NETGEAR Powers The Converged Network With New Family Of Affordable Managed Switches

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR) (www.netgear.com), a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, is introducing the new NETGEAR ProSafe® Intelligent Edge M4100 series (www.netgear.com/managed/m4100) of managed switches, a broad portfolio of cost-effective Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet access layer solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs), educational institutions, hospitals, government agencies, and other networks supporting fewer than 500 users. The M4100 series delivers an unbeatable combination of performance, security and convergence for voice, video and data networking solutions at an extremely attractive price point.

The NETGEAR Intelligent Edge M4100 series consists of 12 fully managed switch products in desktop and rackmount form factors, ranging from 8-port Fast Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (PoE) to 50-port Gigabit Ethernet and PoE Plus (up to 30W), and power budgets ranging from 66W to 1,440W. The series is ideal for all organizations needing reliable, affordable and simple access layer switching with CLI, scripting and IPv4 static L3 routing, IPv4/IPv6 ACLs and QoS. The advanced features of the M4100 series — such as Redundant and External Power Supply (RPS and EPS) options — facilitate, improve, or secure convergent applications such as VoIP deployment, IPTV and video surveillance installations, and wireless access point infrastructures.

Due to the wide adoption of virtualization, the convergence of voice, video, and data and the rapid proliferation of bandwidth-intensive applications such as IP phones and cameras, small and mid-sized businesses, hospitals and schools today have bandwidth needs similar to those of large enterprises. For the same price as low-end solutions currently on the market aimed at SMBs, NETGEAR is offering high-end features that have so far been limited to enterprise-class offerings only available at double or triple the price point. In contrast, the new M4100 series starts at merely $19 per port for Fast Ethernet PoE models, and at an affordable $32 per port for Gigabit PoE+ models.

"The access layer switches of the M4100 series bring users an incredibly rich feature set coupled with PoE+ scalability to full power that's simply unheard-of in an entry-level switch. I would never have expected to be able to afford these benefits at a price point that's economical for smaller networks," said Paul Blas, co-founder of Plan Design Build, Inc., a complete IT solution company based in Dallas, Texas (www.pdb4me.com/). "I would be happy to deploy the M4100 series at any of my client premises as a proficient component of secure, converged voice, video and data networking solutions."

"We've recently noticed the rapid proliferation of entry-level managed switches aimed at SMBs which are deficient in both hardware and software features, so we decided to address this opportunity," said Maggie Wu, senior product line manager for NETGEAR Switching Products. "NETGEAR has developed the M4100 Series for smaller networks, at a competitive price point, but packed with the latest feature enhancements of higher end, more demanding solutions traditionally designed for the enterprise market. We're confident that alternative solutions for SMBs simply do not offer the breadth of features we've built into the M4100 series."

The Intelligent Edge M4100 series offers many innovative benefits to network administrators and IT personnel, particularly because of its flexible, scalable power usage options:

• Enhanced security and availability, including network access control and isolation, Spanning Tree topology enforcement, Denial of Service protection, power redundancy, and supplemental PoE power
• Improved convergence of voice, video and data, such as LLDP-MED for automatic configuration of IP Phones, best-in-class multicast filtering and MVR VLAN forwarding, and private VLAN Layer 2 isolation across the entire network
• Investment protection thanks to an expandable PoE power budget (up to 1,440W PoE budget per switch), scalability up to full PoE+ power across all ports, and with various RPS protections for uninterruptible operation

The M4100 series are the first SMB switches with both Redundant and External Power Supply capability, key for critical applications such as VoIP, IP surveillance and wireless access points. PoE devices gobble increasing amounts of PoE power, yet existing SMB switching solutions from other vendors don't scale to full power. Although most servers in SMB networks have dual power supplies, switches in SMB networks have not – until now.

Select desktop switches in the M4100 series can be powered by PoE as a cost-effective solution when there is no existing wiring, as the switch can draw power from the wiring closet. The flexibility of a PoE switch is also convenient for meeting rooms and open spaces where visible electrical wiring is unsightly or impractical.

Key Features of the Intelligent Edge M4100 series:

• IPv4/IPv6 Layer 2+ with IPv4 L3 static routing
• 16K MAC addresses
• Protocol-based Auto-VoIP and Voice-VLAN
• ACLs, CoS and L3/L4 Diffserv prioritization
• Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR)
• Advanced Multicast filtering with IGMP/MLD, Proxy and Querier modes
• Proxy ARP and Private VLANs advanced security
• Optional Redundant and External Power Supply (RPS/EPS)
• Ingress granularity down to 1Kbps
• HTTPs Web GUI and Telnet/SSH CLI
• EEE Energy Efficient Ethernet compliance

"Networking is a critical underpinning of IT infrastructure, and as organizations deploy more demanding new applications and services, we've seen a significant uptick in demand for advanced switching solutions over the past year," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research (www.infonetics.com/). "The new NETGEAR M4100 series of managed switches strike the right balance between delivering advanced features and maintaining a competitive price structure, making them a perfect fit for smaller businesses and cost-conscious organizations who need high value and a rapid return on their IT investments."

Pricing and Availability

The NETGEAR ProSafe Intelligent Edge M4100 series will become available in April through a broad variety of NETGEAR PowerSHIFT™ partners (http://powershift.netgear.com/) and authorized reseller, DMR, and ecommerce channels.

While pricing for the end customer may vary depending on the reseller, individual MSRP prices for the 12 switches in the U.S. are listed below:

• M4100-D10-POE, an 8-port PoE Fast Ethernet desktop Managed Switch:  $350
• M4100-26-POE, a 24-port PoE Fast Ethernet Managed Switch:  $705
• M4100-50-POE a 48-port PoE Fast Ethernet Managed Switch:  $1,180
• M4100-D12G, a 12-port Gigabit desktop Managed Switch:  $310
• M4100-D12G-POE+, a 12-port PoE+ Gigabit desktop Managed Switch:  $960
• M4100-12GF, a 12-port Fiber Gigabit Managed Switch:  $1,090
• M4100-12G-POE+, a 12-port PoE+ Gigabit Managed Switch:  $1,190
• M4100-26G, a 26-port Gigabit Managed Switch:  $642
• M4100-50G, a 50-port Gigabit Managed Switch:  $1,099
• M4100-26G-POE, a 24-port PoE Gigabit Managed Switch:  $875
• M4100-24G-POE+, a 24-port PoE+ Gigabit Managed Switch:  $1,350
• M4100-50G-POE+ a 48-port PoE+ Gigabit Managed Switch:  $1,990

More Information
All NETGEAR switches provide world-class reliability and are backed by the industry-leading ProSafe Lifetime Hardware Warranty and 24x7 technical support that connects businesses directly with experienced switching experts. The ProSafe Intelligent Edge M4100 series also includes ProSupport™ Lifetime 24x7 Advanced Technical Support in addition to a 3-Year Next Business Day Onsite Hardware Replacement.

Learn more about the NETGEAR ProSafe Intelligent Edge M4100 series at www.netgear.com/managed/m4100. For information on the full range of NETGEAR ProSafe Fully Managed, Smart, and Plus switches for businesses, government agencies, educational facilities and other networks, go to www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/.

About NETGEAR, Inc.
NETGEAR (NASDAQGM: NTGR) is a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers. For consumers, the company makes high performance, dependable and easy to use home networking, storage and digital media products to connect people with the Internet and their content and devices. For businesses, NETGEAR provides networking, storage and security solutions without the cost and complexity of big IT. The company also supplies top service providers with retail proven, whole home solutions for their customers. NETGEAR products are built on a variety of proven technologies such as wireless, Ethernet and Powerline, with a focus on reliability and ease-of-use. NETGEAR products are sold in approximately 35,000 retail locations around the globe, and through approximately 41,000 value-added resellers. The company's headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., with additional offices in over 25 countries. NETGEAR is an ENERGY STAR® partner. More information is available at www.NETGEAR.com or by calling (408) 907-8000. Connect with NETGEAR at twitter.com/NETGEAR and www.facebook.com/NETGEAR.

©2013 NETGEAR, Inc. NETGEAR, the NETGEAR logo, PowerSHIFT, ProSafe and ProSupport are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective holder(s). Information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for NETGEAR, Inc.: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Specifically, statements concerning NETGEAR's business and the expected performance characteristics, specifications, reliability, market acceptance, market growth, specific uses, user feedback and market position of NETGEAR's products and technology are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the following: the actual price, performance and ease of use of NETGEAR's products may not meet the price, performance and ease of use requirements of customers; product performance may be adversely affected by real world operating conditions; failure of products may under certain circumstances cause permanent loss of end user data; new viruses or Internet threats may develop that challenge the effectiveness of security features in NETGEAR's products; the ability of NETGEAR to market and sell its products and technology; the impact and pricing of competing products; and the introduction of alternative technological solutions. Further information on potential risk factors that could affect NETGEAR and its business are detailed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties listed in the section entitled "Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors," pages 10 through 29, in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2013. NETGEAR undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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SOURCE NETGEAR, Inc.