ZyXEL
Encyclopedia
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
:, Holding company Unizyx TSE: 3704), located in Hsinchu
Hsinchu
Hsinchu City is a city in northern Taiwan. Hsinchu is popularly nicknamed "The Windy City" for its windy climate.Hsinchu City is administered as a special municipality within Taiwan . The city is bordered by Hsinchu County to the north and east, Miaoli County to the south, and the Taiwan Strait...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, is a manufacturer of DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
and other networking devices. (Gartner, August 2005). With headquarters in Taiwan, ZyXEL maintains branch offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Currently, ZyXEL has around 2100 employees globally, with distributors in more than seventy countries, and products marketed in more than 150 countries on five continents. ZyXEL works with worldwide network equipment vendors, telecommunications companies, ISPs, and other small to medium businesses.
ZyXEL commonly acts as OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
for ISPs or system integrators. It is common for a DSL user to get an ISP-branded DSL modem from their ISP; for example Earthlink
EarthLink
EarthLink , is an Internet service provider headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It claims 1.94 million subscribers.- Business :EarthLink provides a variety of Internet connection types, including dial-up, DSL, satellite, and cable. Both dial-up and high speed Internet access are available...
issues ZyXEL ADSL modems that have the suffix "-ELINK" at the end of the model number, and the configuration screens contain the Earthlink logo. Branding the setup screens with the ISP's corporate identity is accompanied with the ability to specify default configuration settings appropriate for their network, thus simplifying the setup directions they ship to a new customer.
Corporate history
Founded in 1989 as an analog modem developer, ZyXEL has transformed itself several times in response to changes in the rapidly evolving networking industry. Since its establishment, ZyXEL's main product lines have shifted from modems, ISDN terminal adapters, and routers for individuals and small businesses to a comprehensive range of networking solutions for a more broadly defined customer base including larger enterprises and service providers.The history of the name and pronouncation
When ZyXEL unveiled its first chip-design (ZyXEL was originally a modem-chip design company) back in the late 1980's, the company only had a Chinese name . So it had to come up with an English name for a trade show in Asia. The original idea was ZyTEL ("Zy" means nothing, "TEL" for telecommunications). The problem was that someone allready had this name annouced for the show. So they played around with the letters and came up with ZyXEL instead.The name does not actually mean anything, although some people claim "XEL" is a word-play on "excellence".
The next challenge was how to pronounce it (everybody in the company was Chinese at that time).
So they fed the name into an old speech synthesizer (reportedly it was an Amiga). And the synthesizer pronounced it "Zai-Cell".
Products
Current product lines includes:- EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
switchesNetwork switchA network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments.The term commonly refers to a multi-port network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link layer of the OSI model... - Branch office and CPE EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
routers - IP TelephonyVoice over IPVoice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
products such as ATAAnalog telephony adapterAn analog telephony adapter, or analog telephone adapter, is a device used to connect one or more standard analog telephones to a digital telephone system or a non-standard telephone system....
devices and WifiIEEE 802.11IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...
VoIPVoice over IPVoice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
handset - Network security devices such as Firewalls, VPN concentrators, Network and Intrusion Prevention and Detection
- ADSL, SDSLSDSLSDSL may refer to:*Symmetric digital subscriber line*Site-directed spin labeling...
, VDSL DSLAM - ADSL, SDSLSDSLSDSL may refer to:*Symmetric digital subscriber line*Site-directed spin labeling...
, VDSL modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
/router - ISDN router & terminal adapterTerminal adapter- ISDN :In ISDN terminology, a terminal adapter or TA is a device that connects a terminal to the ISDN network.The TA therefore fulfills a similar function to the ones a modem has on the POTS network, and is therefore sometimes called an ISDN modem...
- AnalogAnalog transmissionAnalog transmission is a transmission method of conveying voice, data, image, signal or video information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that of a variable...
modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data... - CableCable modemA cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
router/modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data... - Power linePower line communicationPower line communication or power line carrier , also known as power line digital subscriber line , mains communication, power line telecom , power line networking , or broadband over power lines are systems for carrying data on a conductor also used for electric power transmission.A wide range...
EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
bridge - WirelessIEEE 802.11IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...
APWireless access pointIn computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
, router & bridge - WiMAXWiMAXWiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
router & client card - Network Storage Appliance