LAFAYETTE, Colo. - APconnections, a leading supplier of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products, today announced the availability of its newest NetEqualizer software release - Carrier Class 4.0. Among its many upgrades, Carrier Class 4.0 will support three times as many shaping buffers as previous NetEqualizer releases, translating into smoother shaping for installations with up to 40-thousand users.

"Most routers that break out chunks of bandwidth use harsh rate control methods such as dropping packets when the limit is reached," said Art Reisman, CEO and co-founder of APconnections. "The optimizations and techniques we use shape each customer smoothly without dropping packets, rivaling the quality of carrier-class shapers, yet are priced at one-tenth the list price."

In addition, the new release will offer the following features:

support of URL-based blocking and URL shaping. For example, users will be able to set rate caps for sites such as YouTube and Netflix without the invasiveness of layer-7 shaping. APconnections' URL-based shaping will also allow customers to add new sites without paying expensive upgrade fees.

The NetEqualizer is a plug-and-play bandwidth control and WAN/Internet optimization appliance that is flexible and scalable. When the network is congested, NetEqualizer's unique "behavior shaping" technology gives priority to latency-sensitive applications, such as VoIP and email. It does it all dynamically and automatically, improving on other bandwidth shaping technology available. It controls network flow for the best WAN optimization.

APconnections is a privately held company founded in 2003 and is based in Lafayette, Colorado http://www.netequalizer.com.