3Com confirms 15-minute set-up of small business products

South African small business owners and employees can get their networks up and running within 15 minutes. 3Com has verified through independent testing that 24 of its small business products will be operational within this timeframe.

According to Network Testing Labs, installations can be completed within 15 minutes by IT staff professionals with a moderate amount of computer hardware installation experience, or non-IT, business-focused staff members with little hardware installation experience.

Network Testing Labs has verified that 3Com`s small business products, particularly 3Com OfficeConnect local area network (LAN) infrastructure, security, Internet access and wireless mobility solutions, to be easy enough to set up in 15 minutes or less.

Therefore, local small businesses can set-up the most suitable, enterprise-like network to fit their business in fast, affordable and efficient ways.

"By installing 3Com products, small businesses can speed up their networks for faster business application response time, reinforce networks with greater security, or add wireless connectivity to increase productivity while still saving on time and reducing complexity," comments Wolfgang Held, network consultant at 3Com SA.

Network Testing Labs applied stringent verification guidelines to assure fair and valid test results. Two independent groups outside of 3Com - one group with moderate IT experience and the other with little-to-no IT experience - had to set-up 3Com`s Baseline and OfficeConnect small business unmanaged switches, firewall security products, cable/DSL OfficeConnect gateways, and array of OfficeConnect single-mode and tri-mode wireless access points and adapters.

The 3Com products that were verified by Network Testing Labs for 15-minute set-up include:

* Small Business Security - OfficeConnect Secure Router, OfficeConnect VPN Firewall and OfficeConnect ADSL Wireless 11g Firewall Router;

* Small Business Network Infrastructure - 24-port unmanaged Gigabit Switch 2824, Baseline Switch 2250, 16-port Baseline 10/100 Switch, 16-port Switch 2816 unmanaged switch, Baseline Switch 2226, 24-port Baseline 10/100 Switch, Baseline 8-port Gigabit Switch, OfficeConnect Gigabit Switch 5 and OfficeConnect Switch 8 with Gigabit Uplink;

* Small Business Internet Access - OfficeConnect Wireless 11b Cable/DSL Gateway, OfficeConnect Cable/DSL Gateway and OfficeConnect Wireless 11g Cable/DSL Gateway; and

* Small Business Wireless - OfficeConnect Wireless 11a/b/g Access Point, OfficeConnect Wireless 11g Access Point, OfficeConnect 11Mbps Wireless Access Point, OfficeConnect Wireless 11a/b/g PC Card, OfficeConnect Wireless 11g PC Card, OfficeConnect Wireless 11g USB Adapter, OfficeConnect 11Mbps Wireless LAN PC Card, OfficeConnect 11Mbps Wireless LAN USB Adapter,and OfficeConnect 11Mbps Wireless LAN CardBus PC Card.

Network Testing Labs performs independent technology research and product evaluations. Its network laboratory connects myriads of types of computers and virtually every kind of network device in an ever-changing variety of ways. Its authors are networking experts who write clearly and plainly about complex technologies and products. Over the past dozen years, Network Testing Labs has evaluated thousands of hardware and software products for Computerworld, BYTE Magazine, Government Computer News, PC Magazine, Network Computing, Network World and many other publications.