On 15 Mar 99, at 6:51, Michael Beechey wrote:

> I'm putting together a small network, for classroom use, no essential
> data transfer, maximum distance to hub 5 meters ( about 15 feet),
> using cheap NE2000 clone cards, 15 machine max.
>
> My question is whether in the above situation there would be a great
> difference between using the RJ-245 10Base-T connection and cabling,
> and the BNC 10Base2 port. Do cheap hubs have both connections? Can I
> combine cable types?

  Cheap hubs generally offer only RJ-45 ports.

  Recall that a hub imposes a "star" physical topology on Ethernet's
logical "bus" topology.  10Base2 is a physical bus, so the hubs that
provide any 10Base2 connectors provide only one -- allowing you to
connect a 10Base2 bus into an otherwise 10BaseT star.  [I recently
picked up one of these on sale for $35 -- I want to migrate my central
machines to 10BaseT, but won't be replacing the longest co-ax runs for
some time.  I think "D-Link" was the manufacturer.]

  In my experience, 10BaseT is easier to work with than 10Base2.  Cable
problems rarely affect more than a single machine, and are easily
remedied -- co-ax cable problems will take out the entire segment.
  For classroom use, I would definitely go 10BaseT.  You may find that
two "cascaded" 8-port hubs are cheaper than a single one with 16 ports.


David G

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