3Com Delivers Unified Switch for SMBs

(Product News, 1 Nov 2006)

3Com Corporation has announced, what they claims, the industry's first unified switch for small and medium businesses (SMBs) that converges wired and wireless networking functionality and includes Power over Ethernet (PoE) to support Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony on a single platform. The 3Com Unified Gigabit Wireless PoE Switch 24 is an easy to deploy and manage solution that is cost-effective and designed for SMBs that want all of the elements of a business-class network, as well as a platform for delivering advanced communications solutions such as wireless and VoIP, in one box.

Purpose-built for organizations with 5 to 250 users, the 3Com Unified Switch for SMBs enables organizations to manage all critical networking functions as one device because they are all integrated in a single unit. 3Com designed the switch to deliver upfront and ongoing cost savings when compared to competitive solutions that don't offer the same level of functionality in one box, or are not seamlessly integrated. The switch is ideal for SMBs that have limited resources dedicated to managing and upgrading their network.

The 3Com Unified Switch for SMBs offers all of the wired and wireless functionality critical for a secure, convergence-ready SMB network, including: Full, Layer 2 line rate gigabit speeds with zero packet loss across all 24 ports; Full 802.3af Power over Ethernet support available on each of its 24 ports; Auto-voice VLAN capability; 802.1X authentication; Wireless WPA2 security and AES encryption; Rogue wireless access point detection and mitigation; Wireless fast roaming and automatic load balancing across managed APs; and Support for emerging standards such as 802.11n.

The 3Com Unified Switch for SMBs is scheduled to be available globally from 3Com channel partners within 30 days at a list price of $2750 USD. The 3Com Wireless 7760 11a/b/g PoE Access Point is currently available worldwide at a list price of $249 USD, and the 3Com Wireless 8760 Dual-Radio 11a/b/g PoE Access Point is currently available worldwide at a list price of $399 USD.

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