Akron OH, March 4-- Quatech Inc., a leading manufacturer of serial connectivity solutions, announces the availability of ThinQ™, the smart choice in serial device servers. The new line addresses two long-standing industry problems with serial device servers-slow data processing that causes network latency problems, and complex, time consuming installations. With an unprecedented 80 MIPS (Millions of Instruction Per Second) of processing power, ThinQ can hold its own on even the busiest networks. And with Quatech's innovative Installation Wizard, even novice users can get ThinQ up and running quickly and easily without taking up valuable IT staff time.

Fastest Throughput in the Industry Keeps Networks Running Fast
Quatech's ThinQ serial device servers are based on reliable Motorola® Digital DNA™ technology and use a best-in-class PowerPC® processor-a degree of confidence that products using homegrown processors cannot provide. On the serial side, ThinQ contains Quatech's proven high-speed, 921k-baud serial technology. Thus, users can be assured that critical business applications won't be slowed down by throughput or latency issues -- even with multiple serial devices attached to one ThinQ unit. Moreover, as future network speeds and peripheral devices become faster, ThinQ gives systems room to grow.

Easy Enough For Novice Users to Install in Just 10 Minutes
One would expect that a serial device server would be simple to install, however that is often not the case with competing products which can take hours or even days of waiting for technical support. Quatech's ThinQ serial device servers use a unique Installation Wizard that makes setup and configuration fast and easy. The Wizard automatically searches for and identifies any ThinQ unit attached to the network, even searching remote subnets. No client software is installed on the user's PC, only a small set of drivers to enable the COM ports.

"We benchmarked our new ThinQ device against the industry leaders, and found users were able to install ThinQ in just ten minutes, or three times faster than the closest competitive product," said Quatech President and CEO Steve Runkel. "In fact, one our customers told us he took the ThinQ device home to his 11-year-old son, who also was able to install it in ten minutes."

This unique approach to installation makes it easy to configure a ThinQ unit during pre-deployment staging. For example, in cases where DHCP auto-negotiation is not possible, the ThinQ installation software automatically assigns a default IP address for use until the actual IP address can entered. After installation, an onboard utility accessible from a standard Web browser makes it easy to perform remote diagnostics and maintenance.

Why Use Serial Device Servers?
Serial communication is a cost-effective, well-understood, and reliable means of data communication. It is at the heart of many retail, industrial, banking, commercial and security applications that require connecting peripheral devices including bar-code scanners, receipt printers, CNC machines, and card-readers. However, the drawback to a standard serial device is that only the computer to which it is connected can access it. Serial device servers solve this problem by IP-enabling the devices so that they can be accessed and controlled from any computer on the network, as if they were attached to local serial COM ports.

Four Quatech ThinQ Models
The first ThinQ serial device servers are available in one, two, four and eight port RS-232 versions. Each independent port provides full modem control and hardware flow control. The auto-sensing, 10/100 Base T Ethernet connection is made using a standard RJ-45 connector. Serial connections are made using either an RJ-45 or DB-9 connector, depending on model. The devices have CE and FCC approvals.

Pricing and Availability
ThinQ RS-232 serial device servers are available now. RS-422/485 versions are scheduled to be released Q2 2003.