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[Soccerman]

xtreme2k, you might be correct, though I'm not totally sure.. I DO know you can run Gigabit ethernet over Cat5e though.

well it depends, if you are going for 100Mbps Full duplex (BTW that's megaBITS per second) then any old card that supports full duplex and 100Mbps would work, though some would suggest 3Com and Intel cards over others (quality issues?).

the CAT-5 cable costs little to nothing, though if you are going to run 40 feet, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a 40 foot patch cord.

You might have to resort to running cable through the walls, terminating them, and installing wall jacks, and then buying 2 patch cords (this method would comply with the standards set for reasons such as fire safety etc), one to plug into each wall jack..

 

[Nkcowboy]

Truth is, I will have this network in Tanzania, Africa, and from my previous experience with phonelines in kenya, I would definately prefer a &quot;non-phoneline&quot; one. this Cat5 sounds great, but at buy.com and anvia.com all I can find are cables for it. Anyone point me to the rest of the hardware/software?

 

[Dunbar]

Netgear FA311 NIC

25ft. crossover cable

If you don't want to hide the wires behind the wall than just buy patch crossover cables (link above) since the ends are already in place.

 

[Nkcowboy]

So I would need two of the Netgear NIC Cards. Are there any all in one Packages that are cheaper?

 

[DerProfi]

These days you can get a small 5-port 10/100 SWITCH for very cheap, and that's what I'd recommend, in addition to some CAT5 cables of varying lengths. After all, it's possible that you could show up in Africa and find that your requirements have changed. What if a buddy shows up and wants to join in the fun? Crossover cables just won't cut it then 🙂

I used to have this thing, can't remember what brand, called a &quot;Hubby&quot; which was a TINY 5-port 10mbit hub. It didn't even require its own wall wart because it could run off a PS/2 keyboard passthrough (which basically taps voltage off the keyboard plug). I used to travel a lot more than I do now, sometimes to weird places in the bowels of the former Soviet Union, and it was great to be able to toss the thing into my bag and set up an impromptu network wherever I went.