Portal is a Router That Lets You Stream, Play and Surf Without Too many Devices Slowing you Down


PortalRouter2The home wireless network has a very large job- multiple smartphones, tablets, and laptops are receiving its signal, and let us not forget the streaming Netflix videos, or Xbox gaming sessions relying on a nice, reliable signal. Well, a new Wi-Fi router called Portal, described as a “fast, intuitive, cutting-edge router with tricks its competitors simply don’t have”, has arrived. It has come just in time for those who are still struggling with those frustrating and intermittent moments of slow, broken signals.

PortalRouterPortal is the idea formed from Ignition Design Labs, a company made up of engineers with experience at Qualcomm, Broadcom, and others. It works by simply increasing available bandwidth on a network and picking the best channels for your home. The secret is actually exploiting the specifically protected portion of the 5GHz radio spectrum, originally designed for weather radar systems. The best analogy I could think of is: having Portal is like using the fast lane in traffic while everyone else is bumper-to-bumper as usual, fighting to share the road. What usually mattered - too many folks in the home with devices using Wi-Fi, are not only no longer crowding each other, but in the possible case of crowding, Portal knows to change to another portion of spectrum, thanks to its “SmartLanes tech”. This is responsible for overseeing congestion issues, and may switch to quieter parts of the spectrum to speed an individual’s device. Now isn’t that just clever?

PortalRouter1Ignition Design Labs president, Terry Ngo, has stated that Wi-Fi has “become a victim of its own success”, which is true in the sense that “crowdedness creates congestion, which impacts performance, speed, and reliability”. After Kickstarting a campaign back in February, 4,562 backers pledged $791,862 to help bring this project to life. Portal’s website has the trendy-looking routers up for purchase, and if you notice their lovely product images, there’s no antennas sticking out of the top or sides of them, they are instead “folded” inside the “sporty case”. Users can control their Portal from anywhere using a dashboard on their smartphone, where the app also allows guest access, as well as support from customer service reps. Good news for the startup is, as of October 8th, “nearly 1,000 Portals have shipped”. The app is available for both Android and Apple iOS, many of the early backers are already happy, and for upcoming customers, the cost is currently $199.99 on Amazon.

Topics: Technology News Gadgets & Peripherals Inventions & Innovations Smartphones & Mobile Devices

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