3Com Corp, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, has a a 16-bit Ethernet adaptor to link workstations and servers in twisted-pair Ethernetworks: the EtherLink 16 twisted pair is said to offer 10Base-T networks the same performance as 3Com’s EtherLink 16, and it has been available since August for thick and thin coaxial Ethernet networks; it is software configurable, and the adaptor includes a network management PROM and a boot PROM socket; because it is compatible with existing EtherLink 16 software, administrators do not have to change software when converting from a coaxial Ethernet environment to a 10Base-T network, or when joining mixed-media networks together; it is supported by a range of popular network operating systems and ships with NetWare 286 and 386 and Network Driver Interface Specifications drivers; the Ethernet adaptor costs $480 for a single adaptor, $2,200 for five.
