Looking to take advantage of any early deployments of LTE, Zyxel Communications has demonstrated what it claims is the first LTE router to support WiFi connectivity.
While not revealing when the device would be commercially available, the company said that it could take an LTE connection operating up to 50Mbps downstream and share it over a local network through either 802.11n WiFi or its four-port Ethernet switch. The new ZLR-2070S router also has a USB port to support a printer or an external drive across the local network, together with DLNA to share media between similarly aware devices.
Zyxel said that the router would be aimed at operators looking to provide services in rural or other areas with poor coverage where new fixed line deployments were cost-prohibitive.
However, it remains unclear how the LTE router might be distributed, but it would seem likely to appear first in the US as part of a tariff bundle from operators leading the way with LTE, such as Verizon Wireless.
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Electonista
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