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The primary function of Connect Cloud, announced last week is to enable other devices equipped with NFC tags to be configured into a local area networks based on new Cisco Linksys Smart WiFi routers, using an NFC tag that will be shipped with the router.
However the first Smart WiFi routers were shipped without support for Connect Cloud and Cisco implemented the feature via an automatic firmware update, creating a huge uproar.
This prompted a rather half-hearted apology and clarification from Brett Wingo vice president and general manager Cisco Home Networking, on Cisco's official blog, where he said, contrary to what some reports had claimed: "Cisco Connect Cloud was delivered only to consumers who opted in to automatic updates."
He said also that: "customers who do not wish to establish a Cisco Connect Cloud account and would prefer to revert back to the traditional Linksys setup and management software can do so by calling the Linksys customer support line at 1-800-326-7114. One of our agents will walk you through the process."
However he did not make clear whether this was a permanent option, or whether, as some reports had suggested, Cisco would not support routers on which this downgrade had been installed.
Wingo has now published a much more detailed blog making it clear that Connect Cloud is optional and that Cisco will support Connect Cloud capable Linksys routers on which Connect Cloud has not been installed.
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He added: "Cisco will only push software updates to a Linksys router when the auto-update option is selected. We will clarify this in an update to our documentation."
He also sought to scotch rumours that Cisco was using the feature to gather information about customers' browsing behaviour. "Cisco Connect Cloud and Cisco Linksys routers do not monitor or store information about how our customers are using the Internet and we do not arbitrarily disconnect customers from the Internet," he said.
"The Cisco Connect Cloud service has never monitored customers' Internet usage, nor was it designed to do so, and we will clarify this in an update to the terms of service."
Scott Jackson, regional marketing manager APAC and IMEA at Cisco, told iTWire that the problem had been confined to a small number of products, mostly in the US, that had reached the market ahead of their official release.
"Cisco Connect Cloud is supported initially only on our EA range of routers, what we calling the Linksys Smart WiFi routers. There are three models the EA4500, EA3500 and EA2700 with different levels of performance. The EA4500 is our flagship product and provides the best performance we have in a home router. All three are brand new products."
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As yet there are no products that support auto configuration of other devices via NFC. This feature will be supported first on the EA6500, due out later this year.
"We will ship that with an NFC tag in the box that will enable you to take an NFC enabled device such as a smartphone and them simply use an app we have and tap the phone to the NFC card to enable that smartphone to join the network," Jackson said.
Cisco has already announced that Onkyo will support this function on a new AV receiver, but Jackson said partnerships with many other vendors were in the pipeline. "We continue to partner very closely with [whitegoods manufacturer] Whirlpool and they are introducing a number of WiFi-enabled devices that will take advantage of this feature," he said.
"We have no details yet but we are working very closely with them. And there are number of other that we can't talk about at present."
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