Asus RT-N13U Wireless N Router with All-In-One Printer Server
Conventional wisdom says that 802.11n costs a lot of money, or if it doesn't, you're not getting a really capable product. Asus' RT-N13U is a four port router that shatters that conception with solid 2.4GHz 802.11n performance. That's not its only party trick however. A single USB port gives you the choice of wireless print serving or USB flash drive sharing. It also comes with an inbuilt BitTorrent client, and all in an attractive (for a router) enclosure. You do need a little technical nous to get it up and running, but beyond that it's a very solid router indeed. Rating 5/6 - Price $99
Netcomm 3G18wN
Here' s an interesting idea: wireless broadband you can share around the house. Netcomm's got a lot of 802.11n product in the market, but the 3G18wN combines the potential speed of 802.11n with a front-facing USB port for attaching USB 3G modems, as well as four regular 10/100 ports for conventional networking. The 3G inclusion gives you a great fallback position if your ADSL2+ does go AWOL from time to time, as well as an easy way to share your 3G data allowance around the house if you've got capacity to spare. It's good for novices, as setup is simple and wireless security is enabled by default. Rating 5/6 - Price $250
Netgear WNHDEB111 HD/Gaming 5GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit
Got a gamer in the house? As Asus' cheap router proves, vendors can't just get away with slapping on a high price tag just because it's 802.11n capable. Netgear's pitch for the WNHDEB111 rests on speed. It's dual 5GHz/2.4GHz capable, giving it plenty of connection potential to PCs both fast and slow, and it's certainly fast enough for HD video streaming to multiple machines. Your $299 price gets you two access points, which should also allow you to blanket the entire family home in fast wireless access no matter what obstacles or interference sources lie in the way. Rating 4/6 - Price $299
Western Digital MyBook World Edition
Here's a good insurance policy against lost homework, deleted work files, and your family holiday photos. The MyBook World Edition is a gigabit-ready Network Attached Storage device, built into the same attractive shell that Western Digital's used for its MyBook USB connected drives for some time. It's simple to set up, which is its biggest selling point, as you essentially just need to connect it to a router, install the supplied software and all the computers in your home should "see" its shared folders immediately. If you don't want to install drives into a NAS or get into networking terminology, the World Edition is a good NAS option. Rating 4/6 - Price $569
Netgear ReadyNAS Stora
If you want backup, plus you want to store lots of video and music, here's your product. Netgear's ReadyNAS range goes all the way up into units that can take up to twelve drives, but that's probably overkill for the average family. The Stora is a simpler, 2 drive bay solution that ships by default with a single 1TB drive installed. That's plenty of storage by itself, but where the Stora stands out is in the flexibility it has to manage your data. Backup's a given with any NAS, but the Stora's also DLNA compatible for streaming out to consoles or other media players. It's also iTunes compatible and even able to serve data out to the Web so you can access your family photos or shared music on the go. Rating 4/6 - Price $399
iNet Naked Home 3
Choosing a broadband plan that won't leave the whole family whinging can be tricky. iiNet's Naked Home 3 comes with a 35GB download allowance (split 15GB peak/20GB off-peak), and because it's utilising a naked DSL line, you don't have to pay for line rental on top of that, making it excellent value on its own, especially when you consider a VoIP account is included as part of the deal. Combine that with iiNet's freezone allowances - which cover gaming on Xbox Live, free streaming of ABC's iView and sports from Premier League Football to Golf - and you've got an attractive family-centric service. Rating 4/6 - Price $70/Month
Internode Easy Broadband
Internode's reputation in the Australian broadband market is a generally excellent one, and its latest revision to its "Easy" Broadband package shows why. $50 per month buys you 50GB of download allowance with no peak/off-peak confusion to worry about. Depending on location, Easy Broadband offers either 1.5MBps service (if you're on a Telstra connection, essentially) or up to 24MBps via Internode's own ADSL2+ services. Internode's unmetered offerings include movie downloads via TiVo and ABC's excellent iView service.
Rating 5/6 - Price $50/Month
Vodafone Pre-Paid 3G Wireless
Most family budgets are stretched pretty thin these days, so pre-paid mobile broadband makes a lot of sense. Vodafone's recently dropped the price of its 3G starter bundle to a very wallet-friendly $99. That'll net you 1GB of downloads in the first month, but after that the choice is up to you. $19 will buy you 500MB, $29 will get you 1GB and $49 will get you 3GB. Best of all, if you constantly recharge, unused data is rolled over into the following month, something you don't even get with a post-paid wireless broadband account. Good for light users, rather than families doing lots of downloading. Rating 5/6 - Price $99
Logitech Webcam C600
OK, so you're covered for broadband and wireless sharing with our other gift suggestions. Utilities like Skype are free for a PC-to-PC calling, and adding video to them makes for great family contact. Logitech's Webcam C600 has a high resolution 2 megapixel sensor, Logitech's own silly but fun overlaid video effects if you do want to film yourself and the included Vid software if you want to keep things very simple indeed. Rating 4/6 - Price $130
DreamVision Home Communication System PC76
Here's one of those gadgets that will add a little "wow factor" to your home - and possibly impress visitors. The Pioneer DreamVision Home Communications System is a fancy looking touchscreen that combines...wait for it, a cordless phone, WiFi, 3G connection, digital photo frame, email, Internet, alarm clock, video and music player, security alarm, and remote power switch. It's possibly the most ambitious home gadget we've seen under $1,000, and it's perfect for the geek who wants their home not only be high-tech, but look high-tech too. Rating: tba - Price: $799
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