[KLUG Members] Linksys NICs

[Bruce Smith]

> I noticed several people have spoke out against Linksys NICs.  Am I
> missing something?
> 
> I have several versions, from the LNE100TX 2.0, 2.1 and 4.1 to the
> [Network Everywhere] NC100 2.1 and have had 0 problems with Linux.
> At most I had to download and compile the Becker/Scyld drivers for
> the newer Centaur 985 chips on older kernels, but other than that I
> have had 0 issues.
> 
> Now I _have_ had "issues" under Windows with these NICs, but not
> with Linux.

I used to recommend Linksys, but no longer.  I've purchased 
four of them in my lifetime for personal use (more for work), 
and I still own two of them.

The thing I don't like is when I purchase the exact same model
card as the one I already own, the new one doesn't work under
Linux because they completely changed the chipset on the card.
Maybe there was a new driver that I could have downloaded, but
I was loading Redhat for someone else and didn't have a half
a day to waste trying to get the card working.

This was a release or two ago of Redhat, so maybe they are all
supported under stock Redhat now, but I wouldn't buy another 
Linksys card because I have no idea what chipset I'm getting.

If you look at their support page on their site, they have
four different windows drivers for the same model card.
You have to look at the physical card and read the numbers
off the chips to determine what windows driver to download.
Four different chipsets?  I don't know.

I also have two LNE100TX purchased at the same time that
amazingly have the same chipset and same rev.  They both
work fine under Linux (tulip driver), but only one works 
under Windows 98.  I've also seen other flaky things
things with them under windows at work.

--------------------------------------------
Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
--------------------------------------------