Cisco has taken the plate and swung hard for the fences with their new draft 802.11ac gigabit wireless router product, the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router EA6500.
Scheduled for release in August, the EA6500 is available as a $219.99 pre-order in Cisco's Web store. Besides the feature set of the latest draft 802.11ac for speeds of up to 1300 Mbps, it also includes a fancy new NFC (near field communication) capability for smart device admin access, and the new "Cisco Connect Cloud" which will allow remote monitoring and administration from a native mobile device app. The Cisco Connect Cloud will be free and also have support to control other home automation devices such as smart appliances, smart security systems, and smart TVs.
Other features included in the device are: backwards compatiblity with a/b/g/n devices, two USB ports for printer and NAS storage support with DLNA certified media server support, easier and more robust quality of service (QOS) tools specifically designed for streaming HD video. Full IPv6 support.
And like all modern Cisco Linksys routers, the new device is equipped with four gigabit LAN ports and 1 gigbit WAN port.