Very Computer

I was wondering, is a cheap NE2000 card worth it?  I know that you can
get them for $25 or less.  Do they have a decent speed on 10Base-T?  If
they do, which brands are reasonably reliable?

Would it be better for me to get say, a $40 Kingston EtherX PCI card instead?

Thanks,
Herman Lau

Herman;

Probably not. We had an instance in which we had a brand new network card
from a company called Pine or something like that (yeah, I never heard of
them either) and we wasted quite a lot of time trying to get a workstation
using that card on the network. As soon as we replaced the card with a well
known brand, it worked.

I have had a very good experience with Kingston. They are easy to setup and
use and are relatively cheap (compared to 3COM and SMC for instance).

Reagrds,
Bhavesh.
--
Ambica Systems Engineering, Inc.
"Networking Beyond Limits"
Ph: 301-916-4432 . Fax: 301-916-5336

Quote:> I was wondering, is a cheap NE2000 card worth it?  I know that you can
> get them for $25 or less.  Do they have a decent speed on 10Base-T?  If
> they do, which brands are reasonably reliable?

> Would it be better for me to get say, a $40 Kingston EtherX PCI card
instead?

> Thanks,
> Herman Lau

Quote:>I was wondering, is a cheap NE2000 card worth it?  I know that you can
>get them for $25 or less.  Do they have a decent speed on 10Base-T?  If
>they do, which brands are reasonably reliable?
>Would it be better for me to get say, a $40 Kingston EtherX PCI card instead?
>Thanks,
>Herman Lau

Quote:>I was wondering, is a cheap NE2000 card worth it?  I know that you can
>get them for $25 or less.  Do they have a decent speed on 10Base-T?  If
>they do, which brands are reasonably reliable?
>Would it be better for me to get say, a $40 Kingston EtherX PCI card instead?

However, you'll be *much* better off with a good busmastering PCI card,
like the SMC EtherPower, or any of the others using the Digital chip
that's on it, or one of the 3Com busmastering cards (3c59x and 3c9xx may
be the ones; I don't use any modern 3Com stuff).

It never fails to amaze me that people will spend a few thousand on
a hot processor, tons of memory, blazingly fast hard drives, state of
the art video, and then plug in a dumb ISA board (like an NE2000) for
networking.

It'll work, but if you want fast networking, go with an intelligent
ISA card (SMC Ultra or Elite, 3Com 3c509, etc.) at the least, and
a busmastering PCI card for best results. Well worth the extra $60
or so.

Gary

--

   The Chairman of the Board and the CFO speak for SCI. I'm neither.
The Sultan of Brunei "has four Gulfstream IVs, three Airbuses, two Boeing
747s and one 767". (Forbes FYI)   I'm available for adoption, Sultan.

Quote:>It never fails to amaze me that people will spend a few thousand on
>a hot processor, tons of memory, blazingly fast hard drives, state of
>the art video, and then plug in a dumb ISA board (like an NE2000) for
>networking.

>Gary

>--

heh.

I think the cards you are referring to are ISA (16-bit) cards.  The PCI
(32bit) is always a better idea, as it runs off the PCI bus as opposed
to the limited ISA bus.  However, if you are just using the PC as a
client and not a server, the cheapo will probably be alright.  One other
thing to consider is whether the cheapo is truly NE2000 compatible.  If
not, you may have to force recognition of the card.  Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ron Jenkins

The moral:no one here (~10-15 of us) use the cheapo cards daily and
haven't had any problems with them. (I actually bought a name brand one
once before, and that stopped working!)  Buy the cheapo card.

Dave

: >
: > I was wondering, is a cheap NE2000 card worth it?  I know that you can
: > get them for $25 or less.  Do they have a decent speed on 10Base-T?  If
: > they do, which brands are reasonably reliable?
: >
: > Would it be better for me to get say, a $40 Kingston EtherX PCI card instead?

: I think the cards you are referring to are ISA (16-bit) cards.  The PCI
: (32bit) is always a better idea, as it runs off the PCI bus as opposed
: to the limited ISA bus.  However, if you are just using the PC as a
: client and not a server, the cheapo will probably be alright.  One other
: thing to consider is whether the cheapo is truly NE2000 compatible.  If
: not, you may have to force recognition of the card.  Hope this helps.

        I got a cheap Allied Telesis NE2000 clone. I think it was $30.
Works fine.
        OTOH, you can probably find a used 3c509 for $30. Better would be
a used SMC/WD 8013.
        There is no real advantage to going to PCI for a 10Mhz Ethernet NIC.

--
                        Cheers,
                        Dan Ts'o                        212-327-7671
                        Dept. of Neurobiology           FAX: 212-327-7671
                        The Rockefeller University

So as you can see a PCI network card is worth it if you are interested
in high transfer rates on your network.  Given, if you're only going to
use it for Quake... anything will do (except yer 28.8) :)

Check out my network article about my experiences with the network

http://homepages.enterprise.net/ianpenson/index.htm

Cheers

Ian P
-----------------------------------
http://homepages.enterprise.net/ianpenson/index.htm
for useful Audio and Psion software.
-----------------------------------

10 MHz Ethernet maxes out at a theoretical 10 Mbit/sec throughput.  Not
clear to me how is a 32-bit PCI interface going to improve PC-to-PC
throughput.  You appear to suggest that PCI-based 10MHz Ethernet NIC
transfer rates are achievable up to "1100KB/s" (I assume "B"=bits).  That
is 10% above the theoretical limit!  Would you please elaborate on how
this is possible?  Or are we talking apples and oranges?  Please advise.
Thanks.
--
After the charm wears off, only character remains.

The card is recognized just fine...and I've tried various IRQs. The
address is 0x300. When I pull the coax off the card, the amber "jabber"
LED is lit as expected.

Ideas?

--
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