about to have a T3 connection, need advice

[r0ckstarbob]

okay boys, i'm about to have a virtually dedicated T3 connection (for free - heh heh) and have a hundred bones to blow on an Ethernet card... I know ZERO about networking and cards and the like. don't even know if what i'm looking for is called an ethernet card... anyhow, suggestions on what to look for or what kind to get?

[flounder43]

How are you getting such a sweet connection?

[Warlord2]

this is most likely going to be moved to internet and networking

I dont think you will have to use all $100 for a network card.......

but I would get some kind of 10/100 3com card sense they are reliable

[whooping_a_panda]

network cards are really cheap... you can find a decent working on for 24 bucks at your local OFFICE MAX even. make sure it says 10/100 on it because that is probably all you will need (10/100 is the speed of the nic either 10 or 100 mbps depending on the network it is on, older cards were only 10 mpbs so they moved at speeds of 10 mbps, thus the 10/100s are backwards compatible with an older 10 base t network) At the store what you will want to get is usually on the box is called a NIC or Network interface card, they kinda look like small modems with an oversized phone jack embedded in them, if you still dont know what you need just ask a helpfull worker and they should know (i sure would hope so anyways) ok i hope ive been able to enlighten you a bit... LOL ok i think i wrote a novel :)


Jon Austin

[whooping_a_panda]

I got a question for you. how did you end up with a Free t-3? I live out in the sticks and get VERY SHODDY 56k service and am very jelouse of you :)

[Bmxpunk86pl]

if u have t3 then go with a 1000Mbps ethernet card. dang t3 (lucky)

[Christoph]

Spank!
Enjoy your T3! Make sure you do it justice with your NIC. I believe that T3s go as high as 100 Mb/s. Just make sure you don't get a POS. Maybe you could even get a backup with that much $$.
As for recommendations, I've had no problem with my US$11 Netgear FA310TX.

[WillysNut]

Originally posted by IdeaMagnate
Spank!
Enjoy your T3! Make sure you do it justice with your NIC. I believe that T3s go as high as 100 Mb/s. Just make sure you don't get a POS. Maybe you could even get a backup with that much $$.
As for recommendations, I've had no problem with my US$11 Netgear FA310TX.

Close! T-3's are usually delivered as a channelized 45Mbps connection. The connection consists of 670 individual 64k channels which can be bonded for different needs...essentially you can create a bunch of separate T-1's out of a T-3.

The only question I have Rockstar is how the circuit is being delivered to your location? I'm assuming there will also be a router/csu/dsu and a switch in place to actually deliver the service?

[Maddman]

Originally posted by Bmxpunk86pl
if u have t3 then go with a 1000Mbps ethernet card. dang t3 (lucky)

Only needs 100Mbps NIC as a T-3 line only delivers 44.75 Mbps of bandwidth.

[Bmxpunk86pl]

yea, i guess your right

[Silversinksam]

T3 CONNECTION (Sometimes called DS3)




A 44.736 Mbps point-to-point dedicated line that provides 672 64-Kbps voice or data channels. T3 channels are widely used on the Internet.
A connection made up of 28 T1 carriers, used to transmit digital signals on fiber-optic cable at 44.736 megabits per second.T3 can handle 672 voice conversations or one video channel.The T3 line has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion real-time video, and very large databases over a busy network.A T3 line would be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation or university with high volume network traffic.



........Pretty good deal @ $$ Free, even a virtual shared connection depending on the amount of users will net you decent speeds.

[Yodums]

Go with Intel or a 3com card.. make sure its 100mbs..

[r0ckstarbob]

WURD

okay great, then it's much easier (and cheaper) then i'd thought. thanks all for your input. i guess much of my question is directed at using an NIC card while overclocking at some above spec bus speeds, and seeing as theres an entire forum dedicated to just that, figured it would be more difficult or expensive. so basically i'm interested in cards that will not only handle the transfer speeds, but not crap out under unusually high bus speeds as well.

how am i getting the connection? it works is this
(i am purposely being vague for some very important reasons, none of which i can go into in detail due to a couple of nondisclosure forms.)

um, i'm moving into a very small apartment building with about 10 inhabitants who have *cough cough* rerouted a direct connection from one of DOZENS of T3 routers located in a nearby MAJOR ISP's location, into our building.

i've seen regular uploads/downloads at 900k a second on friends machines at peak times. it's breathtaking. and it's utterly legal due to some proprietary laws involved and the fact that the ISP just kinda tacked a box to the side of our building without asking anyones permission. i don't know all the specifics involved but from what i understand they've been over it with the lawyers and so forth and it's all kosher and it works like this - in order for the ISP NOT to use this location on our building means a SUBSTANTIAL financial investment on their part that they're not willing to foot; and due to some city zoning laws they're not able to put it anywhere else without aforementioned massive financial investment involving -among other things- some lengthy and impressive road construction to boot. consequently it's cheaper/faster/easier for them to set up some free accounts for the inhabitants of this very small apartment building and just to let us use it then to try and reroute it resulting in extesive NRI capitol due to the work required and potential customer data loss in the transition).

so yeah. lucked out. right place, right time sort of gig. i don't even particularly like this ISP, but i like the bandwidth and i like the price even better :)

dig it. you guys are da bomb. thanks again.

[IFMU]

Why you lucky lil (&^*!@#$%$)

LoL.. nah just hackin... man thats the shiznit... wow...

Wanna move to Seattle even more now!~! :p

But just a side question here... Ive heard about 100nic cards before... is there such a thing? and do they seem to work better on any type of specific connection?

Like with him, would it be better to get a 100 instead of a 10/100?

Or would it make a difference? Ive heard that some cards that are 10/100 have to be tweaked in the OS of the computer using it to get the full effects of a 100 usable line.. true? false?

Ah well... congrats man!~!~!~! Download something for me!~!


Edit - Kewl.. back to 6 stars again!~!

[rugby]

Get a 10/100 card. You are connected to a switch (hopefully) before you hit the T3 line so you want to maintain "maximum compatibility" with it first. All you need is some crappy auto-negotiation on your lan to mess with your downloads.

[Sir-Epix]

Originally posted by r0ckstarbob
okay boys, i'm about to have a virtually dedicated T3 connection (for free - heh heh) and have a hundred bones to blow on an Ethernet card... I know ZERO about networking and cards and the like. don't even know if what i'm looking for is called an ethernet card... anyhow, suggestions on what to look for or what kind to get?

I am using a Linksys on my main rig, an Intel Etherfast Pro in my server, and an SMC in my laptop...all are good preformers...oh and I use them all on my T-3 line.

[Hugo 59]

Originally posted by ifmu
Why you lucky lil (&^*!@#$%$)


Like with him, would it be better to get a 100 instead of a 10/100?

Or would it make a difference?

Edit - Kewl.. back to 6 stars again!~!

The ten just means that the card is backwords compatible with older 10 base T networks. No tweaking is needed. Being that a T3 will not even use half the bandwidth that the card can handle I don't think that there is much to worry about.

[jbell]

Originally posted by Blinkie
Go with Intel or a 3com card.. make sure its 100mbs..

INTEL SERVER or 3COM - the ONLY way to go!!!

[jbell]

T3 == basically 28 T1 lines!

[RangerJoe]

my brother has OC12 up at OU, but they only have a 10 base/t network (real old) but he has d/led files at 5mb/s constant