Asante Gains Momentum with NetDoubler; Announces New Competitive Upgrade Offer, Targets Prepress, Publishing Markets; RunShare Users Can Take Advantage Of Faster, Easier-to-Use Network Acceleration Solution By Upgrading To NetDoubler For Only $39.95.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1996--Following record sales last quarter of Asante Technologies' Macintosh Fast Ethernet cards bundled with the company's NetDoubler network acceleration utility and the release in August of UMAX Computer's Mac-compatibles bundled with NetDoubler on the CPU, Asante today introduced an aggressive competitive upgrade campaign designed to convert RunShare users to NetDoubler and capture a leading share of the high-speed Macintosh networking market.

Offering the fastest Macintosh networking solution available for graphics, publishing, and prepress shops, Asante is providing NetDoubler to RunShare users for $39.95 (plus shipping and handling) -- a 60 percent discount off NetDoubler's $99 list price per user. The offer is good through November 30, 1996.

The announcement by Asante follows independent tests conducted at Fremont, Calif.-based LANQuest labs showing NetDoubler is up to twice as fast as RunShare. In addition to improved speeds, creative professionals can benefit from several competitive advantages of NetDoubler. These include: -0-

-- Across-the-board compatibility with all desktop Macintosh applications. In comparison, RunShare only supports Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand and Quark.

-- Easy set up and usability with one NetDoubler application for all machines. In comparison, RunShare uses one version for the client or server and a different version for the server only.

-- Free bundle with the leading Fast Ethernet cards on the market - Asante's 10/100 PCI and NuBus cards were recently awarded "Best Buys" by MacUser magazine, receiving "outstanding" ratings in price, speed, features and support. In comparison, RunShare is currently bundled with Dayna Communications' BlueStreak PCI and NuBus cards, both of which received "poor" ratings for price and "poor" or "acceptable" ratings respectively on speed in the same review. -0-

NetDoubler, along with Asante's complete Fast Ethernet product line, will be on display at Seybold Expo in San Francisco, September 11-13. Asante's booth is No. 4119 in the Moscone Center.

Available since May, NetDoubler offers a high performance solution for publishing and prepress networks when combined with Asante switched and Fast Ethernet products. Ideal for accelerating copies, opens, and saves of large files over the network, NetDoubler increases performance by up to nine times.

In the LANQuest tests, the Asante 10/100 PCI card combined with NetDoubler outperforms the Dayna/RunShare solution by 80-100 percent in real-world tests opening and saving large 21 mb Photoshop files over the network. In addition, client-to-server and server-to-client file copies are seven to 20 percent faster with the Asante solution than with the Dayna/RunShare combination.

"LANQuest tests prove that NetDoubler, combined with Asante's Fast Ethernet card, is the fastest solution on the market," said Paul Smith, vice president of marketing at Asante. "Our sales indicate that Macintosh users are hungry for the performance boost NetDoubler gives them. In fact, sales of our 10/100 PCI cards rose 37 percent last quarter as a result of the NetDoubler bundle."

Other benchmarks obtained from Asante's own test lab demonstrate the significant performance boost NetDoubler provides in both 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps Ethernet networks. For example: -0-

-- A 21mb Photoshop file copies in 34.73 seconds over a 10 Mbps Ethernet network with NetDoubler installed and enabled. The file copies in 89.14 seconds without NetDoubler.

-- The same 21mb Photoshop file copies in 13.98 seconds over Fast Ethernet with NetDoubler installed and enabled. This is 4.4 times faster than file copies over the network without NetDoubler (62.08 seconds). In addition, file saves over Fast Ethernet are nearly seven times faster with NetDoubler (9.95 seconds) than they are without NetDoubler (66.05 seconds).

-- Notes: Tests are client to server. The client is a PCI PowerMac 9500 with 120 Mhz speed and 64 mb RAM. The server is a PowerMac 9500 with 120 Mhz and 16 mb RAM. The TCP/IP network protocol is selected. -0-

RunShare users may call Asante at 800/662-9686 to upgrade to NetDoubler. There is no limit to the number of upgrades that customers may purchase; however, users must provide a RunShare serial number for each upgrade to take advantage of the offer. Additional information about NetDoubler as well as a demo version and upgrade order form are also available on Asante's Web site at www.asante.com.

About Asante

Founded in 1988, Asante Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ASNT) offers a full line of high-performance products for Ethernet and Fast Ethernet networks, including adapter cards, intelligent and non-intelligent hubs, switches, bridge products and network management. Asante products are available through a worldwide network of VARs, system integrators and distributors. For additional information, contact Asante at 800/662-9686 or browse the company's Web site at www.asante.com.

CONTACT: Asante Technologies

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