Asante Partners With Key Tronic's Thin Client World Tour at Comdex '98.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 1998--Asante Technologies (Nasdaq:ASNT) will partner with Key Tronic's Thin Client World Tour at Comdex '98 to demonstrate the simple setup and interoperability of Asante's "plug-and-play" FriendlyNet dual-speed hubs and switches with Key Tronic's new ClienTerm(TM) thin client/server solutions.

Key Tronic thin clients will be featured in four vertical applications demonstrating the speed and efficiency of thin client/server computing technology enabled by fast, easy to use networking products from Asante.

Asante's FriendlyNet(TM) family includes both hubs and switches in a variety of 10Mb and dual speed 10/100 port configurations, including 2, 4, 8 and 16 port models. These products are designed for easy plug-and-play installation for applications ranging from small offices or home offices to departmental workgroups. Key Tronic's ClienTerm thin client is a true thin client terminal built into a keyboard.

Featured in the Key Tronic booth, Asante's FriendlyNet networking products and Key Tronic's easy to install ClienTerm thin clients will be connected to file servers running applications illustrating typical scenarios encountered in each vertical market environment.

According to Craig Gates, Key Tronic's Corporation executive vice president of Marketing, Engineering and Sales, "Fast, reliable, networking connectivity is a key enabling technology for efficient thin client/server computing. We were impressed with the performance, interoperability and easy installation of the Asante products. These products give us the solid foundation we need to showcase our ClienTerm solutions in the Corporate, Education, Medical and Emerging Technologies application environments at Comdex."

Bill Fenley, Asante's vice president of Marketing, adds, "Asante is committed to delivering fast, easy to use, 'plug and play' networking products to our customers in SOHO, education, imaging and digital graphics. Easy to use computing platforms like the thin client/server solutions offered by Key Tronic are very complimentary to our corporate objective of making powerful networking technologies easier to use."

The Key Tronic booth will be in location L272 in the Las Vegas Convention Center November 16-20. The thin client/server computing section of Key Tronic's booth is called the Thin Client World Tour. The World Tour features four different network environments -- Emerging Technologies, Corporate, Education and Medical -- with ClienTerm thin client terminals and servers interoperating with a variety of the hardware and software products related to each vertical market application.

Developed in partnership with Key Tronic and ClienTec Corporation, ClienTerm is the first client terminal built into a keyboard and comes with a built in Ethernet network interface. This interface can be connected by standard twisted pair networking cable to any of Asante's FriendlyNet hub or switch products to provide multi client connectivity to servers or other network devices.

Key Tronic Corporation is one of the world's largest independent producers of keyboards and has a reputation for developing state-of-the-art computer input devices. Key Tronic's customers include Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Gateway, Toshiba, and other leading international companies.

The company employs approximately 2,400 people and operates facilities in Spokane, Wash., Texas, New Mexico, Ireland, Mexico, and China. Information about Key Tronic and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at www.keytronic.com.

Company Background

Founded in 1988, Asante Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASNT) is a leading provider of high-performance networking solutions. The company offers LAN switches, hubs and adapter cards, as well as web-based network management software and network acceleration tools.

Asante's products are sold through an international network of distributors, value added resellers (VARs), system integrators, and retail channels. For additional information, contact Asante at 800/662-9686 or 408/435-8388, or browse the company's web site at www.asante.com.