What is the Best Ethernet Card for Linux?

[d2tu]

Right now I have a 3com Etherlink III ISA 3c509b 10BT card. I've only been able to get it to work with Mandrake 8.0 but not with Suse 7.0 or Slackware 8.0. After alot of tinkering with Suse and Slackware I still haven't been able to get it to work and from what I've been reading, its pretty difficult to get it to work right. I suppose with enough tinkering I could get it to work like it does in Mandrake but I NEED the network access to do my work. So...what is the most compatible NIC for Linux? I'd prefer a 3com PCI card or something equivalent with "parallel tasking" that works with Suse 7.0 or Slackware 8.0 right out of the box.

 

[namux]

I have always had good luck with 3com and Linux. Redhat detected it at the installation and it worked fine. I'm sure slackware would work fine as well as long as the module was compiled and loaded. Or you can just rebuild the kernel and add the 3com card in. Linux does have the driver support for that NIC though. You just need to compile the driver in, or build the module so that the 3com driver can be loaded. The Networking -HOWTO should be able to help you load or build the driver. These HOWTOs normally come with the linux distribution. You can also search for them on the web.

In short, 3com cards are good for Linux.

 

[Russ]

ISA cards in general are a little more difficult in Linux. Switch to a PCI based 3Com or Intel, and all will be rosy.

Russ, NCNE

 

[TheDingo]

I got an off brand 10/100 for $5 that had a common processor in it (can't remember the name). Works like a charm on the linux box.

 

[FiberOptik]

I've had quite a bit of experience setting up 3com PCI 10/100 cards in linux. Specifically I've setup the 3Com 905B 10/100 cards. You can find these cards new for about $40 online. They're really excellent cards and have the newest Parallel Tasking II technology. I've never had a problem running them in windows or linux and the driver support can't be beat.