I am having DSL installed this week (well they have me scheduled this week). I need an NIC card. My OS is win2k and I am not really sure what would be my best bet. Any ideas??? thanks

3com and intel are the best in NIC market.

Thanks for the information. are the Lynksys any good?

quote:Originally posted by Sol:
Thanks for the information. are the Lynksys any good?

I have had good experiences with Linksys NIC's. 3Com and Intel have the best names in NIC's, but I have found that just about any PCI NIC will suffice.

quote:Originally posted by Sol:
Thanks for the information. are the Lynksys any good?

All the machines on my LAN use linksys cards. When I host LAN parties it seems that most of the people that come also use linksys cards. They are reliable, fast and cheap (about 20 bucks for one, as opposed to 50 bucks for a 3com).

I havn't had any problems with linksys and i highly reccomend it.

Thanks for the information.

I use linksys and netgear. Both are good cards. Don't blow too much money on a 3com, its not worth it.

I use an Intel and would highly recomend it.. i use to have a linksys.. but its on my floor there..and thats where it will stay..for some reason it would keep droping my bindings.. so i broke down and got a Intel and just love it.. sense now i don't have to wory about keeping track of driver disk.. when i have to do my monthly reformating. haha oh well Maybe my linksys is just a bad apple.

Just figured I would throw in my opinion...

I use Linksys as well, love 'em.. as one poster noted, they are cheap in comparision to other big names. I bought a Linksys HUB-2NICS-&Cable for $80, spent another $80 on the 1-port Linksys Router. Seems like a solid technology: I have been running network for more than a year and have not had a single problem. (well -- NIC related, hehe)

Hey,i don't have anything against linksys,they produce good stuff,especially routers are great,but I entered in some compatibility issues with other devices in some older systems,wich never happend 2 me when i was using 3com or intel NICs.I don't hesitate recomending linksys eather,but I will allways prefere 3com or intel NICs.

Thanks once again for the information.

quote:Originally posted by Sol:
I am having DSL installed this week (well they have me scheduled this week). I need an NIC card. My OS is win2k and I am not really sure what would be my best bet. Any ideas??? thanks

Well actualy I can really help here as I work for DSL provider, and deal with about 6000 dsl lines... from what we have found 3COM makes NICS that are all around most compatible.. followed closely by Intel.. I would NOT recommend a Linksys thou... they seem to have the oddest and most problems of all the cards.. expecially if you are using a bridge for dsl as the bridge has to work directly with your NIC as appossed to thru a hub. All sorts of problems from guys DSL line dropping everytime they open an ftp connection to just plain dropping the link at random times. For the small price of a NIC card these days there is really no reason to (In my eyes) to go with anything other than 3com. I think you will find that no matter who you talk to they will say 3com is tops (no to mention all their cards are lifetime warranty) You should be able to pick up a top of the line 3c905X 10/100 NIC for about 40$ and when you put that next to the price of the dsl line or how much you use the net I am sure you will agree it is a small price to pay for something you will never have to worry about for a LONG LONG time..

One thing worth noting is that if you plan on ever running Linux or a BSD, investing in a *NON* PnP NIC card will save you some aggravation..

I will not buy any PnP *anything* if I can help it.

well if linux is the case just make sure that the nic. Will be tear 1 that way you know for sure it will work.

what does PnP mean? My modem description has PnP in it..

pretty much all the _cheap_ pci 10/100mbps cards around have a realtek rtl8* chipset.

avoid these if you can. more expensive cards like the 3com and intel are good. (i have a 3com 905b myself. most other ppl i know have intel 10/100 pro-b whatevers).

but for good price/performance, at work we use all dlink-530tx's. good card. good chipset. supported very well on win2k, freebsd+linux etc.

good card for its price.

quote:Originally posted by BobTheSlob:
what does PnP mean? My modem description has PnP in it..

PnP = Plug 'n' Play
simply stick whatever hardware it is with PnP on it and windows will reconize it.

BTW, is D-link a product of Linksys? I think i read that on a box somewere, not sure tho.

i have used linksys etherfast 10/100's in my home lan units and i have been very happy. i also use a linksys hub. the total cost for all was $100 and i have never had a problem. in fact, all the problems i had before i switched to linksys disappeared after i did so. i am not sure why there is so much worrying aboutPnP and Linux compatibility unless individuals have had specific problems. it says right on the box that they are linux tested and 100% cable/dsl compatible. the only problem with these cards and linux is that not all linux drivers may be supplied with the accompanying disk. linksys is a great value and they work very, very well.