D-Link Unified Home Wi-Fi Kit.jpg

New EXO Routers

Following in the footstep of its space-age looking Ultra Series wireless routers (which Plug-in’s Steven Hill compared to a “killer spider robot” in his review), the EXO series introduced at CES 2016 offers a more affordable take on high performance wireless.

CES 2016 D-Link EXO router.jpg

The DIR-879 and DIR-869 EXO series routers offer dual band 802.11ac performance, high power amplifiers, dual core processors and D-Link’s SmartConnect technology for automatically assigning devices to the best Wi-Fi band for optimal performance. They also offer the adjustable external antennas, futuristic design and a flashy colour scheme that ensures the EXO routers look as good as they perform.

Unified Home Wi-Fi Network Kit With Adaptive Roaming Technology

Wow, talk about a mouthful of a name. Let’s just call it the D-Link DKT-891 from now on. Winner of a CES Innovations 2016 Design and Engineering award, the DKT-891 is essentially guaranteed Wi-Fi performance for all your devices throughout your entire home, in a box.

The package includes a wicked fast AV4300 tri-band router with Qualcomm’s latest MU-MIMO technology that ensures simultaneously connected devices experience the throughput and performance they would if they each had a dedicated router. HD video streaming, video gaming and other high demand activities can take place at the same time, while everyone gets speeds up to three times that of traditional Wi-Fi.

D-Link adaptive router kit.jpg

In addition to the router, there’s also a Wi-Fi extender (with matching high tech look) included. D-Link says that while the system is plug and play, in the background, intelligent adaptive roaming technology is being employed to ensure each device always gets the best network connection possible, no matter where they move throughout the house.

IFTTT Support Added to mydlink Home Devices

D-Link isn’t just about high performance routers, it’s also a leader in the Smart Home. At CES, it made the mydlink connected home devices already released even smarter by announcing the incorporation of IFTTT (If This Then That). Users will be able to create and use IFTTT recipes on the mydlink Home app—for example, sounding an alarm over a Wi-Fi siren if a water sensor detects the bathtub is overflowing.

D-Link smart alarm detector.jpgDCH-165 mydlink Smart Alarm Detector

Finally, D-Link won another CES 2016 Design and Engineering award for this very simple looking device that elegantly solves a very common problem.

Unless you pay for a monitored home security system, what good is a standard home smoke detector or CO detector when no-one is home to hear the alarm?

The mydlink Smart Alarm Detector plugs into an electrical outlet and can accurately detect the sound of a standard smoke detector or CO alarm from a distance of 15 metres. If an alarm is detected, the mydlink Smart Alarm Detector sends a push alert to a smartphone. Add in IFTTT support and that detector could also trigger other actions on a mydlink smart home network, such as flashing the lights on and off. This could provide the early warning that lets you call the fire department from work before flames engulf your home, or give you the heads up to get home and get your pets safely outside in the event of a carbon monoixide leak when you’re away.

Look for these innovative and award-winning D-Link CES reveals to be available soon at Best Buy. And keep reading Plug-in for the latest CES 2016 updates, including Lenovo’s big reveals and new gear from Belkin.

Brad Moon
Editor Computing solutions
I’m a long-time electronics and gadget geek who’s been fortunate enough to enjoy a career that lets me indulge this interest. I have been writing about technology for several decades for a wide range of outlets including Wired, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, MSN, About.com, Kiplinger, and GeekDad. I’m in my 10th year as a senior contributor for Forbes with a focus on reviewing music-related tech, Apple gear, battery power stations and other consumer electronics. My day job is with the Malware Research Center at AI-native cybersecurity pioneer CrowdStrike.