NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR) ( www.netgear.com), a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, announced today the new C6250 802.11ac DOCSIS® 3.0 Wireless Gateway. The 16x4, dual-band, dual concurrent gateway is the industry’s first 802.11ac cable gateway with Beamforming for service providers and will be showcased with a live demonstration in booth V20 in Hall 10.1 during the 2013 ANGA COM tradeshow taking place this week at the fairgrounds in Cologne, Germany.



“802.11ac is already the most advanced WiFi standard available today. The addition of Beamforming technology gives users even greater connectivity and throughput within their home or business WiFi network,” said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “As operators continue to expand their multi-screen video offerings, we will see even greater adoption of both 802.11ac and Beamforming capabilities in cable CPE.”



NETGEAR’s C6250 802.11ac DOCSIS 3.0 Wireless Gateway enables operators’ customers to experience better WiFi coverage optimized for a faster, more stable video, voice, gaming and media experience with the inclusion of Beamforming. The addition of Beamforming to the 802.11ac standard creates a more direct, WiFi signal that locks on to each connected device and maintains a strong connection even when you move around your home or business. Beamforming transforms 802.11ac gateways into highly-focused WiFi networks that optimize overall wireless performance and deliver the experiences service providers’ customers want: super-fast downloads, clearer voice calls, uninterrupted HD video, and lag-free gaming.



“Beamforming is the next big thing in WiFi signal technology, and NETGEAR is proud to bring it to our DOCSIS/Euro-DOCSIS 3.0 gateways for our broadband service providers. 802.11ac with Beamforming will help operators to support the increasingly heavy demands on the quality of experience within the home network,” said Naveen Chhangani, NETGEAR director of product management for Service Provider Business. “With Beamforming, we raise the bar further by providing significant improvement in performance, especially at long distances where connection speeds and reliability are challenging.”



By integrating Beamforming into the C6250 802.11ac DOCSIS 3.0 Wireless Gateway, operators can experience significant value and benefits. Enhanced performance and a more stable connection can help reduce the number of support calls that operators receive related to WiFi connectivity and performance. Service providers’ customers may experience increased levels of customer satisfaction with the reduction of dead zones and performance variation due to device orientation. When using mobile devices incorporating 802.11ac, they will also experience increased throughput for faster speeds and downloads and better streaming quality. Service providers will find the addition of Beamforming to be exceptionally helpful as more and more mobile devices incorporating 802.11ac become available, such as the smartphones from Samsung and HTC that are shipping now. Additionally, standard-based implementation can help ensure interoperability with a wide variety of 802.11ac client devices.



The NETGEAR C6250 802.11ac DOCSIS 3.0 Wireless Gateway features:

• Integrated DOCSIS/Euro DOCSIS 3.0 modem with up to 800 Mbps* speed
• Dual-band, dual concurrent AC1600* (300 Mbps @ 2.4 Ghz 802.11n + 1300 Mbps @ 5 Ghz 802.11ac) with Beamforming
• 4-Port Gigabit Ethernet switch
• 2 voice ports with support of PacketCable^™ 2.0
• USB host port with NETGEAR ReadySHARE^® technology for easy access and sharing content from external USB port storage and printer sharing
• Support for operators’ initiative of WiFi offload using GRE soft tunnel
• NETGEAR genie^® support to easily manage the home network
• TR069 and SNMP tools for the remote management

More Information


To learn more about NETGEAR broadband cable products for service providers, please visit http://www.netgear.com/service-provider/products/routers-and-gateways/. To learn about 802.11ac WiFi, including Beamforming, go to www.netgear.com/80211ac.