San Francisco: Cisco Systems Inc, trying to prove it can appeal to consumers, has a goal for its new line of home-networking gear: make it so easy to set up that even a technophobe can do it.

To pull that off, the company is counting on staff from Pure Digital Technologies Inc., the maker of consumer-friendly Flip Video cameras that it acquired last year. Cisco released a line of wireless routers called Valet on Wednesday that aim to bring the ease and simplicity of the Flip to home networking.

The effort marks a shift for Cisco, the world's largest maker of networking gear, which has always touted data speeds and the latest technology. Cisco wants to become the first brand that comes to mind when consumers consider networking products. The company plans to spend tens of millions this year to get that message across, buying ad space on television, billboards, Web sites and in-store displays.

"When it comes to building a consumer brand, Cisco has a long way to go," said Jonathan Gaw, an IDC analyst in Minneapolis. "It's not that people have a negative view of Cisco in the consumer market — they don't have any view."

Estimates

IDC estimates that two-thirds of US homes don't have a wireless network. To reach the mainstream population, Cisco is introducing two routers costing $99 (Dh364) and $149, and an adapter that connects a personal computer to the network via Wi-Fi. That lets computers, electronics and devices share information and connect to the internet without cables.

Each Valet router comes with a USB stick that sets up a home network by guiding consumers through three steps on their computers: "Accept the terms, connect and congratulations," Cisco said.

"The secret to Flip's success was anyone could shoot and share video," said Simon Fleming-Wood, senior director of marketing in Cisco's Consumer unit, who previously headed marketing at Pure Digital. "We took that playbook from Flip and moved it to home networking."

Cisco fell 62 cents to $26.03 at 4pm New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on Wednesday. The shares have advanced 8.7 per cent this year.

Cisco first entered the consumer market with its 2003 purchase of Linksys Group Inc., a maker of home-networking gear for those who aren't afraid of technical challenges. The company added more products for the home in 2006 with the acquisition of set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta Inc.

Now the company is using Pure Digital as the springboard to dive deeper into the consumer market. The company said last year it would use the Flip video software as a platform for home networking, camcorders and video applications. At the time, Cisco said it expected that combined market to grow 50 per cent by 2013, to $60 billion.

Verizon test

In January, Cisco announced plans to work with Verizon Communications Inc. on a system that lets consumers hold high- definition video chats using their existing TVs and Internet connections. Field tests are scheduled to start this year.

Surging use of video benefits Cisco's main business of selling routers and switches, since it fuels demand for network capacity. Cisco plans to eventually bring a version of its corporate TelePresence videoconferencing system to homes, which makes it all the more important for its brand to resonate with consumers.

The new marketing effort will help accomplish that, said Fleming-Wood, who declined to give a specific dollar figure for the campaign.

"Building Cisco into a strong consumer brand, with relevance for everyday consumers, means consumers have to know what to buy," Fleming-Wood said.

"They have to know where the brand touches their lives."