Gefen Selects Icron ExtremeUSB for WUSB 2.0 Extender

Icron announces Gefen has picked their WiRanger for its new wireless USB 2.0 extender. That's the first commercial product to use this platform. Based on Icron's ExtremeUSB and adopted for 802.11g, the Gefen will wirelessly extend any types of USB peripherals ranging from a pair of USB speakers to hard drives up to 100 ft. away from the computer. The remote unit will come with 4 ports and be able to support multiple devices by adding additional hubs.

After talking to Icron's spokeswomen, the WiRanger will reach a maximum speed of 30Mbps in optimal condition and will hop between 1, 6 and 11 channel on 2.4GHz band to maintain a stable connection, implying less room for MIMO routers. Also unique to this solution are isochronous support (eg. audio & video stream) and transparent OS support. Regardless of the operating systems, the WiRanger will always be treated as a generic USB hub. We aren't certain if Gefen will dump its previous plan to ship UWB-based 4-port hub, but the WiRanger-version seems to be a step ahead with the aforementioned advantages.