerate movies, video and gaming, Xbit Labs reports.

With the My Net family of networking products, WD debuts its exclusive FasTrack technology that instantly detects entertainment traffic on the network and fast-forwards it to appropriate WiFi-connected devices.

According to Ars Technica, there are three basic models: the $79.99 My Net N600, which includes four fast Ethernet ports and 300Mbit wireless on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands; the $119.99 My Net 750, which gives users gigabit Ethernet as well as 450Mbit wireless on the 5GHz band; and the $179.99 My Net 950, which includes seven gigabit Ethernet ports and 450Mbit wireless on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

The top-of-the-line My Net N900 Central will also feature an integrated 1TB or 2TB internal hard drive to help users centralise storage and backup for all the computers in their homes, which they can remotely access as personal cloud servers, Storage Review writes.

According to Nielsen and NM Incite's recent US Digital Consumer Report, data from the fourth quarter of 2011 shows that 33% of consumers streamed a movie or TV show through a subscription service like Netflix or Hulu Plus.

Internet video services, multiplayer online gaming sites and live video chat services, combined with the explosive diversification of WiFi-connected devices in the home, have created an opportunity for WD to diversify its consumer products portfolio by entering into home networking.