Re: [tlug] Cable modem, which mode ?

[Jonathan Q <jq@example.com>]

Mancy, Raymond (mancy.raymond@example.com) wrote:

> Anyway, with a line running direct from my modem to the Masq. server, would
> it be worthwhile using a 100BaseTX card ?(if the modem could handle it that
> is)

If you need to buy a card anyway, a low-cost 10/100 card would be
the way to go.  If you can even find a pure 10 megabit Ethernet
card anymore, you would save little or nothing over the cost of
a cheap 10/100 card, and you might have some 100 megabit use for
the card in the future.  

Performance-wise, you should exepct to see little or no advantage, both
because the Ethernet pipe is larger than your 8 megabit uplink
and also because that 8 megabit speed has more marketing value than
networking value.   In the real world, file transfers that run
faster than about the speed of a T-1 are relatively rare.  The
fastest FTP I have personally ever seen ran at nearly 20 megabits
per second, and I was really impressed.  I don't recall what site
it was, but some FTP server in California.  My end of the link is
switched 100 meg full dup with a GigE uplink, so I always hit
a bottleneck on the other end.

Much ado is made about 8 megabit DSL and cable, but in the end,
it's mostly much ado about nothing.

Jonathan