On Wed, 28 Feb 2001, Jay Strauss wrote:
> I was just at Microcenter picking up network cards. Cards with the rtl8139
> chip ranged from
> $9.75 (the ones I bought) to about $35. Is there any difference? Then
> there where cards (linksys)
> that used the tulip driver that ran from 25 - 45. Then there are other
> cards 3com, Intel, etc.. I don't know what chip and/or driver they use.
I don't know details such as which name brands have the fewest returns, or
why cards with similar chipsets go for such widely varying prices.
>
> Is there noticeable difference between the chips/drivers, in speed,
> compatibility, dependability?
Linksys is a PITA because they change the chipset at the drop of a model
revision, requiring you to be extremely careful which version you
buy. Once you get them working, they seem to be as good as any.
Tulip chipsets are a bit too flexible for their own good... you may have
to go to extra effort to get recent versions of the driver(s) to make a
tulip card work. Not such a problem for workstations, but if you are
setting up an LRP box it can take some legwork to get all the pieces in
place. From a hardware standpoint they are supposed to be better
(simpler, less cpu overhead) than rtl8139 or ne2k-pci.
3com cards are reputed to be very good, but I haven't found any reason to
pay the premium for them. I don't manage a large network, though, and
those are the people who swear by them.
I have been satisfied with the rtl8139 and NE2000 cards I have used, even
though they aren't great performers. Unless you intend to push the
limits or performance or use older computers, I have never had trouble
with network cards the way I have with some sound cards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Newmiller The ..... ..... Go Live...
DCN:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Basics: ##.#. ##.#. Live Go...
Work:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Live: OO#.. Dead: OO#.. Playing
Research Engineer (Solar/Batteries O.O#. #.O#. with
/Software/Embedded Controllers) .OO#. .OO#. rocks...2k
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
