Netgear, a business unit of Bay Networks which serves the small-office and home-office (SOHO) market with economical, easy-to-install, powerful networking solutions, has released two print servers which allow SOHO users to share printers among multiple PCs.
Netgear`s PS100 products, including the PS104 and the PS110 print servers, are small and easy to install and are the lowest priced in their class today.
"SOHOs need tools to help maximise their current technology investments," said Bay Networks channel and marketing manager, Francois Bodart. "The Netgear print servers allow users to share printers without dedicating a PC to the job, and at the same time, create a network or upgrade an existing network."
The PS100 Series eliminates the need to configure a PC on the network as a print server. Using a PC as a print server requires a user to keep the machine`s power on continuously, it takes up valuable desk space and will not support more than one network environment. The PS100 products are small, they can be placed at any point along a network and support multiple network environments.
"This move puts Netgear in the office products category," said Bay country manager Doug Batchelor. "SOHO customers can`t afford to dedicate a PC to share printers and run networks the way larger firms can, but their needs for printer sharing can be just as great. These new products let small firms share printers at minimal cost without the need for a server," he added.
The PS104 print server provides a built-in, four-port, 10 Mbps Ethernet hub -- ideal for the small office environment or home user wanting to network at least two PCs and share a printer. The hub enables file sharing, e-mail communications and sharing of computer peripherals such as CD-ROM drives and backup devices. The PS104 can also be cascaded to an external hub to add users and by installing a separate Netgear router such as the RT328 (ISDN), shared Internet access is possible.
The PS110 connects two parallel printers to a 100 Mbps network and provides a dual-speed autosensing 10/100 Mbps network port. Offices with 100 Mbps networks or plans to move to 100 Mbps networks will find the PS110 the ideal solution.
Netgear`s FirstGear software, bundled with these products, provides a graphical user interface (GUI) installation for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT that makes setup simple.
Both these products work in a mixed network environment (multi-protocol) including Windows, UNIX and NetWare. A host of LEDs on each of the print servers shows status of network ports. Furthermore, product updates can be downloaded from the Netgear Website free of charge as they become available, protecting the buyer`s initial investment.
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