On 23 Sep 2006 at 5:08, Greg Purvis wrote:

> I tried to insert a card for an ethernet cable, but the slots are 
> different, the card won't fit.

  Others have already pointed you in the direction of ISA.

  But note also that while today we think of only one sort of "Ethernet 
cable"; in those days there were THREE, and cards could be found supporting 
one, two, or all three types.

  The one you want, that will work with the rest of your equipment, is "10-
BaseT", using a connector routinely called (not necessarily correctly) "RJ-
45", a big brother to the "RJ-11" modular phone jacks used just about 
everywhere now.

  You may also find ISA cards supporting "10-Base2" ethernet over co-axial 
cable, very similar to what your cable TV uses.  Odds are that that won't 
easily interoperate with your other gear, so ignore such cards.

  It used to be not too uncommon for Ethernet cards to also provide an "AUI" 
connector, a DB-15 similar to a serial or parallel connector.  The only real 
way to use this any more is by attaching an external "transceiver" which 
will convert the AUI signals to either 10-BaseT or 10-Base2, depending on 
the model of transceiver installed.

  SO:  Look not just for an ISA Ethernet card, but for a "10-BaseT" ISA 
Ethernet card.

  Oh, also:  The ISA bus never had the bandwidth to support 100 Mbps 
Ethernet, so all ISA Ethernet cards will be 10 Mbps only.  If you have a 
*switch*, this shouldn't be an issue, but if you're trying to use a hub, 
this may require your other machines to only speak 10 Mbps as well.

David Gillett

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