WD enters wireless router market in India with My Net

Western Digital (WD) is foraying into the wireless networking market in India. The company yesterday unveiled the My Net range of dual-band, N Wi-Fi routers, which will be available from the third week of September this year. The range comprises of four router models, the My Net N600, My Net N750 and My Net N900, and My Net N900 Central.

As per a press communiqué, the routers in the My Net line feature WD’s FasTrack technology, which is touted to detect entertainment traffic on the network and fast-forward it to consoles, media players, smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, computers and other Wi-Fi connected devices. The My Net routers incorporate a streamlined set up procedure as well as the My Net Dashboard, which allows you to customise, monitor or change the settings of the network, including setting parental controls, Internet security, guest network access, network name and password, printer and scanner settings, and mapping storage drives.

WD's N900 Central storage router

Khalid Wani, Sales Director for Branded Products, India, Middle East and Africa, WD, said, “Network demands within the connected home are growing exponentially, with members of the average Indian household simultaneously watching movies, playing games or browsing the Internet via smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and other devices. The My Net routers are a result of valuable insights gained from our success in the Connected Homes and personal cloud markets, which also positions us uniquely to address wireless networking hassles and enhance the home entertainment experience for consumers”.

The high-end N900 Central is a dual-band storage router with an internal hard drive. It comes in 1TB and 2TB versions and allows you to set up a personal cloud for your digital media. WD has tools that allow you to access your cloud through the Internet from a PC or via apps for both iOS and Android. You also have an optional automatic wireless backup feature. It has a maximum speed of 900Mbps (450 + 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands combined) and includes four LAN ports and one WLAN Gigabit Ethernet port for up to 10/ 100/ 1000 Mbps wired speeds, one USB port for additional storage, printer and media share server use, and range amplifier antennas for extended range. The 2TB version will retail for Rs 25, 999 and the 1TB for Rs 20,999.

To be available for Rs 11,999, the N900 is basically the same router as the N900 Central, but is cheaper and has more Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports (seven) and two USB ports. The N750 gives you combined data rates of up to 750Mbps, and features five Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and two USB ports. This one will go on sale for Rs 7,199. Bringing up the rear is the N600, which has combined data rates of up to 600Mbps, five Fast Ethernet ports and one USB port. It will sell for Rs 5,699.