Netopia Inc. Monday introduced
major enhancements to the company’s leased line, dial-up and Digital
Subscriber Line routers.
Three new leased-line routers have been added to the Netopia R-series
line-up. Standard features of the new Serial, DDS, and T1 routers included
secure Virtual Private Networking and an integrated 8-port hub. The new
leased-line routers can be upgraded to xDSL technology.
Netopia has also upgraded the cost control features of their dial-up
routers. The ISDN and Dual Analog routers now incorporate a Web-based tool
that provides end users with the means to meter activity on a
per-connection basis. The budgeting feature lets administrators define and
enforce metered Internet connections.
All of Netopia’s new DSL routers include integrated Virtual Private
Networking with encryption as a standard feature. The VPN capabilities are
designed to help businesses set up basic extranets, securely connect branch
offices, and provide cost effective LAN access to remote and mobile workers.
“DSL connections offer small and mid-sized businesses a very cost-effective
alternative to traditional leased-lines, but until now DSL routers haven’t
offered the VPN features that businesses need,” said Barbara Tien, director
of product marketing, Netopia’s Internet equipment division.
Because Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol is included as a standard part of
Microsoft’s NT servers, Netopia router integration utilizes the PPTP as a
standard for VPN tunneling configurations in their routers.
Tien said “ISPs are very interested in offering an always-on, broadband
connection to their business clients and our VPN solution now provides them
with the security and flexibility that business office networks demand.”
Additional enhancements of the Netopia DSL routers include integrated
Multi-Network Address Translation and packet filtering capabilities.
MultiNAT capabilities increase both the security and flexibility of a
business network.
According to Tien ISPs prefer MultiNAT capabilities because the NAT
protocol naturally hides IP addresses from public access. “There is a
natural security advantage of NAT because an intruder can’t tell what IP
you’re using.” Tien added “MultiNAT capabilities simply make the routers
easier to configure while using fewer IP addresses.”
IP address conservation with the MultiNAT feature integrated into Netopia’s
DSL routers means that a business can connect 50 workstations to their ISP
with just five IP addresses.
Netopia’s enhanced packet filtering capabilities on all R-series routers
will support up to 255 filter rules in any combination of input or output,
for up to eight filter sets. This means that businesses can customize who
has access to what information on their network for both an internal and
remote access routing.
The new Netopia integrated VPN, MultiNAT and packet filtering capabilities
of the R-series routers are currently scheduled to be available in May. A demonstration of the Netopia PPTP router function is currently on display
at ISPCON in Baltimore.
