McAfee took a big leap into the identity-protection and security-router markets at the CES 2018 consumer-electronics show in Las Vegas today (Jan. 8), joining two already-crowded fields.
McAfee Identity Protection will be available in the first quarter of this year, with three service tiers competitively priced at $90, $175 and $265 per year.
In the second quarter, D-Link will introduce the DIR-2680, a $250 dual-band AC2600-rated router that comes with McAfee's Secure Home Platform to protect all of a smart home's connected devices.
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McAfee Identity Protection offers "always-on identity monitoring, 24/7 dedicated agent support and varying levels of identity theft financial coverage, including reimbursement for stolen funds," according to a McAfee press release.
The service also includes credit monitoring and reporting and tracing of Social Security number theft. Some features will be provided by CSID, a consumer-protection division of credit-reporting giant Experian.
From what we know now, McAfee's identity-protection service sounds similar to well-known offerings from LifeLock, Identity Guard and others. But its cheapest plan comes to $7.50 per month, undercutting most of the competition. We'll have more information about McAfee Identity Protection when it gets closer to launch.
As for the D-Link DIR-2680 Wi-Fi router, it's an industrial-looking black cube that resembles a rugged Bluetooth speaker. Like most new high-end routers, it features dual-band connections with MU-MIMO technology that makes multiple connections to compatible devices for the fastest possible speeds. It's also got an Intel WAV500 Wi-Fi chipset that D-Link says can connect to up to 128 different devices at once.
The router comes with McAfee Secure Home Platform software that's meant to protect smart-home and other IoT devices connected to your Wi-Fi network, as well as provide parental controls that manage or even pause internet access for designated computers, tablets and smartphones.
The Secure Home Platform will work hand-in-hand with McAfee antivirus software on compatible devices. But we've yet to find out whether the price of the router includes a year's worth of antivirus software for all a user's devices, as is the case with the Bitdefender Box, F-Secure Sense and Norton Core.
Stay tuned for more information on the D-Link DIR-2680 as it becomes available, and for our review of the security router.
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