On Mon, Jul 07, 2003 at 03:41:09PM +0100, Philip Pemberton wrote:
Quote:
The RealTek 8139 PCI NIC redefines the meaning of 'low end.' This is
probably the worst PCI ethernet controller ever made, with the possible
exception of the FEAST chip made by SMC. The 8139 supports bus-master
DMA, but it has a terrible interface that nullifies any performance
gains that bus-master DMA usually offers.
Um.... Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to set fire to all the
Realtek-based NICs in the house... EVIL EVIL EVIL!!!
I had a Realtek 8139-based PCI 10/100 ethernet card in my wife's PC.
This was the only card I'd ever seen where unplugging the ethernet, then
plugging it back in, required a *reboot of the operating system* to get
TCP/IP connectivity back. I upgraded her system to XP, replaced the
Realtek card with an Intel eepro-chipset card, and it works fine now..
Bill
--
bill bradford
mrbill(a)mrbill.net
austin, texas