Hello Chuck and listers,

In <000501beba2c$3558ec20$0d8b9bd1@fireplug>, on 06/19/99
   at 01:17 AM, Chuck Hassenplug <[log in to unmask]> said:


>I do not know much about
>these cards or networks, so I thought I would pose some questions to
>this adroit group. I believe the card must be compatible with a 10BaseT
>ethernet connection.

I look after about 50 PCs that are networked over 10BaseT Ethernet and
we have over the years thrown all other cards out but 3-Com 3c59 ISA and
3c900 (XL) PCI cards. The 3-Com cards offer excellent drivers for
various flavors of Windows, OS/2, Linux, BSD, etc., are easily
configurable and so far we have only had one failure with them in about
8 years of use.

For Windows I would just as well use the PCI cards which are
automatically configured, for other OSes the ISA work just as well and
are less expensive. As to differences in throughput, these seem to be
more theoretical than of practical significance. If you think you might
like to connect just 2 or 3 machines together sometime for a private
network, you will do best using coax cables and in that case you will
want to buy a "combo" model that has both RJ45 and coax connectors. The
price difference is not great.

Undoubtedly, there are other cards that work fine and are cheaper, but
in my experience none that offer any advantages over the 3-Com cards.

Good luck with the network and with your studies!

Best regards,

Bruce

---------------------------------------------
Bruce Boschek - University of Giessen, Germany

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