wired network cards

I have been using D-Link brand for about 4 years. During the years I have been networking, I have used Intel, 3com briefly, SMC, and Netgear as well. I have read so many negative reviews about Linksys that I won't even bother. Intel cards are excellent, but not real cheap. The cheapest I have found was about..., which isn't bad at all, but if you are looking for an economical network card that isn't loaded with every feature and it doesn't have to start your car, Intel is a little too much. 3com is one of the better brands, but still expensive. The rest are fairly good, but I started using D-Link after my last employer relied on them heavily.

The entire office network of nearly 20 computers was done using D-Link hardware. They used D-Link network cards, switches, and routers for the Novell and Internet connections.

What surprises me is how low cost the hardware is. They are usually the same as other brands, perhaps even a few bucks cheaper at times. I bought an 8 port 10 mbps hub for...., and am considering their 8 port 10/100 switch now. On top of this, for home or small office, the hardware works excellent.

In the 4 years I have used D-Link, I have only ever had 2 bad network cards out of the box. 2 in a row at that. This is out of using dozens upon dozens of their cards. Not a bad ratio really. No company can make hundreds or thousands of a product on an assembly line and have NO faulty items come out.

I have used them under DOS, Windows 95/98, Novell, Lantastic, and Red Hat Linux with no problems. This card is very widely supported. On the downside, I would not use this brand for anything CRITICAL, such as a large business environment with a mission critical server or anything that demands HEAVY use, such as a call center that relies on a central database being accessed by hundreds of users.

This doesn't mean they are junk. Not at all. For mission critical, Intel or 3com is BY FAR better, HOWEVER, if you are networking 2 up to several dozen machines together and it doesn't DEMAND HEAVY use, they are excellent products.

My last employer depended on D-Link and so did the technicans for the support database. It never failed us.

I am only reviewing the product, not the support. I have read some negative reviews about their support, which could be true. I have never called them.

The heaviest I have used their hardware on my end was about 2 years ago for network gaming. About 7 or 8 machines with various network cards (a few had D-Link) were hooked up to a D-Link 8 port 10 mbps hub playing games. We were HAMMERING on the network and the hub had no problems handling the load. An inexpensive... hub at that.

Bottom line: mission critical and heavy demanding use, consider Intel or 3com, which are designed for that, but typical home/office/small business use for dozens of people AT ONCE on the network, D-Link will handle it just fine.

Have had several in operation on XP, M.E., and 98 SE computers. Have been mostly trouble free, small problems worked out with assistance of helpfull phone staff. User's guide is somewhat confusing, On page 17, under title "Software Installation" directs you to the "READ ME" file on root directory of installation diskette, of course there is no readme file there. But, well, nobody's perfect.

Installed in Win. 98 machine. Took seconds to install drivers, a few minutes to install into machine, restarted machine and was ready to go. Easy instructions. Works fine.