I've been playing around with several ethernet cards and 
modem/ethernet combo cards lately on my PB 2400.  I thought I'd share 
these experiences since the topic has come up.

The Global Village 56k/10Base-T combo card didn't work out for me 
because of software conflicts with my particular setup.  That 
particular version of the GV card has a dongle that sticks straight 
out rather than to the side, which is one issue raised by another 
DuoLister about his GV card.  My GV card sold on eBay for about $57, 
which was fine with me since I got it as part of a package and had no 
idea what it might be worth.

Next I bought a Hawking Technologies combo modem & 10/100 ethernet 
card, which is a dongle-less card that you have to put in the upper 
PC card slot.  Cost direct from Hawking, $109 plus shipping.  I 
believe it's just a PCMCIA card, not a CardBus card, so it probably 
doesn't provide full 100Base-T throughput.  The product page calls it 
"CardBus compliant", whatever that means, but only lists a Type II PC 
card slot in the system requirements:

http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/pn656.htm

The modem side works fine but I couldn't get the ethernet part to 
work properly, due to outdated drivers from the folks at Hawking. 
However, in response to my tech support inquiries, they have put 
together updated drivers which are on their website.  The problem is 
that I can't seem to download these drivers properly.  Is it just my 
computer, or does the following file cause error messages for other 
folks too?

http://www.hawkingtech.com/download/Fast%20Ethernet%20PC%20Card%20Installer.hqx

I'm hanging onto this card until I can give this new drivers a proper 
test.  But I was in desperate need of an ethernet card, so I picked 
up a Farallon Fast EtherTX 10/100 CardBus card the other day at the 
MicroCenter for $129. Here is the Farallon product page:

http://www.farallon.com/products/fast/cards/fecardbus.html

It works like a charm in my CardBus-upgraded 2400 as long as I 
remember to eject it before shutdown (easy now thanks to the 
AppleScript a listmember sent to me!).  Downloading the latest 
drivers from Farallon was a snap.  My only problem with the card is 
(a) it's kind of pricey considering it isn't a combo card with a 
modem and (b) I was kind of used to the no-dongle card from Hawking.

There are pluses and minuses to the dongle vs. no-dongle cards.  The 
cards with dongle can generally be used in either PC card slot, which 
makes it easier to use them in combination with other cards that 
insist on using a particular slot -- like the Lucent WaveLAN card 
(top slot), my ADS USB card (top slot), and my CapSure card (bottom 
slot).  However the awkwardness and fragility of dongles tends to 
worry me, along with the fact that they're so easy to lose.

If I ever get the driver issue worked out with Hawking, I'll let 
folks know.  Otherwise I'll have to send that card back and find a 
good deal on a standalone 56k PC card modem, preferably dongle-less. 
;-)
-- 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--


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