WebGear Announces Aggressive Pricing on Aviator Wireless LAN Products for Home and Small Office PC Users

Business Wire, August 10, 1998

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1998--In a move that sets the pace for powerful, and affordable wireless file, printer and Internet sharing between computers, WebGear, Inc., the first company to develop, market and actually ship Home and Small Office Wireless RF Local Area Networking (LANs) products into the retail channel today announced a major price reduction aimed at widening the potential customer base for their products.

Effective Aug. 5, 1998, the WebGear Aviator Wireless Network is now available through their retailers for a suggested list price of $169.99 for a two-user network kit and $89.99 for an add-on expansion module. The Aviator Wireless Network products have been available through key retailers since January of this year.

By installing an Aviator wireless LAN, multiple-PC home-computer users can now simultaneously access the Internet through one analog phone connection to their Internet Service Provider (ISP), share system resources such as printers and CD-ROM drives, and move files and programs between computers -- without the installation headaches associated with traditional wire-based networks.

Computers equipped with the Aviator Wireless Network can be spaced as far apart as 75-125 feet, and can be situated in different rooms, on different floors or even outdoors.

"Aviator has always been the best value for your money," said WebGear President and CEO Jerry Burns. "Now we're making it even more affordable and giving customers the most technology and performance for the dollar." According to Burns the recent Aviator price reduction is due to the widespread acceptance of this product in the consumer and small-office/home-office (SOHO) markets.

"Since we introduced this product earlier this year, our customers have installed thousands of these networks," he said. "Right now the Aviator Wireless Network has become the standard for this class of communication between computers, and we are working aggressively on newer, higher speed versions."

The Aviator Wireless Network is a Windows 95/98-based peer-to-peer LAN that combines the mobility and convenience of wireless RF technology with the power and reliability of a traditional wired network.

The two-user $169.99 kit includes two RF modules, an additional parallel port for the module installed on a computer to which a printer is attached, convenience extension cabling and all software, including the proxy-server package to enable Internet sharing.

"For the first time home computer users have an affordable alternative to installing a wired network in the home that is easy to setup and use," Burns said. "The consumer market is growing at a double-digit rate each year, and most of these purchases are second PCs. The Aviator Wireless Network is the perfect product for these buyers."

Other Aviator benefits:

According to Burns, the new Aviator Wireless Network also overcomes the perception that LANs are expensive, troublesome and complicated. "Users who never thought about setting up a network now have a product that quickly lets them share all system resources," he said.

"Moreover, users can quickly change the location of any PC floor to floor, room to room or even outside without having to be concerned with the locality of the networking wire. As network demands increase, additional PCs or laptops can be added to the network."

Other features include:

Ease of installation: Hardware installation of an Aviator Wireless Network is as easy as plugging a wireless RF module into each computer's parallel port. The Aviator Wireless Network is the only LAN that can take power from the port itself, eliminating the need for external power sources.

The power draw from the port is very minimal giving portable laptop users the advantage of longer battery life than other wireless LAN products on the market. Software installation is guided with a straightforward well-designed interactive help menu-driven interface to make installation simple even for the novice PC user.

Substantial savings: In addition to performance, flexibility, and ease of installation, the Aviator Wireless Network can bring substantial and visible savings to both businesses and consumers, according to Burns.

"While printer and file sharing are the major benefits that a LAN brings to any multi-system environment, this is the first time that a product of this type has appeared with the home computer user in mind," he said. "With the Aviator Wireless Network, all the user has to do to attach any printer to the system is attach the modules and follow the intuitive set-up routines. It's strictly plug and play."

Efficient system configuration: Printers are not the only hardware savings that can be realized through the installation of an Aviator Wireless Network, Burns added. "With an Aviator Wireless Network in place users can tailor each of their systems to meet their requirements and avoid paying for unnecessary extra hardware such as Zip(TM) drives and modems," he explained.

The Aviator Wireless Network is now available in a number of retail stores, including CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, Computer City, The Good Guys, Damark, J & R Music World, DataVision, Nationwide and Excel Computers.