Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 14:34:13 -0600 (CST) From: Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com> To: Lord Raiden <raiden23@netzero.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Questions about Nics and Freebsd Message-ID: <20020814140358.W79676-100000@ren.sasknow.com> In-Reply-To: <4.2.0.58.20020814154637.00961960@pop.netzero.net>
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Lord Raiden wrote to freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG: > HI again all. Silly question. I've used almost exclusively > 3com nics in my equipment here and had almost zero troubles with > them over the long term. Problem is they're between 2 and 3 times > as expensive as many other nics out there. > > My questions are simple. > 1. Which nics work with freebsd and which don't? http://www.freebsd.org/releases/4.6R/hardware-i386.html > 2. Of the nics that work with freebsd, how would you rate > each one of them on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best. I've used everything from old 3Com ISA cards (Etherlink IIs, have 6 or 8 on a shelf in working order, (C)1989), to D-Link, Intel, Netgear, and newer 3Com cards. The only *supported* card I had problems with were the newer revisions of the D-Link 530TX cards dropping the link frequently, and refusing to go beyond 10BaseT/UTP. Check the list archives; I seem to recall this is more or less a known issue. A few years ago, I assisted with a lot of hobby/personal FreeBSD installs for a few extra $$, and found that a lot of the $10 cards supplied by cable modem or DSL providers were often hard to *identify*, let alone detect and bring up. :-) For instance, the same model number of cards from the same cable company had three different chipsets (one LiteOn, one DEC, and one other that I can't remember)... so, YMMV, in those situations. The Netgear FA310TX cards are really solid. With 18 or 20 of these in production and under moderate load for approximately 3 years, I had my first one cease to function last week, but that was only after moving it to a different machine, so I'd bet it was a combination of ESD, and a 3 year old card that pushed a million packets per day or so. I changed suppliers, and the new supplier didn't carry them, so I switched to Intel 10/100S cards (PILA8460), which add about 25% to the price, but work extremely well, are easy to source, and always seem to be in stock. I also have a few of their dual port NICs, and have been satisfied with those as well. I have the odd 3Com card scattered among a few workstations with no complaints, but tend to stay away from them because of their cost for a basic 10/100 card. I did get several defective 3C905 cards from the same mfg lot two or three years ago, which got a lot of attention when I sent them back, because (quote from RMA tech) "but they're 3Com!" I guess what I'm trying to say is, use whatever works, provided it fits your budget. If you can't find anything that works and fits your budget, I am really sorry. :-) - Ryan -- Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com> SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com 901 1st Avenue North - Saskatoon, SK - S7K 1Y4 Tel: 306-664-3600 Fax: 306-244-7037 Saskatoon Toll-Free: 877-727-5669 (877-SASKNOW) North America To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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