[VOTE] What is the best/ideal network adaptor for a 10/100 LAN?

[StattlichPassat]

So which one is the best? Which offers the highest quality of performance? Best driver and OS HCL support? Best technology? Highest compatibility? Lowest failure? If you were to pick an adaptor manufacturer to use in 50 computers on a 100Mbit LAN, or supply an OEM, what would you choose based on your personal experience and professional reviews? Pick your NIC!

If not listed, post a reply with your personal vote.

 

[Rkonster]

I tend to stay with the more expensive cards like 3com or Intel. I found that with the cheaper cards, you can change your MAC address within windows.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Intel, there is no competition. 3com in a pinch. Linksys cards are also fine for home use, but since the price of Intel cards has dropped (since the last time I looked at them), Ive started buying them instead. Always use them at work though

 

[StattlichPassat]

Well, I used to be a D-Link zealot (still am somewhat) until I heard that they use Realtek chipsets in their 530TX+ cards. So I canned them. I put an Intel 100/Pro S into a latest system build and was very satisfied with the performance. And yeah, that card is only about $24 now.

 

[JackMDS]

A lot of energy is spending the search of the non-existing "Holy NIC Grail".

Most of the activities done by Home user, i.e. Internet, gaming, etc. use small amount of the capacity of any 100/10 NIC. (Actually 10 Mb/sec NIC will suffice a lot of times).

The differences between cards kick in when the Network consists of many computers, doing heavy network exchange. In other words it does not matter which card you are using for small home Network.

Tom's hardware compared three NICs. (Aug. 2001)
I used Pricewatch.com to find the best price for these NICs.

1. 3Com 3CR990-TX-97 - $80
2. 3Com 3C905C-TX - $30
3. SMC 1211TX - $13

Quote from: http://www6.tomshardware.com/network/01q3/010820/nic-11.html#conclusion

"Well, there is some difference between Network cards. The difference was not that great. Some cards did have better performance than others, but over all most of the cards performed within acceptable ranges. "

If you read the rest, you can infer that if there is a difference it will impact high volume cooperate Network, not three computers sharing the Internet at home.

However, if the main concern is reduction of anxiety. It seems that the Intel NICs are good for Network, as Prozac? is good for the mood. Most of the ?Plumbers? bet their livelihood on Intel cards.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Great- thanks for your info, Jack!

 

[DnetMHZ]

I have found Intel cards to be the best.. 3Com despite being rated tops for speed are from my experience not as reliable.

DnetMHZ

 

[StattlichPassat]

TTT

 

[slackware1995]

In 10 years of networking I have never had a 3com go bad. Hell I still use 3c509's in a pinch that are like 6 years old.

Not much experience with Intel's. But I hear that they are good also.

I have also used the low end cards. For home networking, they run pretty good and are dirt cheap. And we do tend to live in a disposable world, so if your $10 low end NIC dies, just buy another and be on your happy way.


My conclusion: You will probably be happy with any 10/100 NIC you buy. For workstations at home, you are probably going to be just fine with the el cheapo's. But if you will have a server of some type at home, why not spend a little more for better performance and lower CPU usage?

Good luck.

 

[Caiaphas001]

From my personal exp I would go with Intel.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

It has to be Intel for anything serious, but for home usage anything goes.



<< ...you can change your MAC address within windows >>


The words "not bloody likely" come to mind... The MAC address is hardware set at the factory and cannot be changed without hardware modification of the card.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< It has to be Intel for anything serious, but for home usage anything goes.



<< ...you can change your MAC address within windows >>


The words "not bloody likely" come to mind... The MAC address is hardware set at the factory and cannot be changed without hardware modification of the card. >>



Want to bet?

 

[StattlichPassat]

Leaning toward Intel... but how will that look in an very pro-AMD system?

I've also been told that 3com uses outdated technology and is overprices. Any truth to the myth I've heard or is it bunk?

 

[WarmAndSCSI]

Hi! I have a mix of NICs on my Enterprise-style home LAN. I stuck a 3Com 3C905C-TXM in my Win2k PDC and it performs way above normal 100Base-TX Full Duplex to one of my WinXP boxes with a on-board RealTek 10/100 NIC. My other machines all have Linksys Network Everywhere cards from Wally World including my Win2k BDC and they seem to perform well in the normal expectation range. Normal SMB performance is about 1 GB /min between machines. It all suffices enough to copy roaming profiles, backups, huge files and FRS updates (including backups and SYSVOL) around simultaneously. You should be happy with any NIC you buy now-a-days since they are pretty much equivelant in performance and quality (except for the generic cheapies). But if you must have the BEST performance, I'd invest in a 3Com or Intel 10/100 switch and high-performance 3Com or Intel 10/100 NICs for all my hosts.

 

[Torghn]

D-Link all the way, just as reliable as Intel or 3com, but much better price.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Thanks for the replies, folks- keep 'em coming!

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< D-Link all the way, just as reliable as Intel or 3com, but much better price. >>



The drivers are probably not as good for the D-Link chipsets as they are for Intel or 3com. I know Intel's chipsets are the best supported in my OS of choice.

 

[mboy]

For home (altho I use them at work because my company is cheap as crap 486 machines (no cd drives) P100 w/edo ram 812GB hd's etc) I snagged a bunch of the belkin 10/100s from Dell a while back for 85 cents each. You can find them on the fs/ft forum for under $10 shipped. I can assure you they are just fine for home, even work fine at my office where I have a network of 50+ computers.

 

[FoBoT]

we have about 75,000 3Com cards in service at the company i work for

they never go out, we never replace nics

 

[Torghn]

<<they never go out, we never replace nics>>

Do any nics every fail? Nearly all manufactures have a lifetime warranty.

 

[StattlichPassat]

<< <<they never go out, we never replace nics>>

Do any nics every fail? Nearly all manufactures have a lifetime warranty. >>



Realtek (re: eMachines NICs) chipset NICs are prone to failure, but other than that, they are a pretty simple device that rarely die. Some are obviously better than others in some enviroments (3com, Intel), however.

 

[AKA]

I've used 3com & Intel. The last bulk of 3com and Intel I ordered the 3com were alot cheaper. So I put Intel in file servers, exchange servers, gateways etc. And the 3coms in all the workstations. I always use Intel for the more critical computers, but only because I've seen more faulty 3com cards straight from mfg. than Intel.

With the exception of one client have had no failures at site (did have some bad cards before they were ever used).
The one client had 13 3com cards go bad in same night.. some kind of electrical storm came in on cat5 cable.
Funny thing is all the 3com cards that were bad showed up fine on computer with no problems. Couldn't see anything wrong with them except they wouldn't transmit. One 24 port switch died and two hubs also died... long day (lotta money).

 

[StattlichPassat]

Wow, ok cool- thanks for the insight. The systems I build are composed of conservatively boarderline-overkill components in some cases, so I'm thinking about offering Intel as standard in all my machines.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Personally, I'm privy to Inten NIC's.