3Com Router, Security Wares Target Low End

The new Router 3000 WAN family is targeted at small remote offices and retail outlets, said Nick Hallwood, director of enterprise solutions at 3Com, Marlborough, Mass. The line features a fixed form-factor design suitable for desktop or counter use, he said.

The routers include a full 64-Mbyte memory load, as well as built-in Quality of Service and security features such as VPN and firewall capabilities.

3Com last month re-entered the WAN market after a three-year absence with the launch of its mid-range, rack-mountable Router 5000 family.

The routers stem from a partnership with Chinese networking vendor Huawei Technologies. The two companies are expected to gain final regulatory approval from the Chinese government for a joint venture sometime this fall.

3Com plans to position both product families as full-featured, lower-cost alternatives to products from market leader Cisco Systems, San Jose, Calif., a strategy solution providers said would resonate with some customers.

"With Cisco, you would have to buy more memory or more features. There's more buying down the road," said Deanna Harrington, technical support engineer at CableExpress, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based solution provider.

Solution providers said the new products will likely appeal to existing 3Com customers, many of which have turned to Cisco products to move beyond the edge.

"Customers would rather see solutions put together by one manufacturer rather than piecemeal from a variety of vendors," said Paul Rodwell, vice president of network operations at REH Associates, a Southfield, Mich.-based solution provider.

Some degree of education is required when selling 3Com's routers, as customers don't yet have experience with them, Rodwell said.

Scheduled to ship next month, the Router 3000 line includes three models: the Router 3012, 3013 and 3016, each priced at $895. Each model supports different WAN interfaces.

3Com also plans to expand its SOHO product family with two new offerings: the OfficeConnect VPN Firewall and OfficeConnect Secure Router.

For offices with remote users, the OfficeConnect VPN Firewall supports up

to 50 VPN tunnel terminations, preventing unauthorized user access and blocking denial-of-service attacks. The OfficeConnect Secure Router allows more than 250 users to share broadband Internet access through an existing cable or DSL modem.

The OfficeConnect VPN Firewall is priced at $395, while the Office Connect Secure Router is priced at $155. Both products are available now.