[lug] Knowledge shopping list

[Calvin Dodge]

On Wed, Oct 17, 2001 at 07:04:09PM +0000, Greg Horne wrote:
> 
> I know lots of other people have had good experiences (like my co-worker), 
> but not me.  I'll stick to my trusty RealTek8139 or FA310TX.

Event though Don Becker (who should need no introduction) refers to the Realtek as a "stunningly bad design", it does seem better overall than the latest Netgears.

I've had enough Netgears go catatonic (or just plain die) that I don't even bother with them - if reliability is an issue I generally search pricewatch.com for the lowest priced 3Com cards I can find. If it's NOT an issue, then I just reach into my parts box for a Realtek (I have a few SMC 1211-TXs on hand).

It's a shame, really - Netgears _used_ to be fairly decnet when they used _real_ "tulip" chipsets, but they seem to have slid downhill ever since they switched to a succession of clone chipsets.

Calvin

-- 
Calvin Dodge
Certified Linux Bigot (tm)
http://www.caldodge.fpcc.net