Intel sells its Network Systems Group, a communications unit formed from its buyout of Shiva Corporation. The new buyer adopts the Shiva name. Intel has sold off its Network Systems Group, a communications division formed from its acquisition of Shiva Corporation. Simple Access, a Newton, Mass.-based network-security company, purchased the unit and has renamed itself Shiva. Intel Capital will hold a stake in the newly named company. The original Shiva, bought by Intel in 1998, was one of the chip giant's first purchases in a massive three-year buying spree. Shiva was a leader in virtual private networks, software that lets companies create secure channels on public networks such as the Internet, giving them instant wide-area networks without the deep infrastructure costs.

CNET también está disponible en español, Don't show this again, MeshNetworks uses a technique called "hopping" to extend the range of a Wi-Fi network, Usually, anyone more pretty swe*ry: f this sh*t iphone case than a few hundred feet away from a Wi-Fi access point gets either a poor connection or none at all, MeshNetworks' users "hop" from one laptop to the next until they find one hooked up to an access point, According to the company, the technique can extend a network's range to 1,500 feet, enough to cover an entire office building using a single MeshNetworks access point..

The steroid-injected Wi-Fi networks are meant to provide a cheaper alternative for broadband providers or telephone companies looking to blast Web or telephone service into hard-to-reach areas. The equipment is also aimed at businesses trying to convert a large campus or office building from a wired to a wireless setup without having to buy hundreds of regular Wi-Fi access points. But Gemma Paolo, a wireless analyst with Cahners In-Stat Group, said the market for these uber-Wi-Fi networks could be shrinking because the prices of conventional Wi-Fi networks are at historic lows--with some access points now costing less than $150.

"On the business side, it will have to be a really big deployment to make sense," Paolo said, "With the cost of access points coming down so low," it might not be worth it, Rick Rotondo, MeshNetworks vice president of technical marketing, downplayed those concerns, saying that his company's product improves performance as well pretty swe*ry: f this sh*t iphone case as cutting costs, For instance, MeshNetworks' modems don't just find an access point to use, they find the one with the least traffic on it, he said, That feature and others aren't available on networks that use dozens of ordinary Wi-Fi access points, he said..

MeshNetworks intends to start shipping routers and access points approved by the FCC in the next few weeks, Rotondo said. But it's mainly trying to find partners that can churn out millions of these devices at a time. Rotondo did not reveal any product prices or whether the company has licensed its designs to device makers yet. The company had two product lines approved: Wi-Fi-based networks for indoor use, which it calls "Meshlan," and its Mesh Enabled Architecture, or MEA, which is meant for outdoor use and doesn't use Wi-Fi technology.