From here, go to my Mac home page or my Mac networking and modem page.
In 2003 a customer of mine provided some discussion of his Mac networking setup. He set up a Mac SE, a Mac 8100 and a Mac 7100. Sites he said were of particular use were the following Web sites:
IPNetrouter discussion forum, but also lots of info on network cards
http://www.sustworks.com/site/detailed_search.htm
Also a good discussion forum with useful info:
http://dealmac.com/forums/list.html?f=1
My favorite Mac website - an excellent all around resource:
http://www.lowendmac.com
Useful info on networking a System 6 Mac and System 6 in general:
http://www.jagshouse.com/system_6.html
My customer's report is below with his permission. - Herb Johnson
Herb, I put the two Asante [MC3NB-NIC-V Ethernet] cards back in the mail today (along with the manual and disk). My conclusion was that the Farallons performed better for my needs. (Plus someone might have more need for the BNC interface than I.) Here are more details:
What I was setting up was a central server/router for home. I used a surplus 8100/80 for this (running OS 8.1) and was connecting to a Mac SE (via localtalk and phonenet running 6.0.7), a 7300/G3 500 MHz (via ethernet running 9.1), and an IBM Thinkpad (via ethernet runnning Win98), and a cable modem connection via ethernet. The cable modem was connected to the 8100 using the AAUI transceiver - no problems there. Two of the Nubus cards were placed in the 8100 and one connected to the 7300 and the other IBM via crossover cables. IPNetrouter was used to configure the system to route the TCP/IP link from the cable connection. A second drive placed in the lower 8100 bay is used as the server drive and is to be accessible to the 7300 and SE via Appletalk (I'm still working on the IBM for that.)
I first used the Asante cards. They were immediately recognized and and I did not install drivers as a result. Using one card at a time (removing the other) I could easily ping to and from the 7300 and IBM. However, when both cards were inserted, only one card could be pinged (although the system and IPNetrouter saw both of them.) Which one seemed to depend upon which one was connected to first after startup. I tried a different combination of Nubus slots but it made no difference. The 8100 froze up a couple of times with the two Asantes as well. With the one card I was successfully able to access the Internet from whichever computer was connected (the 7300 or IBM)
It's possible the V5.5.4 Asante software on the disk may have provided some additional options or support. The docs with the Asante have some "frequent questions" including freezing, and recommends specific versions of Apple and Asante software. - Herb
I then tried the Farallon EtherMac II - TP network cards. Again, similar results (only one card accessible) except that there was a different pattern. The card that I could access was always the one in the physically higher card slot no matter which slots were used. No freezes though. What finally got the second card working was to use a different 3rd byte to the IP address for that card - I had only been using a different 4th byte. That is, what worked was 192.168.x.a for one card and 192.168.y.b for the other card, and 192.168.z.c for the cable modem. Then I was finally able to ping and access the internet from the 7300 and IBM simultaneously.
I had no problems after that. Appletalk mounted the server drive fine and using Localtalk Bridge the SE could mount it as well (and at the same time). The localtalk connection was also given a unique 3rd byte for its IP address. Using MacTCP 1.1.1 [under System 6] the SE could also connect to the Internet for FTP and email.
Its possible that changing the 3rd byte might have fixed the Asante as well, but since the Farallons worked a bit better from the get-go (and I didn't want to mess with what was now working!) I decided to stick with them. They are currently installed in the upper 2 slots of the 8100 with the 7300 connected to the upper card (always) and the IBM to the lower card (when needed.)
Hope this information was helpful. Thanks for sending all 4 cards.
Copyright © 2003 Herb Johnson
Quoted material above copyright by originator
Most recent revision mar 20 2003