September 8, 1997

More Powerful Remo te Access From 3Com, Bay Router, LAN modem offer alternatives to telecommuters, small offices By Beth Davis outers from Bay Networks Inc. and 3Com Corp. will hit the streets this month, aimed at giving telecommuters, remote sites, and small offices a more powerful alternative to analog modems and ISDN terminal adapters. This week, 3Com will roll out its OfficeConnect ISDN LAN modem, which supports ISDN, dial-up, and Internet Protocol connections and includes an integrated four-port Ethernet hub. The move comes on the heels of Bay Networks' announcement last week of the Nautica 200, a router that also includes an Ethernet connection and support for ISDN, dial-up, and IP-based networks. Both devices support one to four users and are designed to provide easy-to-use, inexpensive network access. Pricing for Bay Networks' Nautica 200 starts at $595, and 3Com's OfficeConnect at $499. "The low cost is a good deal. If you buy a 56-Kbps modem, you could pay as much as $300," says Craig Johnson, an analyst with Current Analysis Inc., a consulting firm in Sterling, Va. Integrated Ethernet ports let users take advantage of full 128-Kbps speeds because there's no need to connect a PC to the ISDN line through the communications port, which can lower ISDN speeds to around 115 Kbps, experts say. "These devices give you a lot more flexibility, more bandwidth, and the ability to add more than one workstation," says Bob Young, an engineer at San Francisco's Pacific Bell Internet Services, a Southwestern Bell Corp. subsidiary. Young is testing 3Com's OfficeConnect LAN modem, which may become part of PacBell's Home Pack, a service for telecommuters and small businesses that includes an ISDN line, Internet access, and a network device. To help make its router easy to use, Bay has added the Nautica Configuration Wizard, a Windows 95-based configuration tool, and NauticaWatch, a Windows 95-based display that details Ethernet activity, length of calls, and other connectivity information. The Nautica router also includes dial-on-demand capabilities and can make "intelligent decisions as to when to send data across the link or when to bring the link up," says Dave Norton, senior product manager at Bay, in Santa Clara, Calif. For its part, 3Com offers set-up wizards, including the WebWizard, which lets users configure the device from a Netscape Communications or Microsoft browser. "We've included intelligence that queries the central office switch you are connecting to for ISDN," says Jarek Chylinski, director of marketing for remote access at 3Com, also in Santa Clara. "The only thing you have to provide is the phone number." Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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