24 Dec
2001
24 Dec
'01
10:09 p.m.
There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
Holger Kruse was considering adding support under Miami for a 3C515
on a GG2 Bus+, but at the time, 3c515 boards were unobtanium, and
they wouldn't be fast, anyway. The only reason to really use an
ISA 10/100 card is if you have a non-PCI machine, and your network
infrastructure is 100 *only* (I have a 4-port 100BaseT hub from NetGear,
for instance - it was cheap at the time).
Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
-ethan
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25 Dec
25 Dec
1:25 a.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
Holger Kruse was considering adding support under Miami for a 3C515
on a GG2 Bus+, but at the time, 3c515 boards were unobtanium, and
they wouldn't be fast, anyway. The only reason to really use an
ISA 10/100 card is if you have a non-PCI machine, and your network
infrastructure is 100 *only* (I have a 4-port 100BaseT hub from NetGear,
for instance - it was cheap at the time).
Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
-ethan
I was getting 3c505 cards for 15 per, I'd start there. $20 tops.
Gary Hildebrand
St. Joseph, MO
1:08 p.m.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Gary Hildebrand wrote:
Ethan Dicks wrote:
The 505 is a much older card, and only supports 10mb/s compared to the
100mb/s that the 515 supports. The 505 is part of the Etherlink Plus
series, which predates the Etherlink III series. The Plus series came out
right after the Etherlink II series. I personally wouldn't pay more than
$5 for a used 505, and would expect to pay $1-$3.
I'd buy a 509 (Etherlink III series) over a 505 in most cases, due to
performance and driver issues. The 505 only has 1 transmit buffer, which
makes its performance suffer a little compared to the 509. Driver support
for the 509 is also much better. Overall, the 509 was probably the most
successful and popular ISA card 3Com ever made.
-Toth
There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
I was getting 3c505 cards for 15 per, I'd start there. $20 tops. 
5:05 a.m.
$20.00 is reasonable in my opinion, since these cards can be hard to find.
The problem that I ran into was finding drivers for them. I'm not sure if I
have a 515 or different one but the drivers were difficult or impossible to
find (for MSDOS) and the setup was arcane to say the least. On the other
hand, Linux might support the old stuff like this much better. What OS were
you hoping to use with the card?
E.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Ethan Dicks
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 1:10 AM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: What 's a 3Com 3c515 worth these days?
There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
Holger Kruse was considering adding support under Miami for a 3C515
on a GG2 Bus+, but at the time, 3c515 boards were unobtanium, and
they wouldn't be fast, anyway. The only reason to really use an
ISA 10/100 card is if you have a non-PCI machine, and your network
infrastructure is 100 *only* (I have a 4-port 100BaseT hub from NetGear,
for instance - it was cheap at the time).
Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
-ethan
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8:14 a.m.
--- Ernest <ernestls(a)attbi.com> wrote:
$20.00 is reasonable in my opinion, since these cards
can be hard to
find...
True... these are the first I've even personally seen (they are on eBay
now and again - for around $15-$25 incl shipping).
What OS were you hoping to use with the card?
Well... I have no personal need for an ISA 10/100 in a WinTel box - I
have a 10BaseT network with 10Base2 and 10BaseFL branches going into
a port on my 10/100 switch. For old stuff, 10mbps is fine. If I were
going to buy this at all, I'd see about using it with AmigaDOS (and
working with Holger Kruse on an MNI driver, if he's still around)
-ethan
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1:29 p.m.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ernest wrote:
I don't really consider these cards to be hard to find, you just won't
find them in most used computer shops. The 515 isn't too popular, since
there isn't much gain with it compared to a less expensive 509.
If you are looking for the setup utility and packet drivers for this card,
try here: http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/3c515.htm If you are
looking for Linux drivers, have a look at a modern kernel and here:
http://www.scyld.com/network/3c515.html Crynwr Software
http://www.crynwr.com/ also has many packet drivers available, often for
cards that are not supported by the original manufacturer.
The setup for these cards is very similar to that of any of the Etherlink
series adapters 3com made. Almost all of their cards use the same menu
setup for the configuration software, so it's mostly just a matter of
getting used to 3com's way of doing things. One issue with the 515 that
tends to annoy people is that it needs a plug-n-pray bios and or an
enabler program to enable the card before a driver can recognize it.
-Toth
There were
very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
Just curious, but not curious enough to drop $20 up front.
$20.00 is reasonable in my opinion, since these cards can be hard to
find. The problem that I ran into was finding drivers for them. I'm
not sure if I have a 515 or different one but the drivers were
difficult or impossible to find (for MSDOS) and the setup was arcane
to say the least. On the other hand, Linux might support the old stuff
like this much better. What OS were you hoping to use with the card?
3:46 p.m.
--- Tothwolf <tothwolf(a)concentric.net> wrote:
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ernest wrote:
Much gain? 10BaseT vs 10/100? Seems like a win to me. The only real
problem is that you can't saturate a 100mbps line from an ISA card.
As I mentioned in my first post, I think the only real need for one is
if you find yourself on a 100BaseT *only* network.
-ethan
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> There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever
made. The 3C515 is one of
> them.
I don't really consider these cards to be hard to find, you just won't
find them in most used computer shops. The 515 isn't too popular, since
there isn't much gain with it compared to a less expensive 509.
4:33 p.m.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
--- Tothwolf <tothwolf(a)concentric.net> wrote:
The ISA bus can't handle anywhere near the full 100mb/s bandwith, so these
cards throttle the bandwith considerably. From personal experience in
testing tons of different cards on my lan, I just don't see enough of a
throughput difference when comparing the 509 and 515 to justify the extra
cost. This is especially true when the second generation 509 cards can be
had for less than $5 easily, and have much better driver support.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ernest wrote:
Much gain? 10BaseT vs 10/100? Seems like a win to me. The only real
problem is that you can't saturate a 100mbps line from an ISA card. > There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever
made. The 3C515 is one of
> them.
I don't really consider these cards to be hard to find, you just won't
find them in most used computer shops. The 515 isn't too popular, since
there isn't much gain with it compared to a less expensive 509. As I mentioned in my first post, I think the only real
need for one is
if you find yourself on a 100BaseT *only* network.
That would be about the only use for them that I can think of. Most modern
100mb/s networks are switched and support N-way autonegotiation (and
10mb/s), so there just isn't much use for a 100mb/s ISA nic anymore.
-Toth
28 Dec
28 Dec
9:10 a.m.
A few months ago I'd have said there was no such thing as an isa 100mb nic
but a friend of mine has a boxfull of HP 10/100 isa nics in her office
closet. They work ok on our 10mb lan but don't give even the performance of
my PCI 10/100 nic in 10mb mode. I can see a reason for them if you have a
100mb only net (we have an HP hub not in use right now because it is 100mb
ONLY) soooo.
Regards,
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tothwolf" <tothwolf(a)concentric.net>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 10:33 PM
Subject: RE: What 's a 3Com 3c515 worth these days?
The ISA bus can't handle anywhere near the full 100mb/s bandwith, so these
cards throttle the bandwith considerably. From personal experience in
testing tons of different cards on my lan, I just don't see enough of a
throughput difference when comparing the 509 and 515 to justify the extra
cost. This is especially true when the second generation 509 cards can be
had for less than $5 easily, and have much better driver support.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
> --- Tothwolf <tothwolf(a)concentric.net> wrote:
> > On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ernest wrote:
> >
> > > > There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The 3C515 is one
of
> > > > them.
> >
> > I don't really consider these cards to be hard to find, you just won't
> > find them in most used computer shops. The 515 isn't too popular,
since
there isn't much gain with it compared to a less
expensive 509.
Much gain? 10BaseT vs 10/100? Seems like a win to me. The only real
problem is that you can't saturate a 100mbps line from an ISA card. As I mentioned in my first post, I think the only
real need for one is
if you find yourself on a 100BaseT *only* network.
That would be about the only use for them that I can think of. Most modern
100mb/s networks are switched and support N-way autonegotiation (and
10mb/s), so there just isn't much use for a 100mb/s ISA nic anymore.
-Toth
25 Dec
25 Dec
12:54 p.m.
On Tue, 25 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
There were very few *ISA* 10/100 NICs ever made. The
3C515 is one of
them. One of the local junk shops has a couple behind the counter.
They are marked $20. I have no idea if that's a reasonable price or
if they are gouging (they also have some used RTC8139-based boards
next to them for $7, for comparison).
$20 sounds reasonable for a genuine 3c515. These boards are actually still
manufactured and sold, but your typical computer shop isn't going to stock
them. I often buy used as-is 3c509 cards of various revisions/models for
$1-$3. Since all the EtherLink III series and newer cards have a lifetime
warranty, I don't care if they are dead or damaged when I buy them. A new
509 can be had for under $12 these days, often under $10 if buying in bulk
(12, 24 or larger) packs.
Holger Kruse was considering adding support under
Miami for a 3C515
on a GG2 Bus+, but at the time, 3c515 boards were unobtanium, and
they wouldn't be fast, anyway. The only reason to really use an
ISA 10/100 card is if you have a non-PCI machine, and your network
infrastructure is 100 *only* (I have a 4-port 100BaseT hub from NetGear,
for instance - it was cheap at the time).
Since the ISA bus has such limited bandwith, you'll never see the full
100mb/s performance. I still use 509 cards for my ISA boxes since the
price/performance doesn't justify the extra cost. (This message will pass
thru several 509 cards before it gets to my uplink.)
-Toth
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