Cisco's Valet wireless router makes home networking easy.

Last week, a new wireless router called Valet -The Valet.com- made by network equipment maker Cisco, hit the market with less fanfare than the launch of Apple's iPad. Not to compare apple and orange, -no pun intended-, a lot of people may benefit more from Cisco' Valet wireless router than from Apple's iPad. But that is a mute point given the fact that they both serve different purposes and may respectively fall in the need and want categories, therefore their "sexiness" greatly varies. Well, speaking of the Valet wireless router, it is really a user friendly device that almost anyone can set up and operate. All the people who reviewed it, have come to that conclusion, including TMC.net. According to the reviewers, setting up Valet wireless network takes about 10 minutes on average thanks to its USB Easy Set Up Key that plugs into your computer and almost auto-installs, requiring only very little action from the user. It can be configured with a parental control to restrict teens Web access or usage, or to accommodate guest logging, or to add on other computers and devices like mobile phones etc. The Valet wireless router retails for $100 and is available from various outlets like Staples, Amazon.com, Target, and Wal-Mart. And for those looking for something with more range, there is the Valet Plus, a $150 version that with 20% more Wi-Fi coverage.

For more, see TMC.net

Simple and easy to create parental control over the Internet.

Nowadays, parents with under age children can feel more and more hopeless when faced with the omnipresence of the Internet in the lives of their young ones. Cyberspace can be a wonderful place for youngsters to learn and be entertained. But it can be a very frightening and dangerous place too. For that matter, all you can surf menu is certainly not an option. Parents need to set boundaries and limits on when and where kids may go online. But in most situations, that may be easier said than done, for the obvious reasons that parents may not have the time or be tech-savvy enough to work around the problem.
Thankfully, parents using a wireless home -network do not have to look very far than their network router. Many of the newest models like the ones from Neatgear , Cisco or Linksys include parental control features in the router's settings. Simply check with the router manual for its different features and instructions on how to change the settings.
From there, you can set up limits on how much surfing is allowed, but when and where to surf. With the settings, not only can you block the obvious adult-oriented Web sites, but also any given social networking or video sites.