D-Link U.S.A. on Friday announced the DWL-G810 Xtreme G Wireless Bridge. The interface was developed to connect Ethernet-bound devices to a high-speed wireless network using the IEEE 802.11g standard (known to Mac users as AirPort Extreme).
D-Link noted that the new bridge was designed primarily for video game consoles like the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo GameCube, all of which include or can be outfitted with broadband connectivity equipment. But the bridge works without any drivers or software and can be configured using a Web browser-based interface, so it’s also perfectly suitable for environments that use Macs which can’t support an AirPort or AirPort Extreme wireless networking card on their own — early iMacs, for example, or any beige Mac.
AirPort Extreme was introduced on the Mac platform with the release of Apple’s 17-inch PowerBook G4 this past January. Since then the interface has spread out to other Mac models as well. The high-speed wireless networking technology is based on the IEEE 802.11g standard, which enables devices to send data to one another at up to 54Mbps. The 802.11g standard is downwardly compatible with 802.11b, known to Mac users as AirPort.
D-Link said the DWL-G810 Xtreme G Wireless Bridge works with any device equipped with an Ethernet network. The device supports 64 and 128-bit Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP) encryption, and works in ad-hoc or infrastructure modes.
The DWL-G810 Xtreme G Wireless Bridge includes a 10/100baseT Ethernet port, according to a D-Link spokesman, so devices that support the faster Ethernet standard will be able to operate at full 802.11g speed.
D-Link will have the DWL-G810 Xtreme G Wireless Bridge in stores by mid-August with a suggested retail price of US$134.99. The interface includes a 3-year warranty and free 24/7 tech support.