Cisco cuts Fast Ethernet costs

Striving to keep up with aggressive cost-cutting from its competitors, Cisco Systems (CSCO) today announced new, less expensive 100-mbps Ethernet gear and cut prices on existing models.

The Fast Ethernet-based hub market for small businesses continues to be a intensely competitive segment of the networking industry, with companies like Intel, 3Com, and the NetGear subsidiary of Bay Networks battling to offer customers the lowest per-port price.

Cisco's new line offers a managed hub--the 216T model--for $150 per port and an unmanaged model--the 116T--for $87 per port, in line with other recent markdowns from competitors.

Cisco will ship the 116T in July, while the 216T is available immediately. The 200 series includes built-in support for several networking management standards including SNMP (simple network management protocol), Telnet, and RMON (remote monitoring). The hardware can be administered through the CiscoWorks Windows network management software application.

The networking giant also announced price cuts for its existing 300 series of Ethernet hubs, dropping prices by more than 10 percent for its 100-mbps models.