– By Jeff Field –

Recently, I found myself in need of a Network Card, and decided to go with the 3c905TX-C from 3Com. The 3Com 3c905TX-C is the same card as the TX-B except with “remote management” features, in other words “wake-on-LAN.” Here are my findings.
The board
The board is a very simple network card, and that’s a good thing, because it does its job with little hastle. The 3c905TX-C I purchased came in nothing more than a static bag with the remote wakeup wire and the driver disc, as well as a quick start guide. The board itself has little to talk about physically — it has a link indicator for 10 megabit connections and one for 100 megabit connections. It also has an activity light to show when there is network activity — useful sometimes for diagnosing network problems.

Documentation and installation
The paper documentation included with the 3C905TX-C was simply the quick start guide, with the manuals residing on the included disc. The practice of doing this has grown very common, and I am not sure what my opinion is — sure, it is cheaper for a company to include documentation on a disc it would have to include anyway. But sometimes it is nice to be able to sit back and read something on paper, especially if the PC you need to read the document on is inoperational because you are installing the very card you need help with. The 3Com documentation is certainly adequete, telling you how to physically install the card, and connect the wake-on-LAN cable if you so desire.

The instructions also go into detail about how to install the Windows drivers, but that is a non-issue because the Linux kernel supports the 3Com card. You need only compile the driver into the kernel or compile the module and load it into the kernel for the card to show up. I’ve used this card in several systems, including one system where it temporarily replaced a TX-B, and there was no problem with the card on any of them.

Conclusion
The 3c905TX-C is an excellent network card, and is a blessing compared to some of the ISA NICs I am used to. Install it in a system, plug in the network cable, setup the card and let DHCP do the rest. You will be up and running in no time with very little hastle.

The 3Com works reliably in a variety of environments, from a relatively empty PC that serves as a firewall to my main Linux machine, which has many devices and which I regularly abuse heavily. And, perhaps the 3c905TX-C’s (and -B’s, which I highly recommend if you do not need the management features of the -C) best feature is its price — an all around good PCI 10/100 network card which can be had for $30 according to Pricewatch. It’s manufactured by 3Com.

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ZDNET.co.uk: “A Florida operator of voyeuristic Web sites is pushing to secure rights
to Web cast the execution of convicted US mass murderer Timothy
McVeigh.

Best known for Voyeurdorm.com and Dudedorm.com, adults-only
subscription Web sites carrying live video from the college homes of
women and men, Entertainment Network of Tampa, Florida, said on
Friday it had filed suit against the US government seeking permission
to Webcast the execution.”

IDG.com: “Microsoft is facing class action lawsuits for allegedly using its monopoly power to overcharge customers who bought its Windows operating system in California, Arizona and now in Minnesota. More states are expected to be added to the list soon, attorneys filing complaints said.”

Fairfax IT has more hype about Bluetooth being the latest and greatest thing: “Users with Bluetooth devices can then access the mobile Internet via their nearest Blip station, rather than relying on cellular
networks.

This is much faster than regular WAP, which works only at 9.6kbps for most people, and at about 30-40kbps for a minority of
users with the latest high-speed (GPRS) handsets. WAP via Bluetooth, on the other hand, zips along at up to 700kbps, making
for very rapid mobile Internet sessions.”

Infoworld: “GlaxoSmithKline, a research-oriented pharmaceutical giant with over 100,000
employees, has agreed to purchase 10,000 copies of Groove 1.0. The product will
allow teams of GlaxoSmithKline scientists to coordinate a number of research
projects both internally and with collaborators from other companies and
universities.”

Fairfax IT: “A young Melbourne programmer who lost intellectual property rights to his innovative software after a judgment in the Victorian Supreme Court this week, says he will not appeal.”

An anonymous reader writes: “ZZZ is running a story about the development of Swedish scientist – a mixture of a mouse and a pen which is called Ullman mouse. Besides really cool look, it’s said to be super comfortable and convenient and should eliminate all possible diseases connected with repetitive mouse use. As for me, it’s just too small to be convenient.”

Wired: “New.net takes on ICANN by making deals with five software companies to promote the startup’s unsanctioned domain suffixes, such as dot-kid and dot-travel.”

With Hailstorm, says the SeattleTimes, “Microsoft is betting consumers
will be willing to disclose more
personal information in coming
years, in return for HailStorm’s
ability to simplify online shopping,
collaborating and communicating.”

An anonymous reader writes: “TVT had been seeking as much as $8.5 million and it would not have been a stretch to assume that the earlier MP3.com loss against Big Music should have made this one a cake-walk for the small independent label. But, in this trial the record company had to face a jury who seemed unconvinced by the company’s argument. They won, but the award was a much lower $300,000.

http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2001/tvt.html“