Cisco has recently informed the public that it's mixing its wireless technology with the Flip Video's simple approach to design, in order to launch the Valet. This should be a breakthrough new product series that will ease home wireless installation, making it accessible for anyone. The Valet router was engineered to change the way families use the Internet at home, so they can start benefiting from the commodity of complete freedom in wireless access without meeting the hassle of a home network setup.

"Valet is home wireless made easy," said Jonathan Kaplan, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Consumer Products. "With complementary backgrounds and expertise, our Cisco and Flip teams have combined forces to change the rules for home wireless with a product line that empowers consumers to easily set up, use and manage all of their wireless devices anywhere in their home."

Even if consumers are always craving for wireless connectivity on their products, IDC research tells us that just one third of the US homes actually have the network set up for wireless use. That's just because users want wireless on products to borrow other people's Internet connection while on the go, and in hot spots and so on. Nevertheless, this is only because the wide majority of offerings available now require too much technical knowledge (or not) for the common user to install it or set it up.

"Consumers have felt powerless and frustrated with the entire process of home wireless, but with Valet we are tearing down the walls and opening it up to everyone," added Kaplan. "The market for wireless-enabled products is exploding and now mainstream users will be able to take full advantage of all the new opportunities."

Getting to the Valet, Cisco has implemented such an easy way of setting up that it will make many people happy, even providing an ease of management for the wireless experience. What customers have to do is only to plug the included USB set-up dongle into their PC or Mac. The Cisco Connect software handles everything from that point, even storing the needed information on the USB stick, so that adding more computers to the home wireless is at ease. Offering two models, Valet and Valet Plus, Cisco targets medium-sized and large homes, with pricing tags of $99.99 and $149.99, respectively.


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