Why two nics?

[leinadM]

This may be a dumb question, but why does the A7N8X come with two NIC ports?

 

[Cybordolphin]

One to the internet, and one to an existing network....

 

[leinadM]

wow; I think I need some sleep. I should have known that. Anyway, that's pretty cool; I can't wait for my board to get here!

Thanks for the answer!

 

[MattTheTech]

you could use it for internet connection sharing (a simple way to let 2 machines use the connection without a router), or to go from your modem to your pc, to a hub, and use your pc as a firewall (and be able to get cool statistics with good software), or to see traffic logs etc...

 

[CraigRT]

I was thinking of getting the A7N8X just for that very reason.. (2 NICs)

very useful.

my PC connects to the net, the other NIC shares the net to my home LAN.

ALL on-board!
love the idea.

 

I have 2 nic's in my computer, it would rule to have two on board .

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Phocas
I have 2 nic's in my computer, it would rule to have two on board .

yeah exactly
no PCI usage!

 

[mechBgon]

Also, you can link them with a crossover cable, and if your computer's bored, it can talk to itself!

















j/k, I don't know what happens when you do that. Probably nothing drastic, but don't blame me if you try it. Heck, I plugged my UPS into itself the other day...

 

[leinadM]

heheh, I'll have to try that.

 

[TheWart]

Well, my bro at school has 2 NIC's, so when he is capped on one, he just uses the other one!

 

[boyRacer]

that would be cool if it had a load balancer... :Q

 

[chizow]

Yep, and if you have an XBox, you can just plug it into the 2nd NIC slot.

One word of warning though, from the AT review, the 2nd NIC MAC (3Com) suffers badly compared to the nvidia MAC (which performs on par with pretty much everything out there). Not sure if it got fixed in the final build, but definitely something to consider if you only use 1 NIC or if you have a 2nd quality NIC lying around.

Chiz

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: chizow
Yep, and if you have an XBox, you can just plug it into the 2nd NIC slot.

One word of warning though, from the AT review, the 2nd NIC MAC (3Com) suffers badly compared to the nvidia MAC (which performs on par with pretty much everything out there). Not sure if it got fixed in the final build, but definitely something to consider if you only use 1 NIC or if you have a 2nd quality NIC lying around.

Chiz

so what exactly is the problem with the 1 of 2 NICs?

 

[mechBgon]

Ironic that the "big-name" NIC is getting shown up by these upstart nVidia guys In the review it seems to indicate that the 3Com drivers got fixed, doesn't it?

 

[TourGuide]

I too think the 2 Nic idea is a good one, alas I haven't been able to get the 3Com Nic on this board to work properly. The nVidia Nic is fine, but the 3Com works intermittently. Not good enough for me. I diabled it and threw in an old Lynksys I had laying around, it works better right now.

Pray for better drivers in the future.

 

[Toro 45]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Also, you can link them with a crossover cable, and if your computer's bored, it can talk to itself!

LOL,only a true geek could come up with that one

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Yield

Originally posted by: chizow
Yep, and if you have an XBox, you can just plug it into the 2nd NIC slot.

One word of warning though, from the AT review, the 2nd NIC MAC (3Com) suffers badly compared to the nvidia MAC (which performs on par with pretty much everything out there). Not sure if it got fixed in the final build, but definitely something to consider if you only use 1 NIC or if you have a 2nd quality NIC lying around.

Chiz

so what exactly is the problem with the 1 of 2 NICs?

NM, I think they did fix the bandwidth issues it originally had. Its still not as good as the nvidia NIC b/c of higher CPU utilization.

Chiz