Tips on How to Choose Network Products

• If sales volume is what matters to you, the top three volume manufacturers in network products are 3COM, Intel and D-Link. However, we do not see much of a difference in performance or reliability among these brands; although you may choose one brand over the others because of historic reasons.
  
  
• Choose a 10/100 dual speed product whenever your budget allows. The 10BT is being phased out. 1000BT is on the horizon. A 10/100BT product would give you the most value at this time and maximum product lifetime. A 10/100 dual-speed product will allow you to connect to both 10 and 100BT networks automatically.
  
  
• Forget about co-ax if you are starting new. The pair-to-pair network is too much trouble to maintain and it is not much cheaper either.
  
  
• You don't need a hub if you have only two computers to connect with. You can use a "straight" cable (as compared to the normal "twisted-pair") to connect them directly with two network adapters. Most commercial cables are, however, made "twisted-pair."
  
  
• 100BASE-T Fast Ethernet operates at ten times the speed of regular 10BASE-T Ethernet, yet can be seamlessly integrated into existing Ethernet installations to deliver high bandwidth performance where it's needed. Rapidly becoming the standard for today's LAN, Fast Ethernet provides a cost-effective solution for the network bottlenecks created by the growing volumes of data generated by today's more powerful desktop PCs and bandwidth-intensive networked applications. Fast Ethernet, together with 32-bit PCI bus architecture, extends the power of high performance desktop PCs onto the LAN.
  
  
• Fast Ethernet - When and Where You Need It
  Enabling your network for high-speed bandwidth needn't involve a mammoth undertaking accomplished all at once. Fast Ethernet is an extensible networking solution that can be deployed in a flexible manner, step-by-step, as your network growth warrants. A phased approach is almost always the most cost-effective way to implement a network strategy. Fast Ethernet, as an evolutionary extension of time-proven Ethernet technology, can be integrated one step at a time, when and where it's needed.
  
  Interested in Fast Ethernet Network Cards or Fast Ethernet Hubs.
  
  
• What's the difference between a hub and a switch? The word "switch" is often misused and misunderstood. In a nutshell, a hub is a device that the speed of a hub is shared by the individual ports. For instance, the maximum speed of a 10BT hub with five users on it is 10/5, i.e. 2BT. In a switch, the speed of individual ports is not shared. Each port is connected independently at the maximum speed, such as 10 or 100BT. However, most dual-speed hubs have a feature of auto sensing and switching between the two speeds. Remember, the word "switching" in a hub has a very different meaning from a "switch."

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