The NE2000-10 is capable of equalizing up to 10Mbps and can be easily upgraded to meet the growing needs of your network.

For more information, contact us at admin@apconnections.net or 1-800-918-2763.

Terms: Payment is due on delivery. Limited supply. Offer good through July 31 or while supplies last. These units can be placed on a rack (dimensions -- 3 3/4 in. tall, 12 3/4 in. wide and 17 in. deep). One-year hardware warranty additional $100. One-hour direct factory support included. Offer for North American customers only. E-mail us for terms outside of North America.

Here are the details...

First off, our network access control module will not require any new hardware. It will be a fully integrated module and will run on all NetEqualizer units shipped after 2007.

The following features will be initially included:

1. Time-based usage by login -- You will be able to offer your customers a login to your network for a subscribed amount of time.
2. Re-direction to a Web site of your design -- You decide what users will see online first.
3. Group-based block license enforcement -- We are told this is an industry first. This gives the option for a group to purchase a block of licenses (simultaneous logins). For example, if you have an event where a group needs network access, rather than force every customer to purchase a 24-hour license, you can sell 100 licenses to a certain group. They can then distribute those to their members, which saves you the trouble of distributing licenses to every customer.
4. Flexible time-out periods -- This may also be an industry first. When a user is not active for an hour or so (the time is flexible), in some cases you may want to have them automatically logged out. This feature allows you to do this.

A licensing fee will apply starting at $1500. Customers with current NSS will be given a full credit against any license fee. Additional support and setup fees may also apply.

Beta site trials will be offered in August.

For more information, contact us at admin@apconnections.net or 1-800-918-2763.

The time has come to announce this round's winner.

And the winner is...Bill Milot of Bishop Connolly High School.

Congratulations, Bill! Please contact us within 30 days at admin@apconnections.net or 1-800-918-2763 to claim your prize.

From competition to unhappy customers, the venture that once seemed certain to succeed can quickly test the will of even the most battle-hardened and tech savvy business owners and network administrators. However, for all types of Internet providers, there are ways to make the process smoother.

For All Providers...

1. Set Boundaries from the Start -- When starting up a new service, don't let your users run wide open. You may be OK without putting rate caps on users when you have only 10 users sharing a 10 meg link, but when you get to 100 users sharing a 10 meg link, you'll need to put rate caps on them all. The problem with waiting is that your original users will become accustomed to higher speeds and will not be happy with sharing as your business expands -- unless you enforce some reasonable restrictions up front.

2. Keep Your Network from Locking Up-- Many Internet providers believe that if they set maximum rate caps for their users that their network is safe from locking up due to congestion. However, if you are oversold on your contention ratios, you will lock up and simple rate limits are not enough. Don't make this mistake.

This may sound obvious, but let me spell it out. We often run into operators with 500 users on a 20-meg link. They then offer two rate plans -- 1 meg up and down for consumers and 5 megs up and down for businesses. Next, they put rate caps on each type of user to ensure they don't exceed their allotted amount. Somehow, this is supposed to exonerate the operator from being oversold. This is all well and good, but if you do the math, 500 users on a 20 meg link will overwhelm your link at some point and nobody will be able to get anywhere close to their "promised amount."

If you are oversold, you will need something more than rate limits to prevent lockups. At some point, you will need to go with a layer-7 shaper such as Packeteer or Allot NetEnforcer. Or, you can use a NetEqualizer. Your only other option is to keep adding bandwidth.

Have you sold or supported NetEqualizer in the past? Planning to in the near future? If so, we'll make you a permanent part of our newsletter, seen by over 10,000 subscribers around the world.

For more information, contact us at admin@apconnections.net or 1-800-918-2763.