[NCLUG] Cheap NIC?

[John L. Bass]

	According to this page: http://www.scyld.com/network/rtl8139.html it
	is an NE2000 clone, which have their problems if you have more than
	one in a box, but are pretty well supported under linux.

Having done Unix drivers for the Realtek NE2000 clones I can say,
they are faster than the orignal ISA designs but still seriously
suffer from packet loss and all the same CPU loading problems
of a programmed I/O shared buffer stuffing design.

Any of the true buss master DMA chips, like the TULIP clones are
a much better buy at twice the dollar amount. My favorites are
the netgear cards with a no questions asked lifetime warranty.

John