Netgear officials continue to maintain that the company is the , even though and an 802.11ac media bridge are already on sale on Frys.com and Newegg.com. A Netgear official at yesterday's press event said he had ordered a Buffalo unit from Newgg in order to verify actual availability, but that he had not yet received it.

While the 802.11ac standard uses the same unlicensed frequency spectrum as routers based on the older 802.11g (2.4GHz), 802.11a (5GHz), and 802.11n (2.4- and 5GHz) standards, 802.11ac routers are capable of packing three times more data into each spatial stream. Where an 802.11n router can stream data at speeds of up to 150 megabits per second (Mb/s) on each antenna, an 802.11ac router can deliver data at speeds of up to 450 Mb/s on each antenna.

The R6300, which will retail for $200, will deliver its highest performance--theoretical throughput of up to 1,300 Mb/s--with its 802.11ac radio (three antenna x 450 Mb/s = 1,300 Mb/s). A second, 802.11n radio operating on the 2.4GHz frequency band uses the same three antennas to deliver theoretical throughput of up to 450 Mb/s (3 x 150 = 450).

The R6300 will also offer a slew of usability extras through Netgear's Genie software for Macs, PCs, and iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Among other things, Genie lets you monitor and manage your network remotely; print from iOS devices to any networked printer (no AirPrint support required); and create guest accounts (so that guests can access the Internet, but not your programs or data files).

Netgear's software also lets you set parental controls at the router level, so there's no need to configure each computer separately. The R6300 also has two USB ports for connecting printers and storage devices.