3Com Connects To The Home.

Providing a solution to share ADSL access between two PCs at the same time, 3Com Corporation introduced a dual-active-port DSL modem. The 3Com HomeConnect ADSL Modem Dual Link furnishes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) and an Ethernet port, which are ideal for homes with PC needs such as consumers who use a permanent PC and bring home a company-issued laptop. Now, consumers can use their "always on" broadband connections on a permanent PC and add another with little effort.

"3Com is offering a product that allows PC and laptop users to benefit from ADSL Internet connection, including simultaneous Internet and phone access," said Howard Rubin, technical marketing manager of 3Com. "With multiple PC homes on the rise, it is committed to providing flexible products to connect PCs in the home to each other and to the office LAN over a shared broadband connection. By using the Ethernet and USB ports on a single ADSL modem, users can simultaneously connect two PCs to the modem and talk on the phone at the same time, resulting in shared Internet access and productivity."

"A dual-port modem provides value and flexibility," noted Amy Harris, research analyst of International Data Corporation. "Our 1999 Residential Telecommunications Survey of 1,500 households found that 52 percent of households interested in purchasing Internet access services have more than one PC."

According to Rubin, "As consumer lifestyles become dependent on a connection to the Web, [the company's] promise of simplicity and reliability is appealing to today's 'on-the-go' worker."