On Fri, Feb 01, 2002 at 05:40:52PM +0100, Victor Julien wrote: > Hi, > > I want to build a debian based router/gateway/fileserver/mailserver for a > home network with 12 clients. It will be quite low budget as the server is a > Pentium 166Mhz. I want the network to be 100mbit fullduplex, so I want to buy > a Nic for the server. Which one is best for maximum performance and > stability? Intel, 3com, SMC or just a cheap Realtek? I think the nic should > be using the cpu as little as possible... > > Thanks for your advice, > > Victor Julien
Well I'm a poor student... so I started with Netgear FA311's which are terrible and gave me a *LOT* of agro -> steer well clear (hint: they drop packets). I've now got a pair of realtek's which are a damn site better, but I still have problems with enbd under high load, which I suspect are attributed to them. Plus when one machine is under high load, an ssh can take up to 15 seconds to connect. I don't know any of the more expensive ones - can't afford them myself. At work we use Intel and 3com nics in the big machines and realteks in the small machines. Switches are 3com, SMC and Intel. HTH, Matthew -- Matthew Sackman Nottingham England BOFH Excuse Board: positron router malfunction
