BRAINY DEVICE MULTIPLIES INTERNET ACCESS - JULY 2, 1999
By Jonathan Sidener
The Arizona Republic

With seven employees but only five phone lines, RCM Enterprises had a problem last year. Internet access voice calls and faxes combined to overload the existing lines. Adding lines seemed like the only option until an 18-year-old employee came up with a device that allowed computer users to share a single modem.

The device not only solved the problem but also gave the small business a product it hopes will be a blockbuster. “It was the result of necessity,” said Robert Morrison, RCM co-owner.

The product, NetSafe Gateway*, also serves as a fire wall, adding security to Internet transactions, according to Morrison and Russ Dill, the employee who dreamed it up. Dill, now 19, is a young man of few words who seems more comfortable talking about Internet protocol and operating systems than about his own achievements.

He does not volunteer that he started taking community college courses as he entered high school. He has been working with computers since he was 8.  Morrison, who is obviously proud of his young employee, has rewarded him with a new title.  “He’s our R&D department,” Morrison said. “His parents told me he’s been inventing things for years. Some of them had already been invented.”
NetSafe, however, is an original.  RCM has sold a few of the $595 NetSafe models and is gearing up to market them nationwide.

NetSafe can be configured to work with 56k phone modems or wire, cable, or other high-speed modems. The device allows multiple users to share a single Internet account as well as a single modem and phone line. The savings in discontinued Internet access and phone lines will recoup the cost of NetSafe in a few months, Morrison said. While the device uses proprietary software, the hardware is built with off-the-shelf components.

As many as five users can share a 56k modem without noticeable loss of speed, Morrison said. As many as 10 people can share a 56k modem using the product, although the connections will be slower, he said.  High-speed connections will support significantly more users, they say.

Dill’s solution to the phone line problem created a valuable side effect. NetSafe functions as a fire wall, keeping intruders out of users’ computers.

The system is not Windows-based, which means it is not vulnerable to the security holes that have been discovered in Windows systems. The device sits between computer users and the Internet, screening computers from blind requests from the Internet, Dill said. “If someone tries to contact your computer, they only see NetSafe, they can’t see your computers behind it,” Dill said.

RCM started out as Scottsdale Typewriter Co. in 1960. In addition to NetSafe, the company builds and repairs computers.

*Site Note:  NetSafe Gateway is now know as netMIND