Belkin Brands Add HomeKit Bridge, Dual-Band Router With Smart Mesh Technology

Belkin's Linksys announced it’s expanding its Velop whole-home mesh Wi-Fi line with a dual-band offering incorporating Intelligent Mesh technology that’s said to deliver Wi-Fi via the fastest path to the internet using hardware and software. Features include advanced parental controls with website category content filtering, block overrides, network traffic monitoring and website blocking. Automatic network traffic security monitoring guards against malware, phishing and malicious websites, it said. Pricing will be announced when the router ships later this year. Belkin’s Wemo brand is shipping a HomeKit bridge, enabling Wemo users to control devices via Siri on an iPhone or iPad. The $39 Wemo Bridge connects to a Wi-Fi router via an Ethernet cable, using the router to communicate between HomeKit-enabled devices including mobile devices and Apple Watch, it said. Linksys also announced a router for the Xbox due next month at $299.