Linksys New Family of Unmanaged Gigabit Switches Feature High Performance and Reliability for Small Business Networks.

Resellers Qualify for Points Toward Personal Rewards Simply by Selling New Linksys Unmanaged Switches
IRVINE, CA ? August 6, 2003 ? Linksys?, a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., and the leading global manufacturer of broadband, wireless, and networking hardware for home and Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) environments, today introduced a new family of compact desktop and rackmount unmanaged gigabit switches:

5-Port Unmanaged Desktop Gigabit Switch (SD2005) Estimated Street Price: $199
8-port Unmanaged Desktop Gigabit Switch (SD2008) Estimated Street Price: $279
16-port Unmanaged Rackmount Gigabit Switch (SR2016) Estimated Street Price: $959
24-port Unmanaged Rackmount Gigabit Switch + 2 mini GBIC (SR2024) Estimated Street Price: $1,499

The new Linksys line of unmanaged gigabit switches offer resellers and branch office IT administrators a complete portfolio of Linksys unmanaged switches that meet the needs of growing businesses that are looking for a cost effective way to migrate from Ethernet or Fast Ethernet to Gigabit.

?Linksys can now provide our business customers the performance and reliability they demand for their network infrastructure,? said Allen Powell, Linksys Director of Channel Sales. ?Linksys has been providing unmanaged switches through our partners for over a decade. With the introduction of our unmanaged gigabit switches, we continue too affordably provide the technology that today and tomorrow?s networks require. Starting at about $35 a port, our new gigabit switch family provides just what our resellers and business customers have been asking for: speed, affordability and ease of use.?

For quick, effective flow of information, the desktop and rackmount gigabit switches provide data transfer rates at up to 1000Mbps on each port, enabling large amounts of bandwidth for higher capabilities. The switches also feature auto speed negotiation and auto MDI/MDI-X, which allow the switches to automatically sense and configure the cable type connected to each port.

The 10/100/1000-autosensing enables the switches to support high bandwidth applications such as Video Conferencing, Graphics, and CAD Systems, bringing gigabit capability to the desktop. By moving gigabit to the desktop, the level of performance also increases for remote and small offices for a wider variety of applications and devices, including file transfers, databases, gaming networks, etc.

Features for the EtherFast 5-, 8-,16- and 24-Port Gigabit Switches include:

5, 8,16 or 24 10/100/1000Mbps, half/full duplex, switched ports

Forwards and filters packets based on MAC Address

All ports have auto speed negotiation and Auto MDI/MDI-X cross over connection

Supports address learning and aging, 802.3x flow control and head-of-line blocking prevention keeps high-speed clients from bogging down in lower-speed traffic

High quality metal casing

5 and 8 port desktop switch have wall mounting option

16 and 24 port switches can be desktop or rack-m ountable

24-Port switch includes two mini gigabit interface connectors for fiber

Limited Lifetime Warranty

Products are available immediately through major distributors, value-added resellers and business solution providers.

Just the Ticket ? Reseller Promotion! Now through January 2004, all eligible U.S. resellers earn ticket points toward personal rewards simply for selling select Linksys Unmanaged Ethernet and Gigabit Switches. Participants can earn up to 25 Points per switch sold during the promotion period to receive one dollar on a prepaid Visa card to spend as they wish anywhere. More details about the Linksys Just the Ticket Promotion can be found at http://www.linksys.com/var.

About Linksys

Founded in 1988, Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the global leader in Wireless and Ethernet networking for consumer and SOHO users. Linksys is dedicated to making networking easy and affordable for its customers, offering innovative, award-winning products that seamlessly integrate with a variety of devices and applications. Linksys provides 24/7 Grade ?A? product support to all its customers. For more information, visit the Linksys web site at http://www.linksys.com.

Source: Linksys