New NETGEAR Switches Cut SMB Network Energy Costs by Over 50 Percent

NETGEAR’s Revamped ProSafe JGS5xx, GS1xx and GS6xx Series of Switches Enable SMBs to Reduce Power Consumption and Energy Bills

HANNOVER, Germany .— NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions, today announced it will soon start shipping new versions of its unmanaged series of network switches to provide Small- to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) with new options to significantly reduce their network energy requirements while still maintaining the productivity they need to grow their businesses. Aimed directly at SMBs and delivered via NETGEAR’s reseller partners, both rack-mounted and desktop “green” switches incorporate new hardware that optimizes power efficiency and enables new power management modes that can reduce power consumption by as much as 52 percent, leading to significant savings on network energy costs. NETGEAR will provide a demo of these new switches and display its full line of SMB devices at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, March 3-8, 2009, in Hall 13, Stand C58 of the Hannover Exhibition Hall. (Related CeBIT announcements can be found at (http://www.netgear.com/About/PressReleases.aspx).

NETGEAR has applied these green system enhancements to the ProSafe® JGS5xx Series of 16- and 24-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switches (JGS516v2, JGS524v2); the ProSafe GS1xx Series of 5- and 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switches (GS105v3, GS108v3); and the GS6xx Series of 5- and 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switches (GS605v3, GS608v3). Together, they represent the best option for SMBs to reduce their ongoing network infrastructure costs.

“SMBs have always been conscious about energy costs and helping the environment. NETGEAR’s green switches will enable them to achieve both while still keeping their productivity as strong as possible,” said Sanjay Kumar, NETGEAR’s director of SMB Switching Products. “NETGEAR worked diligently to find new hardware that would meet SMB power needs and is one of the first to integrate green technology into its product lines. We already have dozens of products that have qualified for the ENERGY STAR certification. Reducing the power consumption of our switches is the next milestone in our quest to make all of our products friendlier to the environment.”

The new hardware is able to save so much power due to multiple advanced power management modes that intelligently detect power usage and can reduce power needs depending on the current state of the switch, resulting in more than 50 percent savings on energy costs in some cases. These modes include:

* Auto Power-down – This mode reduces chip power in each Ethernet port when the signal from the copper link partner is not present over cables, thus saving power, but instantly resumes normal operation when energy is detected.
* Auto Cable Length Detection – This enables the switch to use lower power if its connections cover a distance of less than 10 meters.

“SMBs are as interested as enterprises in limiting their impact on the environment – in some cases, more so,” said Scott Scherer, research analyst at leading analysis firm In-Stat. “Lower network infrastructure costs, lower energy costs, and simple common sense make this is a prudent infrastructure choice for most businesses. As a result, vendors introducing green switching lines have significant opportunity to take an early lead in filling a clear market need.”

All three series of new versions of energy-efficient unmanaged switches are available in Q2 2009 from leading direct marketers, e-commerce sites, and NETGEAR value-added resellers. All NETGEAR ProSafe products are backed by a full lifetime warranty and optional ProSupport Maintenance Packages. More information on NETGEAR’s product families of switches can be found at (http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches.aspx?for=Business+Networking). Value-added resellers interested in carrying NETGEAR products can find more information at (http://www.netgear.com/Partners/Powershift.aspx).