LEADING United States router specialist Cisco Systems has released the first personal computer-based router.
The card was in a range of five products unveiled for the small branch office and remote PC local area network market.
The products - all cheaper than US$1,000 - were made as extensions to the entry-level 2500 router series, said Jeffrey Paine, Cisco's director of corporate marketing.
It was Cisco's intention to extend the usefulness of the network to individual users, he said.
The Access Pro Server card fitted into a PC chassis, and 'offers the full multiprotocol functionality of a standalone router', Mr Paine said.
The card effectively made the PC a router, he said, and as it had its own chip, the card did not affect normal server applications.
Mr Paine said because most companies were run on PCs, the PC card would be well received.