Network stuff reviews

[Techie]

Hi

does overclockers do reviews of network stuff?

What would be cool is a review of several switches and adsl routers from different vendors.
ADSL is popular and so are small unmanaged switches amoung the readers.

Just a idea.

If you want network stuff i have some your welcome to play with.

Cheers,
Techie

[Tiggerz]

Not sure about adsl stuff but the best nic's that I have used are the Intel Pro1000/T range.

I would follow that up with 3Com kit for just about everything else. They have a bit of a reputation for over-engineering hardware and software.

As for cheap stuff used for gaming - not sure.

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Tiggerz
Not sure about adsl stuff but the best nic's that I have used are the Intel Pro1000/T range.

I would follow that up with 3Com kit for just about everything else. They have a bit of a reputation for over-engineering hardware and software.

As for cheap stuff used for gaming - not sure.

The VAST majority of LANers use RT8139 based generic 100Mb cards. For $20, they've got one hell of a lot of bang for your buck, and you have to spend a lot, lot more money before you'll notice any significant improvement.

Of course the Intel 1000Pro will be better - you'd hope so for its price range ;).

Gigabit is still server gear. Firstly, most people here ( a good example of the target audience of any review/article ) will only have 33MHz 32bit PCI slots - which a single gigabit connection will all but fully max out! ( and that's assuming they're not using other PCI devices - which is a bad assumption ). Secondly, they'd probably never get the opportunity to hook up to a gigabit port on a switch even if they did have a gigabit adapter, simply because they won't have gigabit at home, and LAN groups can't afford to offer it at LANs. Thirdly, even if they did get a gigabit port - they'd likely never be connecting to a media source that also supported gigabit ( so they'd be leeching off multiple slower ports - only at gigabit speed, they'd have big problems keeping all the pipes full ). Forthly, they probably couldn't afford it in the first place....

In summary, ignore gigabit. While we all like to drool over it, an article on it is of just about no use to anybody. Like Techie was saying - it's ADSL routers and unmanaged switches where the market is! Even discounting rare cases like me ( I run LANs, so I wind up with several much larger switches, etc ), you'll find a not-insignificant proportion of people here use one of the following:

Alcatel Speed Touch Pro
Asus AAM-6000EV
Dlink DSL-500
Dlink DSL-504
Dynalink RTA020
Dynalink RTA210
Dynalink RTA220
Nokia Ni500
Nokia Ni1122

As for switches, I think you'll find most people will be using either 5-port or 8-port 100Mb unmanaged switches from low-end vendors such as Planet, Yum-cha, etc ;), while a few use brands like 3-Com and C-NET.

While reviews of those type of switches would be eagerly read - I can already tell you that any benchmark results would likely be very boring.... ;)

[Grrr!!]

Would there actually be any worthwhile variance in the results anyway. To me it seems about as useful as a Keyboard review.

[Techie]

I should have made my self a bit clearer in the goal of the post.

Instead of straight benchmarking and saying one is faster than the other. I was thinking more along the lines of taking the top ten queries from the network forum and converting them to tests on the gear. The test below would be applicable to the adsl stuff.

Like does blah game work on blah adsl router.
Does blah router do pinholes. Are the pinholes singular or in ranges.
Does the unit have a firewall?
Is it easy to use. Common and vague question which depends on the users.
does it use a web gui, telnet gui, command line, serial or pc program.

This allows the guys on the site to help others choose a router that more suits there buget and needs.

Will benchmarks show differences. Maybe but probably not.

A keyboard review would be boring but I see tests on motherboards from different vendors which use the same chipset but not necessary the same support, warranty, features and overclockability. The tests usually show the pros and cons of a motherboard. The same can be said for any product we as consumers buy.

This forum has many users who obviously like technology and might be interesting tweaking there network a bit with the gear they have or could buy.

example
To extract more preformance and features out of a 8139 realtek chip try using the drivers off the following site
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloads1-3.aspx?series=16&Software=True

The site has beta drivers to give you access to 802.1p/q features.
These let your network card know about vlans and to priortise traffic. This will make a difference to your ping and downloads on a lan that has decent managed switches.
*cough* equinox *cough* so please download and have fun. :)

Cheers,
Techie

[KingJackal]

Yeah, good point Techie - I had a feeling you were thinking of feature comparisons ( cos those WILL produce some interesting comparisons ).

Of course, with un-managed switches, even then it's gonna be a tough crowd to differentiate. There the most important things are failiure rates, warranty etc - things that even a month or two of testing a single unit just won't find easily :(.

[el roffo]

yes i would be interested in the dsl side as i am getting dsl soon :)

i dont really want a router due to $$$ and fact that it wouldnt go to good use, so im thinking of just getting a modem.

the Turbocomm IA310 PCI Internal ADSL Modem is probably the cheapest i have found, but is it any good? i dont have any idea how to compare it to others.

if you can tell me a good cheap modem also that would be good :)

thx

[AcurA]

I just heard 3com and dsl mention in the same paragragh - so i just have to throw in my >>> stay away from the 3com homeconnect range of dsl modems (ie duallink) For a discontinued range (the duallink only works in XP with rasppp) tis irritating to see them going for full price here and there.

[-=DEI[]v[]OS=-]

Originally posted by AcurA
I just heard 3com and dsl mention in the same paragragh - so i just have to throw in my >>> stay away from the 3com homeconnect range of dsl modems (ie duallink) For a discontinued range (the duallink only works in XP with rasppp) tis irritating to see them going for full price here and there.

Hear hear !! My 3com POS went the way of TradeMe as soon as I worked out it was a discontinued product. Heck it was ALWAYS disconnecting, wouldn't work under XP for me and was generally a pain in the arse.

As for a DSL modem, I would recommend the Alcatel Speedtouch USB. Ya know the funky stingray lookin one.....Mine's been going hard since the 3com was exorcised, no problems at all :D

[AcurA]

Hey Dev r u talking bout the DualLink? if so tis just takes a firmware update to fix that prob (disconnects like every minute right??)?

[-=DEI[]v[]OS=-]

Nah mine was the internal 3com home connect........disconnect :p