Matrox Netadapters (any good ?)

[Rohde]

I have an Acorp 10/100 (Realtek based) netadapter.

I have a great deal of trouble getting it to work with Windows, it gives me unrecoverable BSOD-VXD errors while booting.

So I've decided to get a replacement, and my eye have fallen on the Matrox card. I'm assuming that it is not based on a RealTek chip, but what then, a special Matrox chip or ... ?

Have anyone got such a card, and is it worth the hazle to get one (it is not available in the Matrox Europe store, and there are no Danish vendors. Does anyone know how to get one if you life in Denmark ?)


Torben R.

[Alegria]

Hi Rohde,
personally I prefer to use 3COM, Intel, Madge (TokenRing) or SMC NICs. Those are companies that have a long tradition in manufacturing network equipment, and what is equally important, driver development. I didn't use Matrox cards because they are too hard to get in Germany and the market is too thin for Matrox here. Maybe someone else can give you advice but I'd rather recommend a 3C905B-TX 10/100Mbit from 3COM if you're looking for a card that works, plain and simple.

Regards, Alegria

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The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handle...
Bob Dylan

[Taz]

Rohde, I have not had any experience with their network cards but have installed a couple of their switches, both worked fine and had some interesting features. As far as I remember the card uses their own chip. The only distributor in the UK stopped supplying the network stuff a while back so I can't give you any up-to-date news.

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You can't always get what you want, but if you try some times you just might find you get what you need.

{The Rolling Stones}

[Rohde]

Thanks both.

I've checked out the marked, Matrox netcards are not available in Denmark

Yes, 3COM and Intel netcards are nice........ BUT, they cost 3-4 times as much as the cheaper models. But I'll probably get one anyway, I'm tired of spending hours getting that RealTek crap working.

Found this "3COM 10/100 Fast Etherlink XL TX WOL" for 430 DKr (around 60 US$). Is this an OK card (could it be the same as the one you mention Alegria ?). Anyone knows what the WOL stands for ?

Greets

Torben R.

[Buuri]

Go with 3C905B-TX like Alegria suggested. I have it myself and it's really excellent. There's also such NIC as 905C which I think is a successor for 905B. I'm not sure of this though - www.3com.com could help you with that.

:
B

[Taz]

3C905 is the model number for the Etherlink XL so yes they are the same card. WOL stands for Wake-On-Lan, the card should come with a cable which connects to your motherboard, if it supports it, so the PC can be turned on by a network request. Really a feature for companies who do automated rollouts. The current revision of the 3C905 is C although the older revision B boards are still about, both will do the job equally well.

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You can't always get what you want, but if you try some times you just might find you get what you need.

{The Rolling Stones}

[Jammrock]

If you are using the NIC on a home network and not a corporate one, grab a LinkSYS EtherFast 10/100. Its a third of the cost of an Intel or 3Com and works just as good. I use one in my own machine and have never had any troubles.

Hilsen,

Jammrock

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Athlon 650, Biostar board, 128 MB PC133 (Crucial), G400 32 MB DH, SB Live! w/ Digital I/O, 10/100 NIC, lots of case fans, etc...

[Rohde]

You're probably right Jammrock, but LinkSYS products are not available in Denmark (which is a shame, they make such nice (cheap) switches).

I went out and bought a 3COM 3C905C. I know it's overkill, but I think I'll sleep a lot better tonight, 'cause my Acorp was driving me nuts !

Thanks for all the tips and hints.

Torben Rohde

[dZeus]

Just like almost anyone else told you in this thread.... het the 3Com 905 card. They are just about the best you can get for a reasonable amount of money. I don't know about LinkSys, but I do know that if you get a 3c905b-tx or 3c905c-tx, you can use it in practically any OS. BeOS, Win9x, Win2000, Linux and many others all have either build-in drivers or you can download drivers for those OS'es. When buying a NIC, you should think you also pay for the driver support. That is one of the reasons the 3COm is more expensive. But it is worth it.

Good luck,
dZeus

P.S. The 3C905C-TX is exactly the same as the 3C905B-TX, + extra power management functions. Haven't seen any practical use for them anyway yet...

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happily using 2 3Com 905C-TX cards and a 3C905B-TX.