Everything is wireless these days. From your laptop, to your smartphone, to gaming consoles and more. But what’s the point of having awesome internet service if your wireless connection can’t handle it?! Fortunately Cisco is offering the fast, yet affordable Valet.

The Valet retails for less than $100 and is easy to set up. It comes with a USB stick pre-loaded with the necessary setup files.

Just follow the directions to hook your internet up to the router. It’s pretty straight forward as well. I love color coding and clear markings!

We have one PC laptop and one MacBook. We decided to install it on the MacBook and no additional changes were needed. After a few minutes, the following prompt will show up on your screen.

Since my laptop is ancient (4 years old) the ethernet card cannot handle the higher speeds. It only goes up to ‘G’, whatever that means. To maximize the use of the Valet, I needed to use a Valet Connector. This allowed my laptop to take advantage of ‘N’ speeds. Again, I really don’t know what that means but my husband tells me it’s better.

While we were connected right away, A LOT of tweaking was necessary. With my husband being the awesome techie he is, he was able to get it working after trying several configurations. If you are not as savvy, you can consult the Cisco forums or contact the customer service.

Our verdict? It’s a great router and works well. My internet is MUCH faster and our Roku seems to stream much better as well. I also like the ‘guest’ feature so that you family and friends can easily connect while visiting without giving your 20-digit upper, lower, alphanumeric password. The settings are easily modified and there’s the option of parent-control.

With the modest price, the Cisco Valet is a fantastic choice to care for your wireless needs.

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► Giveaway closed, winners announced here!
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WIN IT!

One reader will win their own Cisco Valet ($99.99 Value).

To enter (mandatory):

Visit Cisco Valet and tell me why you need this.

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Giveaway ends 3/6/11 at 11:59 PST. Open to US residents only. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Disclosure: I was provided with the above mentioned product(s) at no charge to facilitate this review, which contains 100% my honest opinion.