Latest news with #Ethernet
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Astera Labs (ALAB) Partners with Alchip Technologies to Develop AI Infrastructure
Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) is one of the 11 must-buy AI stocks analysts are betting on. On June 16, the company inked a strategic collaboration with Alchip Technologies. The two are joining forces to accelerate the development of next-generation AI infrastructure. A close-up of a technician's hands working on an advanced semiconductor substrate. The collaboration will merge Alchip's custom ASIC development capabilities with Astera Labs' comprehensive connectivity portfolio. The integrated solution will deliver interoperable solutions for hyperscalers building next-generation AI infrastructure: Astera Labs and its partner hope to streamline purpose-built AI infrastructure that meets performance demand for next-generation applications. The strategic partnership should benefit hyperscalers by providing validated complete solutions integrating Astera Labs' Intelligent Connectivity Platform. It will also promote industry innovation for next-generation AI connection standards such as Ethernet, NVLink Fusion, and UALinkTM. Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) provides semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. Its Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates mixed-signal products, microcontrollers, sensors, and the COSMOS software suite for large-scale system management. While we acknowledge the potential of ALAB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 12 Best Healthcare Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Stocks Analysts Are Upgrading Today. Disclosure: None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Synopsys (SNPS) and Samsung Foundry Team Up to Advance AI Chip Design
Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) is one of the 11 must-buy AI stocks analysts are betting on. On June 16, the company announced a strategic collaboration with Samsung Foundry. The two are joining forces to power the next generation of chip designs capable of handling edge artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence applications. A close-up of a complex network of integrated circuits used in logic semiconductors. The companies are to power the most complex multi-designs that enable customers to deliver advanced technologies to the market. They have already achieved a successful customer tape from an HBM3 design on the Samsung SF2 process and I-cube technology. Synopsys has also achieved certification for its AI-driven digital and analog flows in Samsung SF2 processes. The milestone allows the company to accelerate the development of high-performance designs. Additionally, the company has expanded its IP portfolio to support the development of applications for high-performance computing in the automotive markets. Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) delivers electronic design automation (EDA) software and IP solutions for designing and testing integrated circuits. Operating through Design Automation and Design IP segments, it offers tools for digital and custom IC design, verification, FPGA design, TCAD, and AI-driven solutions. Its IP portfolio includes interfaces like USB, PCIe, Ethernet, and HDMI, as well as processor cores, embedded memories, security, automotive, and SoC infrastructure components. While we acknowledge the potential of SNPS as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 12 Best Healthcare Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Stocks Analysts Are Upgrading Today. Disclosure: None. Sign in to access your portfolio


Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Reolink Altas review: The smart security camera that watches before trouble starts
Battery-powered cameras with wireless connectivity provide effective home security while greatly simplifying the installation process. With no cabling and no mandatory subscription fees, cameras like the Reolink Altas offer total flexibility, especially for remote or awkward-to-reach locations. Design Two Altas cameras alongside the Reolink Hub and 6W solar panel. Picture: Reolink. The Reolink Altas is stylish, with a modern aesthetic that can be mounted outside without the need for cables. The matte white finish helps it blend against most exterior walls, and the optional high-efficiency 6W solar panel pairs neatly for continuous charging. Thanks to its battery-powered nature, there's no need to run power lines or Ethernet cables. It can be mounted on walls, eaves or fences with just a few screws. It also features an external rotatable antenna designed to improve Wi-Fi range and signal stability. The IP66 weatherproofing ensures that rain, wind, and dust pose no problem. During my month or so of testing across unpredictable Irish weather, it never faltered. Features The Altas is packed with features, including Wi-Fi 6 support. This provides it with better range, speed, and stability compared to older models, which is ideal for outdoor areas where signal strength can be patchy. The massive 20,000mAh battery is rated for up to 540 days of standby use or up to 336 hours of actual recordings, depending on frame rate and settings. It also supports solar recharging. I ran the battery down to 20%, and on a partially cloudy day, the 6W solar panel managed to charge it back up to 46%. It's worth noting that heavier recording modes (such as 5fps continuous) will require more sunlight to stay topped up, but I found it fine over the last few weeks, when daylight hours are longer. The camera boasts 2K resolution and ColorX night vision, enhanced by six LED lights. It uses a large 1/1.8-inch sensor and an F1.0 aperture lens to capture richly coloured footage, even in low-light conditions. There's two-way audio, smart AI motion detection (people, vehicles, animals), and up to 10 seconds of pre-recording before a PIR motion trigger. Crucially, it supports local microSD card storage (up to 512GB) and does not require mandatory cloud subscriptions, although Reolink Cloud is available for those who want additional backup. The Atlas is also supported by Reolink Hub, a central location for storing footage from compatible cameras. Real-world use Initial setup is handled via the Reolink app, which is intuitive and straightforward. The camera connects over dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz/5GHz), and the pairing process was quick. Once connected, live view, playback, and configuration all worked smoothly. In practice, motion alerts were accurate with few false triggers. Person detection correctly filtered out trees blowing in the wind, while animal detection was accurate enough to warn me of a wandering neighbourhood cat. Vehicle alerts were spot-on, too. Pre-recording proved extremely useful. In one test, it caught the entire sequence of a courier walking up to the front door and leaving a package. The Reolink app offers good customisation, including motion zones, scheduling, and smart home integration with Google Assistant and Alexa. Streaming live footage to a smart display or using voice commands worked reliably throughout. Performance Daytime image quality is crisp and detailed thanks to the 2K resolution, with strong colour reproduction and a wide 110° diagonal field of view. At night, the ColorX tech ensures footage is impressively bright and usable thanks to the large sensor and lens combo. Audio quality was clean on both ends of the two-way system, making communication through the camera practical. Notifications reached my phone within seconds of a trigger, and saved clips played back without lag or corruption. Verdict The Reolink Altas is a feature-rich, battery-powered camera that goes beyond the basics, with intelligent pre-recording, superb night vision, and no subscription fees. With smart AI detection, pre-recording, 2K video, and solar power, the Reolink Altas delivers robust, wire-free surveillance that's easy to set up, reliable in all weather conditions, and free of monthly fees. €136 Reolink Altas €40 Optional solar panel
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Arista vs. Juniper: Which Cloud Networking Stock Has More Upside?
Arista Networks, Inc. ANET and Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR are two of the leading players in the global networking industry. Arista offers one of the broadest product lines of data center and campus Ethernet switches and routers in the industry. It provides routing and switching platforms with industry-leading capacity, low latency, port density and power efficiency. On the other hand, Juniper provides networking solutions and communication devices that help build network infrastructure. It offers routers, Ethernet switches and security products for intrusion detection, prevention and wide-area network optimization platforms. The company has also introduced new features within its AI-driven enterprise portfolio, enabling customers to simplify the rollout of their campus wired and wireless networks while providing greater insight to network a diversified portfolio of advanced networking solutions for cloud data centers and enterprise environments, along with growing exposure to AI workloads and software-defined networking, both Arista and Juniper have the wherewithal to cater to the evolving demands of business enterprises. Let us delve a little deeper into the companies' competitive dynamics to understand which of the two is relatively better placed in the industry. Arista is witnessing solid demand trends among enterprise customers backed by its multi-domain modern software approach, which is built upon its unique and differentiating foundation, the single EOS (Extensible Operating System) and CloudVision stack. It has introduced new cognitive Wi-Fi software that delivers intelligent application identification, automated troubleshooting and location services. The versatility of Arista's unified software stack across various use cases, including WAN routing and campus and data center infrastructure, sets it apart from other competitors in the industry. In addition to high capacity and easy availability, its cloud networking solutions promise predictable performance and programmability, enabling integration with third-party applications for network management, automation and orchestration. The company boasts a comprehensive portfolio with the right network architecture for client-to-campus data center cloud and AI networking. The Arista 2.0 strategy is resonating well with customers, with its modern networking platforms being foundational for transformation from silos to centers of data. The strategy comprises three components that are likely to drive growth over the next few years. The first component is focused on plans to invest in core businesses by rolling out new solutions and improved AI offerings. Secondly, Arista aims to emphasize more on software-as-a-service for improved revenue visibility. Last but not least, the company plans to enter adjacent markets to target a broader customer Arista remains plagued by high operating costs. Total operating expenses in first-quarter 2025 increased around 22.3% to to $417.3 million, owing to a rise in headcount, new product introduction costs and higher variable compensation expenditures. Moreover, the redesigning of products and their supply chain mechanism has eroded margins. Although the company is witnessing increased demand, there are lingering supply bottlenecks for advanced products. Therefore, it is increasing orders for these components and trying to build up inventory, which is blocking working capital. Juniper is leveraging the 400-gig cycle to capture hyperscale switching opportunities inside the data center. The company is set to capitalize on the increasing demand for data center virtualization, cloud computing and mobile traffic packet/optical convergence. It offers suites of products such as the T4000 core router, QFX data center platform, ACX and PTX packet/optical solution, among others. With the growing usage of smartphones and tablets, mobile data traffic has gone up. This has resulted in growing demand for advanced networking architecture, in turn leading service providers to spend more on routers and switches. Juniper is expected to benefit from the higher spending pattern among carriers to upgrade their networks and support the incremental growth in data is taking significant steps to enhance the adoption of its AI-Native Networking Platform through the introduction of its Blueprint for AI-Native Acceleration. This comprehensive framework is designed to simplify and accelerate the deployment and utilization of AI-driven networking solutions, benefiting enterprises across various sectors. By leveraging Juniper's AI-Native Networking Platform, organizations can expect up to an 85% reduction in operational expenses and a 90% decrease in network trouble tickets. The platform's industry-leading AIOps technology is key to delivering these results, providing reliable, measurable and secure connections across all devices and applications. The Blueprint for AI-Native Acceleration further enhances these capabilities, enabling customers to achieve up to nine times faster deployments. However, Juniper faces severe competition in each of its served markets, especially from industry leader Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO, which has traditionally spearheaded innovation, charging higher prices for its premium branded products and expanding margins. It is worth mentioning that Cisco's acquisition of cybersecurity solutions provider Sourcefire could be an added pressure on Juniper's security business. Despite having a strong security portfolio (SRX Platform & Security Software, Screen OS and other Legacy products), Juniper has not been performing well for the past few quarters due to lower-than-expected demand for non-Junos-based security products. Poor performance by the Junos business prompted the company to sell off the mobile security unit. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arista's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 18.7% and 12.8%, respectively. EPS estimates have been trending northward over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Juniper's 2025 sales implies year-over-year growth of 6.9%, while that for EPS suggests an improvement of 20.9%. EPS estimates have remained static over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Over the past year, Arista has gained 8.6% compared with the industry's growth of 34.4%. Juniper has inched up 0.7% over the same period. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Juniper looks more attractive than Arista from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/earnings ratio, Juniper's shares currently trade at 16.72 forward earnings, significantly lower than 33.78 for Arista. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Arista carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Juniper sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks companies expect their sales and profits to improve in 2025. Arista has shown steady revenue and EPS growth for years, while Juniper has been facing a bumpy road. However, with a superior Zacks Rank and attractive valuation metrics, Juniper appears to hold a slight edge over Arista at the moment, making it a relatively better investment proposition between the two. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Asus TUF Gaming BE6500 router review: dual-band Wi-Fi 7 with top-flight wired performance
Wi-Fi Spec: BE6500Number of Antennas/Removable: 6/NoPorts: 1 WAN/3 LAN 2.5 gigabit per second, USB 3.2Processor/Memory/Storage: Quad-core1.5GHz/1GB/256MBWi-Fi chip: Qualcomm Immersive Home 326Peak 802.11be performance: 960.9 Mbps (at 15 feet)Range: 105 feetSize: 11.9 x 6.7 x 8.4 x 2.4 inchesEstimated Annual Electricity Cost: $18.65 It may not be the fastest wireless router around, but the Asus TUF Gaming BE6500 (aka TUF-BE6500) makes a design statement with a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 device that looks like nothing else and makes the most of its 2.5 Gbps connections with excellent wired Ethernet gaming connections. The TUF-BE6500's combination of game acceleration software and the ability to run as a traditional standalone router or as part of a mesh network gives the router extreme installation flexibility, while its ability to tap into a mobile phone's Internet connection in emergencies makes it a winner for non-stop gaming. It can even protect your rig with an extra layer of security software that others charge for. Forget about spending $500 or more because the TUF-BE6500 puts price first at just $200. It's also one of the rare networking devices with a three year warranty that should get you into the Wi-Fi 8 era. My Asus TUF Gaming BE6500 review will help you decide if this is the best gaming router for your home network or if it's worth taking a look at another one of the best Wi-Fi 7 routers instead. While Asus lists the Asus TUF Gaming BE6500 at $260 on the company's online store, it's a real bargain at Costco and other places where it can be had for as low as $200. This undercuts the price of many of its competitors in the Wi-Fi 7 gaming universe by hundreds. Rather than looking like a spaceship or a generic tower, Asus designers focused on an organic design aesthetic for the Asus TUF Gaming BE6500. Wedge shaped, the black device has cutouts on each side that makes it look like a Formula 1 steering wheel. More than good looks, the TUF-BE6500's open areas help dissipate heat that along with grilles underneath and an internal aluminum heat sink, help keep it from overheating without a fan. It topped out at 110 degrees Fahrenheit and doesn't need MSI RadiX AXE6600's use of exotic graphene coated heat sink fins. At 11.9 x 6.7 x 8.4 x 2.4 inches, it's small compared to other gaming routers, like the MSI RadiX AXE6600 or Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500. The unit's six antennas extend the height by 6.4 inches and can be aimed but not easily replaced. Its rubber feet won't scratch the furniture and the TUF-BE6500 can be wall mounted too. Compared to the undulating light shows that others put on, the router's row of five LEDs along the bottom are subtle to the point of being unnoticed. To see what's going on inside the router, I needed to lean over its edge. There are lights for power, action on the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz bands as well as for the WAN input and the downstream wired network. In addition to its power port, the TUF-BE6500 has four 2.5 Gbps Ethernet connections, one of which is taken up by the incoming broadband signal. That leaves three downstream 2.5 Gbps wired connections that to some will seem to be at least one short. For others, it will be enough. The router has a USB 3.2 port for connecting a data storage device that can move upwards of 5 Gbps with the right drive. Powered by Qualcomm's mid-range Immersive Home 326 Wi-Fi chip, the TUF-BE6500 should be plenty for home gamers looking for a little advantage online. Built around a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, the router has 1GB of RAM and 256MB of storage. The dual-band design uses 2X2 streaming for the 2.4GHz band and 4X4 streaming for the 5GHz band to move a theoretical 6.434 Gbps. That said, it does without access to Wi-Fi 7's 6GHz band with its ultra-wide 320MHz data channels for close up data blasting. Doing that might have doubled its throughput. Still, it brings together Wi-Fi 7's 4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and Multi-Link Operations. The TUF BE-6500's low latency design makes data packets fly back and forth and includes gaming accelerators that can provide an advantage online. Plus, if your Internet connection goes down during a League of Legends bout, the TUF-BE6500 can quickly switch over to a backup mobile phone's online connection by plugging it in with a USB cable. Unlike other routers that ignore security for the sake of the game, Asus includes its AiProtection Pro software. In addition to the ability to use the router as a VPN server, the defenses include steering away from malicious sites, blocking infected machines from spreading their danger and periodically running a security assessment with recommendations. The best part is that while Netgear and others charge for this type of service, Asus includes it for free. Although not able to compete with tri-band Wi-Fi 7 routers, the TUF-BE6500 was a good basic Wi-Fi router based on extensive testing with Keysight's IxChariot network benchmark set to simulate 10 data-hungry users. It, however, did better as a wired router with the ability to move 4.653 Gbps over a 15 foot Ethernet cable – double the speed of routers costing much more. That said, it hit a peak of 1.150 Gbps of wireless throughput at close range. Still, it should be plenty for most gaming and home uses. Its Wi-Fi action at everyday distances was underwhelming with a throughput reading of 960.9 Mbps at 15 feet. This was well off the pace set by more expensive devices, like the TP-Link Deco BE63 (at 1.821 Gbps) or the Netgear Orbi 773 (1.721 Gbps). It was neck and neck with the MSI Roamii BE Lite at 970.3 Mbps. The TUF-BE6500 moved 336.1 Mbps at 50 feet, half the level of some of the others, but slightly ahead of the TP-Link Deco XE75 at 318.5 Mbps. It was middle of the pack at 75 feet with 189.4 Mbps at its disposal, putting it between the Deco XE75's 299.1 Mbps and the Roamii BE Lite's 172.8 Mbps. Asus TUF BE-6500 MSI Roamii BE Lite TP-Link Deco BE63 Netgear Orbi 773 TP-Link Deco XE75 15 feet 960.9 Mbps 970.3 Mbps 1.821 Gbps 1.721 Gbps 1.220 Gbps 50 feet 336.1 Mbps 470.5 Mbps 610.7 Mbps 391.1 Mbps 299.1 Mbps 75 feet 189.4 Mbps 172.8 Mbps 58.1 Mbps 199.2 Mbps 318.5 Mbps 90 feet 27.9 Mbps 46.7 Mbps 17.1 Mbps 54.2 Mbps 23.7 Mbps With the test system 90 feet from the router, it delivered 27.9 Mbps of data, putting it, again, right in the middle of the pack. The TUF-BE6500 had a range of 105 feet but fell short of filling my 3,500 square foot home with wireless data. When I set the gear up to send data across a 25 foot room, through a wall and into an adjacent room, it yielded an acceptable, but not stellar, 659.1 Mbps. By contrast, the Roamii BE Lite's 920.8 Mbps was better. It did a great job of being a general all-around router over two weeks of daily use. Able to satisfy several data hungry users at once, it easily passed my saturation test where four systems were moving gobs of data. In addition to an Acer Swift Edge 16 showing 4K videos, a MacBook played Spotify music and an HP Dragonfly played the BBC WorldService radio feed. All this was happening while an HP Envy desktop moved data onto and off a networked RAID server. All the audio and video came through without artifacts, drop-outs or skips. The router's 13.3 watt power use matches the consumption of others in its class. If the TUF-BE6500 is left on 24/7, expect to pay $18.65 a year to use it if you pay the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity. It's easy to set the TUF-BE6500 up with a connected browser or with the Asus Router app for either Android or iOS. I chose the app approach with my Galaxy S24 phone that started with a welcome screen. Unlike others, it didn't require an account, but you might want to set one up anyway because it allows remote monitoring and operations. I picked the TUF-BE6500 from a photo list. It immediately found the new router, but there's also connection information linked to a QR code under the router, just in case. I tapped 'Get Started' to begin the actual installation. The app quickly detected my Internet connection and I added a new LAN name and password. There's a provision for setting up a parallel 2.4GHz IoT network. After adding local log in information, the TUF-BE6500 set itself up, upgraded its firmware and ran a network optimization routine to streamline connections. It ended with a screen showing its key connection data and offered to save it. The router took 10 minutes to get going and worked on the first attempt. While using the app is very visual, the browser interface is deep with lots of customization options. The interface's Network map's overall dark appearance is highlighted with gold outlines and a central blue section. It requires a lot of scrolling and setting the browser to 67% is a nice compromise. A big bonus is that the interface provides more relevant performance data than most other routers with overall memory usage as well as CPU usage figures for all four processing cores and color-coded wired port connections. Its left side is dominated by a long list of tab links that include configuring it as a VPN server, Wireless and Internet settings. There's a way to rerun the setup routine to start fresh. The Traffic Analyzer tracks the data flow based on the client or app, making it a multi-purpose tool for monitoring the network's performance. It needs to be turned on at the top of the screen. At the AIProtection tab, I found a nice appraisal of the security situation and places to turn on the defenses or customize them. At the other extreme, the Game Boost section has lots of gaming goodies; more on that later. There're thorough port forwarding instructions with profiles for popular games to match the data flow with the on-screen action. On the other hand, it lacks forwarding protocols for popular gaming consoles. While it worked well as a traditional router, the TUF-BE6500 can be part of an AiMesh network. The interface has places for current nodes and adding clients as well as optimizing the data flow. If your broadband connection goes bad, it takes less than a minute to use an Android or iPhone as a mobile Internet connection for fail-safe gaming. After plugging the phone into the router's USB port, the USB section of the home page reflects the phone's connection. Click on it to establish the connection. The basics aside, the TUF-BE6500's Advanced section has a slew of options, including using any of four VPN server settings, including WireGuard. It can connect to several VPN servers at once with Asus's VPN Fusion software. By contrast, the app only works in portrait mode that's great for phones and not so great for tablets. Its interface is just as dark, although there's the choice of three other themes, including a bright white one. The Home screen has a prominent Real-time traffic window that shows up- and download speeds, while the current networks and IP address are above. Along the bottom is access to the router's configuration and options with five tabs. They can show a list of devices, the Insight section let me impose the more secure https protocol while the Family area had details for using the parental controls. The Settings tab is the gateway to a wide assortment of connection info and options, mirroring the browser's tabs with QOS, LAN, WAN and firmware upgrade. The USB tab is an essential stop for setting up an external drive as a Samba media server. Asus's three year warranty on the TUF-BE6500 is excellent compared to the year or two of coverage for the competition. It includes life-of-product support, instead of Netgear's 90 day support policy. In addition to the expected downloads of firmware and the manual, the site has a good assortment of FAQs for common problems. The Game Boost section has lots for gamers – serious or casual. This starts with network game acceleration that boosts access to networked data. There's also the Mobile Game Mode that can turn your phone or tablet into a gaming powerhouse. It's part of the Asus Router app and has a quick three-step port forwarding routine for eight popular games and the ability to add rules for others. Finally, like competitors, the TUF-BE6500 has access to the Gamers Private Network's WTFast to find the best location globally to game. It requires registration, though. Its dedicated Ping interface can send time packets for round-trip analysis. Unlike others, it offers the choice of 17 different diagnostic designations. By balancing economy with basic Wi-Fi 7 technology and the most importantly, high-end gaming features, Asus has created a unicorn of a gaming router that can help blast aliens or speed up Mario Kart without killing an entire paycheck doing so. The dual-band router provides enough wireless throughput for most but I wonder what its performance would have been like if Asus engineers had included the high-performance 6GHz band. We'll never know but the TUF-BE6500 ironically sets the pace with wired Ethernet connections that easily outperform more expensive routers. In other words, get those Cat 6 cables ready for your next gaming session. The TUF-BE6500 tops this off with a gang of gaming help, including boosters, access to the GPN WTFast network and the ability to use a mobile phone as a backup Internet connection. For the paranoid gamer (and who isn't these days), the TUF-BE6500 adds extra online security and VPN compatibility. Price is the best part, regardless if you're chasing aliens or being chased by zombies. With other gaming routers costing twice the Asus TUF-BE6500's $200, it's for those who want to game hard without the cold hard cash.