NETGEAR First To Deliver Wireless At Wired Speeds With Launch Of RangeMax 240

NETGEAR Inc., (Nasdaq: NTGR) a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, today announced its RangeMax 240 family of wireless networking products, the industry's first wireless networking solution capable of delivering data at speeds previously possible only through wired Ethernet connections. Offering superior reliability and coverage, hallmarks of the RangeMax line of products, while increasing wireless speeds up to 240 Mbps, NETGEAR's RangeMax 240 family eliminates dead spots in home or office environments and provides fast enough wireless speeds to support simultaneous bandwidth-intensive applications such as high-definition video, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony, streaming audio, and online gaming.

NETGEAR's RangeMax 240 Wireless Router (WPNT834) incorporates advanced MIMO technology with Adaptive Channel Expansion. It provides a data rate of up to 240Mbps when used with the RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter (WPNT511) and USB 2.0 Adapter (WPNT121), meaning that for the first time wireless has attained an effective throughput of up to 100Mbps comparable to that of 10/100 Fast Ethernet wired networks. In addition, it is compatible with and connects simultaneously to RangeMax 240, RangeMax, and all other 802.11b/g clients. Adapting to changing wireless conditions is unique to NETGEAR's RangeMax technology, and RangeMax 240 dynamically avoids interference from neighboring wireless networks to maintain the most reliable, high-performance, long-range network connections to clients.

RangeMax 240 incorporates new advanced True MIMO(TM) Gen 3 technology from Airgo Networks which uses spatial multiplexing to stream multiple data streams over a single channel, new Adaptive Channel Expansion(TM) (ACE(TM)) technology for dynamically increasing performance to support bandwidth-intensive applications in a Wi-Fi friendly way, and automatic channel selection to provide the clearest and most available channel connections. True MIMO Gen 3 also offers full speed hardware accelerated encryption for the 128 bit AES, TKIP and WEP standards as well as the latest quality of service mechanisms for video, voice and audio. Secure and easy-to-use, RangeMax 240 incorporates NETGEAR's popular SmartWizard(TM) Installation Assistant and Assisted Firmware Update to ensure ease-of-installation and management, and enable automated retrieval and installation of firmware upgrades. NETGEAR's "Touchless" Wi-Fi Security provides a simple interface enabling users to easily set up and connect to a secure network using standards-based Wi-Fi network security including Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK).

"Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in network-connected devices such as digital video recorders and digital audio/video players for sharing multimedia throughout the home. Add these to the rapidly growing array of portable digital music players, digital still and video cameras, and online game consoles and it quickly becomes apparent that network bandwidth is becoming a critical component of the networked home, especially in an expanding wireless environment," explained Mike Wolf, Director at InfoTrends Research Group. "The ability to maintain network performance with multiple bandwidth-hungry devices connected to the wireless home network requires a robust infrastructure that can deliver both speed and whole-home coverage. Solutions like the RangeMax 240 product family provide a wireless broadband infrastructure that can support the use of simultaneous applications from simple Internet access to digital media sharing, console gaming and Voice-over-IP telephony."

"Customers have responded to the significant coverage benefits that NETGEAR's initial RangeMax product line has to offer, making it the #1 selling MIMO G in the world. NETGEAR's next-generation RangeMax 240 product family now combines fantastic coverage with ultra-fast 240 Mbps wireless speeds," explained Patrick Lo, NETGEAR's chairman and chief executive officer. "With many types of digital multimedia content now being stored and streamed locally on the home network, customers are finding that they require even more speed at longer distances from their wireless equipment. The wireless network now needs to provide simultaneous support for bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming audio and high-definition video, online gaming, and Voice-over-IP telephone service. With the recent release of NETGEAR's Storage Central to provide high-capacity, high-performance network-connected storage, consumers are turning to NETGEAR for complete solutions to securely store and share digital assets such as photos, videos and music across the entire network. RangeMax 240 extends NETGEAR's undisputed leadership in the new era of wireless digital home solutions."

"Airgo is excited to see consumers benefit from the faster speeds and extended wireless coverage of our True MIMO Gen 3 technology, the industry's first family of wireless chipsets to deliver high quality wireless at wired speeds," said Greg Raleigh, president and chief executive officer. "NETGEAR and Airgo are partnering to transform the wireless networking market with Airgo True MIMO Gen 3 powered solutions, enabling consumers to enjoy the full benefit of the all-digital wireless home multimedia network."

NETGEAR RangeMax 240 Wireless Router (WPNT834)
The NETGEAR RangeMax 240 Wireless Router (WPNT834) utilizes an Advanced 'Gen 3' MIMO technology from Airgo Networks with both Spatial Multiplexing and Adaptive Channel Expansion (ACE) to provide speeds of up to 240 Mbps when used with RangeMax 240 wireless adapters. Spatial Multiplexing enables it to transmit multiple wireless streams of data on a single wireless channel, while ACE dynamically expands into a 2nd clear channel to provide additional speeds in a way that is Wi-Fi friendly. The RangeMax 240 Wireless Router, which simultaneously supports and improves the performance of existing legacy 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices by up to 50 percent, delivers ultra-fast wired speeds with superior wireless coverage to eliminate dead spots throughout the home.

Equipped with an integrated wired 4-port auto-sensing 10/100 Mbps switch, the RangeMax 240 Wireless Router provides a robust set of network security features including: NAT and SPI firewalls, 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption, Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK), MAC address authentication, Denial of Service (DoS) attack protection, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS), Exposed Host (DMZ) for secure gaming, and support for two VPN pass-through tunnels (IPSec, L2TP, PPTP).

It also features a variety of privacy and parental controls including: "trusted user" controls, time-based usage controls, Web site logging, remote management capability, and URL content filtering.

NETGEAR RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter (WPNT511) and Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter (WPNT121)
The NETGEAR RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter (WPNT511) and RangeMax 240 Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter (WPNT121) enable users to take advantage of the ultra high-speed 240 Mbps capability of the RangeMax 240 Wireless Router. Connecting to any available PC Card (Cardbus) slot, the RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter enables users to enjoy unprecedented data speeds and reliability throughout the home, while any USB port provides easy access for the RangeMax 240 Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter to deliver wireless speed and reliability.

NETGEAR's RangeMax 240 Wireless Router and Adapters are backed by 24/7 technical support and one-year warranty. The RangeMax 240 Wireless Router (WPNT834) and RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter (WPNT511) will be available this holiday season via leading retailers, e-commerce sites and value-added resellers at retail prices of $199 and $129 respectively. The RangeMax 240 Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter (WPNT121) will be available in early 2006.

About NETGEAR, Inc.
NETGEAR designs technologically advanced, branded networking products that address the specific needs of small and medium business and home users. The Company's product offerings enable users to share Internet access, peripherals, files, digital multimedia content and applications among multiple personal computers and other Internet-enabled devices. NETGEAR is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.netgear.com or call (408) 907-8000.

About Airgo Networks, Inc.
The founders of Airgo Networks have pioneered a wireless communication technique known as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). A breakthrough in wireless, MIMO OFDM has been adopted as the foundation for defining the new IEEE 802.11n standard for next generation Wi-Fi. Airgo is first-to-market with 802.11a/b/g-compliant MIMO enhanced chipset, software and reference design solutions. Now in its third generation, Airgo's True MIMO technology has surpassed the speed of wireline connections, enabling the most bandwidth-intensive applications and eliminating the need for wires at home, at work, and in public places. Founded in January 2001, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA. Information about Airgo Networks is available at www.airgonetworks.com.