Lantronix joins the race for world's smallest 10BASE-T hub; company now offers a full array of workgroup Ethernet hub repeater solutions

Business Wire, Jan 23, 1996

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 1996-- Lantronix, a fast-growing provider of cost-effective Ethernet workgroup connectivity products, Tuesday announced two new 10BASE-T mini-hub/repeaters: the LMR4TA four-port mini-hub/repeater and the LMR8TA eight-port mini-hub/repeater.

The two new mini-hubs are aggressively priced and expand the company's substantial offering of physical layer Ethernet products.

The LMR4TA, the company's smallest hub (approximately the size of a deck of cards), has four ports and is a cost-effective hub for building small, stand-alone networks or for adding additional ports to an existing 10BASE-T connection.

The LMR8TA can build a stand-alone 10BASE-T network or can connect 10BASE-T users to either Thicknet (10BASE5) or Thinnet (10BASE2) segments. The most flexible of all Lantronix's mini-hubs, the LMR8TA provides eight 10BASE-T ports, an AUI port, a BNC port and an additional 10BASE-T port for cascading repeaters.

"We're jumping into the race for the smallest hubs on the market, but we're stocking them with the functionality needed in today's growing networks," said Jerry Hall, vice president of marketing for Lantronix. "Lantronix repeaters enable customers to grow and maximize their networks as nodes are added, and as the network grows geographically."

With the addition of these two products, Lantronix now offers hubs for all sizes of workgroup applications. The largest of Lantronix's hub repeater product line is the LTR16T, a 16-port hub with extensive diagnostic LEDs and an internal power supply. The company also offers a full range of other Ethernet physical layer products for building networks, including transceivers, multiport transceivers, media converters and port multipliers.

Both the LMR4TA and LMR8TA feature external power supplies and multiple function LEDs. They can act as standalone network hubs, or can attach to network backbones where extra 10BASE-T ports are needed.

As with all Lantronix hub/repeater products, the LMRxTA products include the following functions:

o Link test for monitoring connected segments to ensure

the network continues running properly.

o Automatic polarity reversal which resolves cable problems

by sensing reversed transmit and receive pairs and swapping

them in the port hardware.

o Automatic port exclusion which examines collisions on the

attached twisted pair segments, and if a segment appears to

be malfunctioning, it is removed from service. Called

"partitioning," it protects the network from a flood of

packets that would further propagate the problem.

Pricing and Availability

List price for the LMR4TA is $125, or $31.25 per port. The list price for the LMR8TA is $195, or $24.38 per port. Both products are available immediately through Lantronix's worldwide network of distributors, resellers, systems integrators or directly from Lantronix.

Lantronix develops and markets a complete line of easy-to-use, cost-effective Ethernet connectivity products for workgroup applications. They include remote access servers, print servers, network analyzers, switches/bridges and terminal servers.

To complete the product line the company also offers physical layer connectivity products, including transceivers, converters, port multipliers, and hubs. The company also offers its free Ethernet Tutorial and Product Guide.

Lantronix's headquarters is located at 15353 Barranca Pkwy., Irvine, Calif., 92718. Sales inquiries can be directed to 800/422-7055 or sales@lantronix.com. International inquiries can be directed to 714/450-7227 or intsales@lantronix.com. The company's World Wide Web home page is at http://www.lantronix.com.

CONTACTS: Lighthouse Public Relations

Samantha Leggat, 408/934-9987

sam@wlight.com

or

Lantronix

David Rodewald, 714/453-7166

david.rodewald@lantronix.com