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Linksys goes shiny! - but is shiny enough, technically, with WiFi routers?

Las Vegas: Linksys goes cosmetic as CES... asking "how do you make a wireless router more consumer friendly?" You stick it in a sleek, shiny casing. That's Linksys approach if its latest offerings are anything to go by.

The WRT310N and WRT160N both sport slick wedge-like designs unspoiled with external antennae – the 160N has two, the 310N three. The 160N has four 10/100Mb/s Ethernet ports, the 310N offers the same number of Gigabit connectors.

Thankfully, consumer friendliness isn't just about looks: the two routers both incorporate WiFi Protected Setup, the new, standard push-button security set-up system. They support both WPA and WPA 2 wireless security specifications.

Both support 802.11n – draft 2.0 - in the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band, but Linksys also rolled out a couple of dual-band products that will also operate in the 5GHz zone. Not routers, mind – Linksys is still offering its aerial-festooned WRT600N for that – but a USB adaptor and an ExpressCard 34 adaptor for notebooks and desktops.

The USB product, the WUSB600N, and the ExpressCard, the WEC600N, will be available in the US soon, Linksys said, each priced at $80 (£42). Americans can buy the WRT310N and WRT160N straight away, paying around $130 and $100, respectively.

Europeans will have to wait until March for the routers, and they won't get their hands on the 5GHz products until the summer.

One consolation: when Linksys brings its dual-band router to Europe, we hear it'll be skipping the current WRT600N and going straight to the second generation of the product line.

Copyright Register Hardware