Getting a cable modem- USB way or conneting it to NIC card- Which faster:)

[Wiplash]

Hey all

Getting a cable modem- USB connection or conneting it to NIC card- Which faster

 

[Isaiah]

NIC card is much better

 

[Conroy9]

connect it to NIC card
not sure about speed, but it'll be much more flexible that way - and you won't have to worry about messed up drivers

 

[Junior0579]

I have tried both and I don't notice much difference in speed. I use a nic now b/c i need the extra usb port, but you have to sacrifice a valuable IRQ. speed wise there has been no difference for me.

 

[Wiplash]

Umm I though USB was easier? If there is a big preformace differnce I go with nic, but i want easy way.. I have a VIA motherboard thats been great but don't want to take to many chance Even though i am sure it would be fine:

 

[Wiplash]

oh conroy9

with the USB version I have to worry about messed up drivers? More so then with the nic card?

 

[zephyrprime]

I guess either way would work as well. Is your computer pretty modern? Older computers (<1998) don't have such good USB support. If you have more than one computer, nic is more convenient because ethernet is a natural for networking!

 

[PliotronX]

USB requires CPU cycles, so if you're doing a lot of stuff while downloading for example, it may slow itself down.

 

[Wiplash]

Well Of coures I will be playing games on the modem... but I have a

1.2 ghz
Geforce GTS 2 Ultra
256MB VC Ram
45 IBM HD

So do you think it would be much of a problem with the USB using cpu time?

 

[hifimaster]

I have a &quot;USB&quot; dsl modem ,and it's drivers don't work under win2000If I could do it again I would have chosen the Ethernet (NIC card)connection.

 

[spamboy]

USB NIC's are just as fast for broadband as a PCI NIC. Your cable modem or DSL line has a theoretical limit of 10 Mb/s, below USB's limit of 12 Mb/s, so even if you could download at 10Mb/s (you can't) you still wouldn't see any performance benefit to the PCI card.

 

[hclarkjr]

i have a cable modem that has both a NIC connection and USB connection. the USB was faster for me but i also have a VIA chipset and my motherboard could not handle the bandwidth requirement of the cable modem and would cut out with heavy use of cable modem. for more info visit this site- USBMAN i spent 2 days trying to get the USB part of my cable modem to work with all kind sof phone calls to tech support. hope this helps you

 

[Wiplash]

Ohhhh thanks for the info everyone!Going to set it up once the darn kit comes from cable vision which hopefully is tomorrow.

 

[xtreme2k]

USB NIC are NON-STANDARD connections and will tend to give you a LOT MORE problems compared with a PCI NIC. Also, USB eats up your CPU time when transferring ANY amount of data.

 

[Killer Ape]

Roadrunner gave me a USB NIC (3Com 3C19250). I would get random lockups in Win98SE on my BX6r2 (see my rig below). These went away completely when I put in a Netgear FA310. I think it's because of the USB support on my older mobo, but if given the choice go with an internal NIC.

 

[Muadib]

The only problem I had with my dlink usb nick was that it didn't have drivers for w2k. It worked great under 98. Cpu use was around 3% when downloading a 30meg file. If your motherboard doesn't have usb issues, neither will you.

 

[IIIBradIII]

Friends don't let friends use USB modems.

 

[Helpless]

hey, posted in the general forum, but you guys think a 10/100 3COM NIC is a good buy for $35.00 clams? I, too, am getting a cable modem when I find a deal, so might as well grab a card

 

[nortexoid]

usb takes up cpu cycles?...so does NIC...

 

[hclarkjr]

i have a 3com 10/100 NIC the 905TX model and love it, make sure you get the latest driver from 3com as they really helped my performance under WinME. that is decent price for it. might get one cheaper in the for sale forum here if you look around. i got mine given to me

 

[Killer Ape]

I think we're talking about a couple different things here. If you're getting a USB Cable Modem (i.e. the modem plugs directly into the USB port), then I can't comment. If you're getting a modem that plugs into a NIC (which is what Road Runner gave me), then I found the PCI NIC much more stable than an external USB NIC. My Netgear NIC was ~$18 and has worked flawlessly. Yes it takes up a PCI slot and may require a little tinkering, but the CPU cycle issue is so minor that I doubt you'd see any performance difference between the two (I didn't).

 

[Gunbuster]

If they give you a USB only cable modem you wont be able to use a cable router to share the connection.

 

[Helpless]

Anyone know where I can *score* a cheap cable modem? ...hate to pick one up on fleaBay, since a warranty would be nice...saw the Toshiba PCX1100 @ compusa for $199.00, but then they stop selling it and said they weren't getting any more...

 

[Wiplash]

Well all this info helps guys.. thanks to all. I am making the decision tonight