You need a tough gateway appliance, well 3e Technology might have what your looking for. 3e Tech has put a new spin on gateway appliances by hardening its gateway appliance for industrial usage. The 520I is the industrial version of 3E Tech's wireless home gateway product and provides protection against water and corrosion. Its one of the first gateway products to address the industrial space. It also provides convenient access for Palm devices to sync through the gateway.

520I includes a 10/100MBPS Ethernet uplink port to connect to the enterprise and provide a degree of seperation from the rest of the coporate LAN. Other network interfaces include a 10/100MBPS Ethernet LAN connection and Wireless networking communications. Wireless networking options include 802.11b, Infrared and Bluetooth. The 520I provides dual access point and gateway functionality. It acts as an access point to allow wireless devices to have access to other systems on the LAN or Internet. It also allows Palm's to HotSync through the Infrared port to synchonize its data with other computer systems. Wireless security is maintained with WEP encryption and wireless MAC filtering.

Addition network security is provided through NAT, LAN IP and TCP port filtering, VPN and DMZ virtual servers options. NAT is a natural firewall with its virtual addressing capabilities to hide computer systems behind the gateway and not allowing exposure to hacking or viruses. VPN provides a secure link to communicate to systems beyond the gateway. Servers are protected through the DMZ via virtual server ports that protect the systems from malicous attacks.

In addition to NAT the 520I includes DHCP addressing functionality to accept IP addresses and assign IP addresses. It provides TCP/IP static routing in acting as a bridge between networks. Management of the gateway is done through web-based configuration pages. SNMP can also be used to manage the device. Both management and upgrades can be done remotely across the network.

Print serving functionality is available for wireless devices. The wireless accessiblilty is especially handy for field service personell outfitted with mobile devices such as PDAs. This allows data such as diagnostic or inventory information to be collected and remotely transfered across the network via the wireless gateway.

Pricing and Availability

520I is available with a price tag of $1,495, depending on optional features.

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