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{{Short description|Westborough, MA, US based computer network equipment vendor (1972-1998)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Proteon, Inc.
| logo = Proteon logo.svg
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{NASDAQ was|PTON}}
| foundation = 1972
| defunct = 1998
| fate = Relaunched as OpenROUTE Networks
| successor = Netrix, NX Networks, NSGDatacom
| location = [[Westborough, Massachusetts]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States|US]]
| key_people = Howard Salwen, Founder
| industry = Networking equipment
}}
'''Proteon, Inc.''' was a pioneering designer and manufacturer of [[computer network]] equipment based in [[Westborough, Massachusetts]]. Proteon created the first commercial [[Token Ring]] products and created the first commercially available multiprotocol [[Internet router]] as well as the [[Open Shortest Path First|OSPF]] routing protocol.
==History==
Proteon designed and manufactured of some of the earliest commercial [[local area network]] and [[TCP/IP]] Internet Router products.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Brian E. |title=Network Geeks: How They Built The Internet |date=April 10, 2013 |publisher=Springer London |isbn=9781447150251 |page=85 |ref=Geeks}}</ref> Although founded in 1972 by Howard Salwen as communications consulting firm, Proteon became a manufacturer when they produced the first commercial Token Ring network interfaces and media access units in conjunction with [[MIT]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chiappa |first1=J. Noel |title=Early Token Ring Work at MIT |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |date=April–June 2014 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=82–83 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2014.14 |s2cid=30761524 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6828547|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1981, they released the 10&nbsp;Mbit/sec Pronet-10 Token Ring network.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pelkey |first1=James |title=Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968-1988 |url=http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/12/12.22_Proteon.html |website=A HISTORY OF COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS: 1968 -1988 |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref> and evolved the speeds through 16&nbsp;MBit/sec, 80&nbsp;Mbit/sec<ref>{{cite news |title=Network World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17 |access-date=4 April 2021 |date=2 February 1987 |pages=17}}</ref> and 100 Mbit/sec. IBM released a competing Token Ring system in 1984.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanger |first1=David |title=A LINKING NETWORK BY I.B.M. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/09/business/a-linking-network-by-ibm.html |access-date=6 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=9 May 1984}}</ref>
In 1986, Proteon released the first commercially available multi-protocol router, the p4200, based on the MIT multi-protocol router, using code developed by [[Noel Chiappa]]. Proteon's router products made them one of the key companies producing products to support the growing [[Internet]], among rivals such as [[Cisco]] and [[Wellfleet Communications]].<ref>{{cite web |title=INTERNET HISTORY OF 1980S |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/internethistory/1980s/ |website=Computer History Museum}}</ref>
Proteon went public in 1991, issuing 3.1 million shares.<ref>{{cite news |title=Equity Issues This Week |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/28/business/equity-issues-this-week.html |access-date=6 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=28 May 1991}}</ref>
Proteon was renamed and relaunched as OpenROUTE Networks in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |title=SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Form 8-k |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874316/0000950135-98-003867.txt |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref> OpenRoute Networks merged into Netrix in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dow Jones NewsWires |title=Netrix to Merge With Openroute In Deal Valued at About $114 Million |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB935758626202624983 |access-date=3 April 2021 |date=27 August 1999 |ref=NetrixMerge}}</ref> The combined company was rebranded as NX Networks. which was acquired by NSGDatacom in 2002, who dropped the NX Networks name in favor of Netrix.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.openroute.com/company/Corporate_Profile_070217.pdf |title=NSGDatacom Corporate Profile |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980524101341/http://www.proteon.com/|date=24 May 1998|title=Official Company Web Site}}
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[[Category:Defunct networking companies]]
[[Category:Networking companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Westborough, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1991 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:Networking hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]