CHIPCOM ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF ONdemand LANsentry FAMILY OF RMON PRODUCTS

New Offerings Include Windows and UNIX Applications; RMON 2 Product Plans
Also Disclosed

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass., September 19, 1995 --Chipcom Corporation (Nasdaq/CHPM)
today announced the expansion of its ONdemand LANsentry suite of Remote
Monitoring (RMON) software products with the introduction of its new
LANsentry for Windows, Version 1.0, enhanced LANsentry for UNIX, Version
2.0, and two new UNIX Advanced Network Applications. In addition, the
company disclosed its product plans for future RMON 2 support.

"The LANsentry suite of products allow network managers to construct
flexible and scaleable corporate networks that effectively deliver
services and applications to their user communities," said Phil Fulchino,
director, enterprise network management at Chipcom. "These applications
lower network operating costs by providing network tuning and
troubleshooting capabilities attuned to client/server environments."

LANSENTRY FOR WINDOWS

LANsentry for Windows, Version 1.0, provides all the same features of
Chipcom's comprehensive UNIX-based LANsentry products on the lower- cost
personal computer platform. LANsentry for Windows software consists of two
independent RMON applications -- a Statistical Analyzer and Packet Decoder
-- that allow users to capture and view network traffic patterns from a
remote console. The LANsentry Statistical Analyzer is used for statistics
gathering and analysis, while the LANsentry Packet Decoder captures and
decodes RMON packets, reducing the time required to identify and resolve
network problems.

Both the Windows and UNIX versions of LANsentry are based on industry-
leading RMON technology from AXON Networks. The LANsentry family extends
the RMON capabilities of Chipcom's management agents and its ONdemand NCS
network management application, providing a more comprehensive view of the
network. Users can easily analyze data gathered over time by RMON agents
in Chipcom's ONcore System, ONline System and ONsemble StackSystem
families of intelligent switching platforms.

FULL RMON CAPABILITIES

Both LANsentry for Windows and UNIX provide the following core
functionality:

Statistical Analyzer - The LANsentry Statistical Analyzer analyzes both
real-time and historical data, allowing users to establish baselines for
comparing current and past performance. Managers can also use real-time
data to explore relationships between network events, to pinpoint a
potential problem, or to identify the source of a problem. Managers can
set alarm thresholds to monitor specific conditions of the network. Using
Chipcom's per-port switching capabilities and the software control of
ONdemand NCS, users can make changes "on the fly" before a condition
evolves into a problem and disrupts the network. The Statistical Analyzer
supports the full stack of RMON groups for both Ethernet and Token Ring
networks.

Packet Decoder - The LANsentry Packet Decoder is a cost-effective
alternative to expensive protocol analyzer equipment. It allows managers
to customize filters and create buffers for gathering and storing
information. With the ability to view traffic patterns based on specific
variables -- such as protocol types, including TCP/IP or DECnet - - the
Packet Decoder provides comprehensive troubleshooting analysis.

One of the key elements of Chipcom's network management architecture is
found in the underlying, embedded agent engines. These scaleable agents
provide a foundation to forward pertinent information to the LANsentry
applications.

According to John McConnell, president of McConnell Consulting, Inc., a
Boulder, Colorado-based market research and consulting firm, "When it
comes to providing embedded network management intelligence in the hub,
Chipcom is clearly one of the industry's leaders. These enhanced
RMON-based LANsentry solutions will make the task of managing remote
locations much easier, and will open the door to other applications
network managers are looking to implement."

LANSENTRY, VERSION 2.0, ENHANCEMENTS

With LANsentry for UNIX, Version 2.0, Chipcom enhanced the software with
new advanced features and capabilities that will enable network managers
to address network tuning and troubleshooting more effectively. These
include:

* the ability to view RMON data from more than one network at a time.

* the capability to trace conversations based upon either MAC or IP
addresses using the Packet Decoder's unique conversation trace facility.

* the enhancement of LANsentry's address translation and protocol
distribution facilities in order to map MAC addresses to network layer
addresses in IP, IPX and DECnet. These unique facilities also enhance
troubleshooting by easily identifying duplicate addresses or hosts
interacting with the network over multiple protocols.

ADVANCED NETWORK APPLICATIONS

In addition to the new LANsentry for Windows and UNIX packages, Chipcom
also unveiled two new Advanced Network Applications for LANsentry that
allow users to troubleshoot and capture higher level statistics and
fine-tune their networks. They include:

Enterprise Traffic Analyzer - The LANsentry Enterprise Traffic Analyzer
provides full network conversation monitoring from end-to-end, rather than
being limited to a specific segment. By collecting segment, host and host
matrix statistics, network managers can fine-tune their internetworks and
corporate backbones by linking workgroups and primary computing resources,
reducing costly pass-through traffic.

With the Enterprise Traffic Analyzer, managers can monitor networks and
internetworks supporting critical client/server applications, and can
gather statistics up to the application layer, allowing comparisons of
transactions, groupware and E-mail traffic. This data helps managers
determine which protocols make up the network traffic and who is talking
to whom on the global network.

Traffic Generator - The LANsentry Traffic Generator provides a fast,
efficient way to transmit packets on remote LANs for troubleshooting and
stress testing. It also enables network managers to generate new packets
with specific characteristics, as well as re-transmit captured packets
onto specific LAN segments or rings. The LANsentry Traffic Generator makes
capacity planning and proactive network management easier for
administrators.

RMON 2 PRODUCT PLANS

In addition to its new applications, Chipcom also announced today future
support for the RMON 2 standard. RMON 2 is a proposed industry standard
that enables network managers to monitor the network up to the application
level of the network protocol stack. The ability to observe
application-level traffic provides vital information about which software
applications are running, not just how much of the network is being used.
This information is critical to understanding and troubleshooting
client/server applications and environments, and will enable network
managers to optimize traffic flows by locating users on appropriate
segments.

Customers of Chipcom's LANsentry Enterprise Traffic Analyzer will realize
many of the benefits that will be delivered with the RMON 2 standard. Once
the proposed standard is published, the company intends to rapidly provide
RMON 2-compliant products. Furthermore, LANsentry Enterprise Traffic
Analyzer customers will be assured an easy transition.

AVAILABILITY

ONdemand LANsentry for Windows, Version 1.0, is scheduled to be available
in 75 days.

LANsentry for UNIX, Version 2.0, is scheduled to be available in 90 days at
the North America list price of $3,995 for the LANsentry Statistical
Analyzer and LANsentry Packet Decoder, respectively.

The Advanced Network Applications for LANsentry UNIX are scheduled to be
available starting in the fourth quarter of 1995 through the first quarter
of 1996, and pricing will be set at that time.

Founded in 1983, Chipcom Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and
services fault tolerant intelligent switching systems, including hub,
internetworking and network management products, for remote site, campus
and enterprise network computing environments. The Southborough, Mass.
based company reported record revenue of $268 million for its 1994 fiscal
year, ended December 31, a 67 percent increase over 1993. For the first
six months of its 1995 fiscal year, ended July 1, Chipcom reported sales
of $157.7 million.

According to the market research firm Dataquest, Inc., Chipcom is the
world's third largest supplier of intelligent hubs. Together with its
resellers, Chipcom has a presence in more than 200 countries, and the
company employs over 930 people worldwide. For the third consecutive year,
Chipcom has been cited by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 fastest
growing companies in America.

Chipcom has signed a definitive merger agreement with 3Com Corporation of
Santa Clara, Calif., dated July 26, 1995. Completion of the transaction is
subject to regulatory approvals and approval by Chipcom's shareholders.
The merger is scheduled to close in October.
 
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