I'm reviewing 10/100 NIC cards this morning. I'm looking for a PCI
based 10/100 NIC of good quality for a Linux machine.
I've been reading the http://www.scyld.com/ website for hints, and
looking over the http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Ethernet-HOWTO.html for
more tips on which cards are better than others. I've also been
looking at price ranges and specs at http://www.mwave.com/ .
Also, the latest Duke or URL Linux System guide recommends an SMC
EtherPower II NIC card for their high end system:
http://www.thedukeofurl.org/reviews/misc/linuxguide12/printable.shtml
Here's a list...
Manuf Chipset Driver Price
----------------------------------------------
3Com 3C905B-TX 3c59x.c $39
3C905C-TX 3c59x.c $41
3C905CX-TX 3c59x.c $42
D-Link DFE-530TX via-rhine.c $14
Intel PRO/100+ eepro100.c $35
PRO/100S eepro100.c $37
NetGear FA310TX tulip.c (?) $19
LinkSys LNE100TX tulip.c $18
Does anyone have experience with these as to which one is the best for
a 100-base-T network? Somewhere I saw you should get one with at
least an 8K buffer on board for high speed transfers. I saw a
reference somewhere also that the 3Com cards almost always have only
4K, while the LinkSys and the Intel Pro/100S above have 16K.
I consider all of the above roughly in the same price range. Of
course, cheaper is always better, but I don't want to sacrifice
quality for $10.
Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Rob
