WAN SYSTEMS & SERVICES Enterprise WAN Platform: Ascend Communications MAX Family R emote access to the WAN is hot. But despite the demand for remote access, the cost of local circuits hasn't dropped substantially. The Ascend MAX family of products concentrates access circuit traffic from a variety of sources, reducing the ongoing cost of access for ISDN, analog modems, leased-line and frame relay networks. Users of the MAX 2000 and 4000 series units cost-effectively manage traffic that originates from remote access, PBX or videoconferencing equipment. In remote-access applications, the MAX 4004 can support up to 96 concurrent sessions--ISDN Terminal Adapters or LAN routers--and up to 72 analog modems over the same access pipes. ISDN is Ascend's specialty, and our tests confirmed Ascend's expertise, though the MAX units proved to be less compelling in a pure analog environment. Ascend was one of the first vendors to support ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) connections over T1 access channels, instead of requiring more expensi ve Primary Rate Interface (PRI). At the low end, the 200Plus is built on PC Cards and supports four ISDN BRI links and up to eight modems. It can be used for both inbound and outbound applications. At the top, MAX TNT is an Internet service provider (ISP)-class device supporting 672 calls simultaneously over a T3 circuit. In between, the MAX 1800, 2000 and 4000 units are modular, letting you buy only the cards and software required. Ascend MAX Family , $2,495 to $191,000. Ascend Communications, (800) ASCEND4, www.ascend.com Honorable Mentions: AccessBuilder 9000 ATM Access Conce ntrator , $10,000 to $60,000. 3Com Corp., (800) 638-3266, www.3Com.com Cisco 7000 family of high-end , multiprotocol routers, $4,000 to $28,000. Cisco Systems, (800) 859-2726, www.cisco.com Awards Table of Contents

Updated April 24, 1997