Best Ethernet Card for the Amiga?

[amigadave]

I searched the whole amiga.org site and forum threads for the answer to this question, but got nothing, so I'll ask it here and hope is has not been beaten to death before and I just missed finding it.

Which is the best Amiga Zorro bus Ethernet card? (I own all of the below choices and will put the best in my A4000s, second best in the A3000s, and slowest in my A2000s)

1.  Commodore A2065 Rev.3 (used)
2.  Hydra Systems Amiganet Rev.1.1 (used)
3.  ASDG Inc. EB920 (used)
4.  X-Surf Version 2.0 (new, never used)
5.  None of the above, fill in the blank ______________

One other consideration is the other controllers that are part of the X-Surf cards (IDE & clock ports) and which Amiga models will benefit the most from having those ports, if any. Clock ports might be useful in the future for adding USB or something. The A2000s both have GVP TekMagic 060/50mHz accelerators, A3000Ds both have WarpEngine 040/40mHz accelerators, A3000T has Commodore 3640 (or is it 3460, I can't remember) 040/25mHz accelerator, A4000Ts both have CyberStormPPC 233mHz+060/60mHz accelerators

2nd question:

I have 5 ethernet cards (need to find numbers 6, 7 & to install and create my Amiga LAN, actually I want to add the big box Amigas to my existing LAN which consists of a cable modem connected to a wireless router that has 4 ethernet RJ45 ports, one of which is being used by my Dell tower running Windows XP Media Center Edition. There are 3 laptops that also connect to this network via wireless as well as two other tower PCs that have wireless adapters. I also want to add my A1200-060 via wireless connection sometime later.

So with 3 remaining empty RJ45 Ethernet ports empty, what is the best way to add between 5 and 8 big box Amigas?  Consider that all the big box Amigas are located close to the router and Dell tower in one massive wall shelving unit that I just built myself, so there won't be any long ethernet wire runs.

Thanks in advance for any advice. :-D

[dovegrace]

5. None of the above:  ARIADNE II!!!

 I have two Ariadne II cards (one in my A2000, one in my A4000), and absolutely love them.

 Of course, in my case, they sort of win the "best network card" prize by default, since I've never used any other Amiga network cards   :-P

-dove

[terminator4]

This question is kinda silly.
I used Ariadne, Xsurf2/3 and 2065 and saw no difference whatsoever in performance.  All seem to work just fine.  personally i like ariadne as the chipset is newer without ugly isa hacks (seen on xsurf).
but any card you get is good. :-D

[stopthegop]

Answer is still "None of the Above"


The best network card for Amigas is an rtl_8139D plugged into a Zorro->PCI  bridgeboard

[Zac67]

amigadave wrote:
So with 3 remaining empty RJ45 Ethernet ports empty, what is the best way to add between 5 and 8 big box Amigas?  Consider that all the big box Amigas are located close to the router and Dell tower in one massive wall shelving unit that I just built myself, so there won't be any long ethernet wire runs.

Simple - just get an adequately sized switch (100 Mbps, 5 ports: ~$10) and you're set. You can also use an old hub (probably ~$0).

[AndrewBell]

I have an Ariadne II, which has worked well for about 8 years. The Ariadne has a few feature connectors which were never utilised by Villagetronic, but can be used to connect a clockport and MP3 hardware:

http://www.rockus.at/Amiga/ariadne2clockport.html
http://www.rockus.at/Amiga/PROmp3.html

________
HONDA ANF125

[Chain]

i dont have (yet) any xsurf, so dunno how fast it is, but imo speed grid looks like this
(ive tried just ftp transfers, nothíng more)

1. ariadne II
2. ariadne
3. A2065
4. hydra 1.2
5. hydra 1.1

[xeron]

The Hydra Systems AmigaNET card apparently has a terrible reputation, and the drivers don't work under OS4 anyway, so if you intend to get OS4, don't put the AmigaNET card in either of your PPC machines :-)

[mdivancic]

The plus for the X-surf is that it is actually available for sale and you don't have to try and eBay it. Recently network cards have been going for $75-$150 on eBay (the cheap one not even guarantied to work). I just purchased an X-surf from AmigaKit.

[adolescent]

The A2065 is a tight fit in the A3000 (just to get it in), so I'd put it in the A2000 or 3000T.  Plus you'll need a tranciever.  Other than that it's a great card.  Compatible with everything (AMIX, etc.).  

[dovegrace]

AndrewBell wrote:
I have an Ariadne II, which has worked well for about 8 years. The Ariadne has a few feature connectors which were never utilised by Villagetronic, but can be used to connect a clockport and MP3 hardware:

AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!

Cool!  I wasn't aware of this!  
A Clockport hack!  Yesss!  

 :-o  :-)  :-o  :-)

[amigadave]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and comments.  I don't think I have any Adriadne (sp?) cards and they seem very expensive.  All network cards for Amigas are 3 to 5 times the cost of PC cards but I don't have and don't want to go the PCI, or GoldenGate bridge route as I am using all the slots in almost every Amiga I have.  I just completed putting a full A4000T together last night and had to modify the back of the case to have an opening for the Cybervision VGA connector Who ever designed the Amiga Technologies A4000T case was an idiot! The Power Tower for the A4000D is only slightly better.  If I want to install the second CyberVision in the PT I will have to hack the bottom off the 3.5" drive cage.  I ended up putting the X-Surf in both A4000 machines.

Edit: Should I worry about the 200watt power supply being enough for the Power Tower A4000D w/CSPPC, Toaster/Flyer, AD516 Sound card, X-Surf, Picasso IV?  I didn't check the wattage on the A4000T, but it states on the back it is 115v 5amp?

Should I use the Picasso IV or Cybervision on CSPPC in the PowerTower?  I have always heard/read and thought that the Picasso IV was the best card to use for a Toaster/Flyer setup, but using the Cybervision will make the PowerTower match the Amiga Technologies A4000T Toaster/Flyer setup and I will then put the Picasso IV into one of the A3000D or the A3000T Toaster/Flyer machines.

[pVC]

I'd leave Hydra's Amiganet 1.1 for a2000... that doesn't work on newer models without little hardware modification and then it only works as last card in the chain. And at least for me it wasn't that stable in heavy use... well it was OK, but sometimes it just stopped transferring anything until next reboot

[hardlink]

mdivancic wrote:
The plus for the X-surf is that it is actually available for sale and you don't have to try and eBay it.

The previously best-regarded was the Ameristar A4066. I almost had one at the St. Louis show one time, but Holger Kruse pulled out his wallet faster; good thing, because he used 'my' card in testing Miami.

The X-surf uses the most modern chipset, and Holger claimed the X-surf was probably the most reliable because of the good RF components and layout used on the ISA board. I have had a Hydra board seem to drift from lots of errors to inability to connect over time, probably because of crummy RF section.

[Iggy_Drougge]

I won't say which one is the best, but I can say which one is the worst, without comparison: The ASDG EB920. It is not only a bad ethernet card, it even makes the machine unstable.