On 20 Oct 98 at 23:19, TracyTaulman wrote:

>   Does anybody know of any reasons or disadvantages for using a
> crossover cable instead of a hub for a fast ethernet 2 PC LAN?

  A crossover cable is cheaper than a hub.  A hub can handle more
than two PCs.  A hub *may* include circuitry to work as a repeater,
allowing two PCs to be connected at almost twice the distance limit
of a crossover.  Some high-end hubs support SNMP and/or RS-232
management interfaces -- not something most home users need.

> I have done it several times for standard ethernet without any
> trouble.  Would I see an improvement on transfers and etc. with the
> 100mbps instead of the 10mbps I currently have?  It seems it might
> be time to upgrade based on the price(10/100 PCI cards for $20) if
> the speed is noticeable.

  Peak transfer speeds on 100 Mb/s are in the same ballpark as
hard-drive access, so you may be able to reduce future purchases of
hard drives.

David G

                                  -----
                PCBUILD mailing list -  http://nospin.com
         Bob Wright:[log in to unmask] - Drew Dunn:[log in to unmask]