Press Release

AG Group and Netopia to Showcase their best-of-breed network tools for the Mac OS at Macworld Expo/San Francisco!

The LAN Toolbox bundles EtherPeek™, netOctopus™ and Timbuktu™, three finalists for this year's Eddy Awards! Visit AG Group and Netopia at Macworld Expo/San Francisco, Booth 1250 and see what the buzz is all about...

Walnut Creek, California - December 27, 1999

AG Group, Inc. and Netopia, Inc.'s Timbuktu division, a market leader in providing award-winning help desk, systems management and collaboration software, plan to showcase a special bundle of their network and systems administration software at Macworld Expo/San Francisco, January 5-8, 2000, Booth No. 1250. As AG Group and Netopia raise the bar for network and systems administration with their recent development efforts, the companies have agreed to make it easier for their customers to benefit from these improvements by bundling their newest tools together. The LAN ToolBox, a smart, powerful and easy-to-use toolset for systems administrators and network managers, includes netOctopus 3.5 Ten-pack, EtherPeek 4, Timbuktu Pro Remote Control Twin-pack, AGNetTools Ten-user license, EtherHelp Remote Packet Capture Utility, and 15 Months of EtherPeek Extended Maintenance.

"The combination of netOctopus' asset management and remote systems administration features and EtherPeek 4's enhanced network monitoring, management, and troubleshooting capabilities makes this a 'must have' bundle for anyone seriously engaged in the work of managing an Ethernet network of any size," says Janice Spampinato, VP Sales and Marketing, AG Group, Inc.

EtherPeek 4 for Macintosh

EtherPeek 4 for Macintosh, an upgrade to its award-winning network and protocol analyzer, has received a 5 mice product rating from the Macworld magazine editors and Macworld Lab, the industry's leading test center, in Macworld's January 2000 issue. This new, completely rewritten release adds many new enhancements to an already robust feature set. EtherPeek is well-known industry wide for its friendly GUI and powerful troubleshooting and debugging capabilities. This new release has been optimized for the latest Mac Operating Systems as well as taking advantage of the G3 processor and PCI-based Macs.

"I no longer need to stop running a capture session in order to monitor another network issue. I can just create a new window with its own filters, and have many independent capture sessions running simultaneously," adds Michael Wise of Wired Magazine, a long-time EtherPeek user.

netOctopus 3.5

Based on a new platform independent architecture, Netopia's netOctopus 3.5 enables seamless Windows and Macintosh systems administration. This unique capability allows IT professionals to focus on reducing systems management costs, improving overall service, and increasing user and administrative productivity, regardless of platform. From an "out-of-the-box" installation, administrators can gain control of all desktop workstations across the network through inventory and asset management, software distribution and remediation, as well as system configuration and historical analysis.

Timbuktu Pro

Netopia's award winning Timbuktu Pro Remote Control and File Transfer software offers users a scaleable, multi-platform solution for user support, systems management, telecommuting, and collaboration across a LAN, WAN, the Internet or dial-up connections.

About AG Group, Inc.

AG Group, Inc. specializes in the development of powerful and affordable software-based tools to troubleshoot, optimize and maintain mixed-platform, multi-protocol network environments. Our goal of bringing superior technology, accessibility, value and flexibility to the ever-expanding realm of network management incorporates both software and service products. Currently, AG Group offerings include network and protocol analyzers, LAN/WAN and internet traffic monitors, TCP/IP test utilities, and network management and protocol-specific training classes.

About Netopia, Inc.

Headquartered in Alameda, Calif., Netopia,Inc.'s (NASDAQ: NTPA) Timbuktu division is a market leader in providing award-winning help desk, systems management and collaboration software. Designed to maximize the value of information technology while reducing the cost of support in the enterprise and application service provider (ASP) environments, the Timbuktu product line includes remote control and collaboration software, multi-platform systems management tools, and web-based screen casting solutions. The company has partnerships with leading enterprise software developers including Remedy Corp. (NASDAQ: RMDY), Tivoli Systems, an IBM Company (NYSE: IBM),Perot Systems Corp. (NYSE: PER) and Microsoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Further information can be obtained via phone 510-814-5100, fax 510-814-5021 or Internet at http://www.netopia.com/.

Contacts:

Nancy Littlejohn
AG Group, Inc.
(925) 937-7900
nancy@aggroup.com

Amy Schelich
Netopia, Inc.
510/814-5352
aschelich@netopia.com