Why are NIC's so unpredictable??

[thekingofpain]

Ive noticed alot of others beside me have probs.
Ive used 5 different NIC's between 5 computers, some work well, some extremely compromise your system...ive had 9$ cards work great in a system where a "better" (25$) card bogs it down...ive yet to buy a 3Com at 50+$? tho, ive tried to find a middle of the road card that works everwhere, (maybe I shouldnt be so "cheap")... http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif



[This message has been edited by thekingofpain (edited 07-28-2000).]

[Gyro]

You said it King! I have a small domain of around 55 computers and I hate installing NICs. I hink the reason I hate it though is because I work for the Navy and they are pretty cheap. Most are the SMC card (which I think stands for Suck More C***). The 3com cards I get though ,I have about 5, Seem to do pretty good. They are easy to configure, and I have had no problems with them. I think NIC cards are the extreme case of "you get what you pay for". I will only use 3com at home.

Gyro

[CalGuyInFL]

Umm Yuup, Ive just two brands of NIC's. 2 Real Teks and 3 Linksys cards al performing well at this point. OS's include Win9x & NT. All were somewhat cheap and installed no sweat.
Mike

[MadMatt]

Personally, I've found that only 3COM NIC's deal with non-standard bus speeds reliably. If you're going to OC your machine, I recommend you spend the extra few $ for 3COM.

[FireWrks]

Now that is something we need, someone to benchmark and review nic cards. Some people swear by one brand, while others have the hardest time with them, e.g. SMC. Some folks say that with 3Com and Intel you basically pay for the big name and fancy packaging. For the time being, SMC and Kingston have done fine by me.

[Mr.Goodbytes]

You will do better by having a NIC that's in the HCL. Intel and 3Com are highest on that list. In their case you get equipment that is the most compatible software and hardware-wise. But I've done fine with Linksys and Netgears too. Although the Linksys is buggy in SE, though is stable in NT.