These solutions are designed to address the need for value-driven, business-class solutions in the SMB market and to provide a means for SMBs to both upgrade and future-proof their Local Area Networks (LANs) as they embrace architectures such as Gigabit-to-the-Desktop and Voice over IP (VoIP).

"In an Internet economy, the competition is not just the business down the street or across town, but anyone selling similar products or services online," according to Naresh Singh, principal analyst Networking and Communication Equipment, Gartner. "As a result, SMBs are being driven to become more enterprise-like in their network architectures, while remaining on an SMB budget."

ADTRAN's NetVanta family of voice and data networking solutions was designed specifically for this market and uniquely addresses the needs of the value-driven SMB by providing a reliable, easy-to-use, business-class product at an SMB-friendly price point. ADTRAN is introducing six new platforms to the award-winning NetVanta family of switching solutions. These solutions ease the transition to next-generation applications, while preparing SMB networks for future growth.

New innovative features being introduced in these platforms include the ability to act as a Wi-Fi access controller, thus eliminating the need for a separate controller; intelligent power conservation, which enables PoE units to conserve energy by reducing power consumption; LLDP/LLDP MED, which simplify the deployment and troubleshooting of IP phones on a VoIP network; cable diagnostics which simplifies troubleshooting and repairs of the Ethernet cable plant/infrastructure; and a limited lifetime warranty.

The new platforms include: NetVanta 1534 PoE; NetVanta 1238 PoE; NetVanta 1238; NetVanta 1234 PoE ; NetVanta 1234.

These platforms, like all NetVanta switching solutions, offer fast, secure, cost-effective LAN switching and are based on the ADTRAN Operating System (OS). The ADTRAN OS which is common across all NetVanta products and provides standards-based, non-blocking switching; support for Virtual LANs (VLANs); Quality of Service (QoS), Link Aggregation, advanced management; TCL scripting; and remote configuration capability. They also feature a web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) with step-by-step configuration wizards, as well as a user-familiar Command Line Interface (CLI) for ease of set-up and management.

These switching solutions complement ADTRAN's existing portfolio of NetVanta routers, switches, IP business gateways, IP communications, wireless access and security products, and together offer a complete networking solution for the value-based SMB customer. All six NetVanta platforms will be available at the end of August and have the following list prices:

"Today's SMB customers want real value. We understand that this is more than just a price tag. It is a measure of factors such as reliability, performance and support," said Tim Saunders, vice president of product management, ADTRAN Enterprise Networks Division. "ADTRAN's NetVanta products uniquely address each of these factors and deliver a host of key benefits that make them the best value on the market for the SMB or distributed enterprise."