SynOptics

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SynOptics Communications was a Santa Clara, California-based early Ethernet vendor.

In the early 1990s, SynOptics produced a series of innovative products including early 10BASE-2 hubs, pre-standard 10BaseT (LattisNet), and 100BaseT products. They merged with Billerica, Massachusetts based Wellfleet Communications on July 6, 1994 in a US$1.16 Billion dollar deal to form Bay Networks which itself was acquired by Nortel in 1998 to form Nortel Networks.

Their headquarters at the time of the merger with Welfleet was in the pair of sloped buildings at the Northeast corner of the intersection of Great America Parkway and Mission College Blvd in Santa Clara.

[edit] LattisNet

The most significant product that Synoptics produced was LattisNet. Before the final, standard version of what is known today as the 10Base-T protocol, there were several different methods and standards for running Ethernet over twisted-pair cabling at 10 Mbit/s. LattisNet is the name applied to SynOptics' Ethernet variant, which was similar to the final 10Base-T protocol except that it had slightly different voltage and signal characteristics. Synoptics updated their product line to the 10Base-T specification, once it was published. The experience and market position that LattisNet gave them helped them to compete in the 10Base-T market.