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Belkin PCI Network Card
By Kelly Lu - June 26, 2001
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Here at OnePC, we've taken a look at a variety of cool networking gear in the past; from routers that help you share your Internet connection, to complete network startup kits that get you up and going without many of the hassles that are associated with creating a network, but we haven't really looked at any "regular" NIC's (network interface cards) alone. Sure, we've taken a look at some neat wireless NIC's from D-Link, but most of us don't really need to build a wireless network, either because we don't have laptops to really take advantage of wireless networking or we need more than the 11Mbps that it provides. Plus, wireless networking is still quite expensive, so it's still restricted to those who have cash to burn.
Thus, when Belkin announced their new line of network interface cards a little while ago, I was quick to jump at the opportunity to take a look at something a little more, how can I put it... simpler? Yes, today, we're looking at a (gasp!) PCI network card! That's right, it doesn't feature any exotic wireless technologies and it is not some newly-released hybrid router and firewall: it's just a simple network interface card. Cool, eh?
Simple, however, is such an understatement when it comes to the importance of a network interface card. The network interface card is the most basic piece of equipment that is required to get any computer onto a network. Therefore, if you need to add that new computer to your existing network or if you decide to throw together a new network yourself, you're gonna need at least a couple of network cards along the road.
Unfortunately, much like the rest of the computer industry, the market for network interface cards is more crowded than ever. So, how does Belkin's new offering stack up to other network cards? Let's find out!
Specifications
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F5D5000 |
| Network Standards |
IEEE 802.3, 802.3u |
| Data Bus |
PCI 2.1 |
| Data Interface |
32-bit bus mastering PCI |
| Network Interface |
Female RJ45 jack |
| Full Duplex |
10Mbps and 100Mbps |
| LED Indicators |
Link, Activity, and Half/Full Duplex |
| Boot ROM Socket |
Yes |
| Certification |
FCC Class B, CE Mark, C Tick |
| Driver Support |
NDIS Support- Windows 95, 98, 98SE, Me, 2000, NT 3.5, NT 4
ODI Support- DOS, Windows 3.x, 95, Netware 3.x and later
Server Driver- NetWare 3.12, 4.x, 5
Packet Driver- FTP, PC/TCP, NCSA, TCP/IP
UNIX Driver- SCO UNIX 3.2.4, 5.0, 7, Linux, FreeBSD
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When Belkin announced their line of network cards, they had versions with support for CardBus, PCMCIA and USB as well as PCI, which is the version that we're reviewing here. They are all 10/100Mbps network cards. I would, however, be surprised to see the USB version get even close to 10Mbps speeds because of the low-bandwidth USB interface that it uses. Nevertheless, the PCI version that we're looking at here should get at least close to the claimed 100Mbps speeds.
This card also has a Wake on LAN feature, which means that, once installed properly, the user can turn on and off their computer from a remote location--nifty for some, but a waste, even an annoyance, for others. I've had bad experiences with using this feature, since, whenever I open up my case and accidentally touch the Wake on LAN cable--this is the same for all network cards, mind you--the computer would turn on by itself. I even burned out a video card once because I didn't realize that the computer was turned on! Finally, I just decided to take out the cable and not use the feature.
First Impressions
When I first opened the box to the Belkin PCI network card, I was surprised to see how small it is! I mean, I've seen my share of small network cards, but this thing is by-far the smallest of them all! For the Wake on LAN feature of the card, Belkin included the necessary Wake on LAN cable for it.
Also included in the package was a drivers CD, which has the necessary drivers for common OS's like all Windows versions (including 2000), DOS, Linux and FreeBSD, just to name a few. Also on it is the same user's manual that came in printed form in the box. This CD should be enough to get anyone started, but I would have preferred a floppy disk instead. This is because I don't have a CD-ROM drive in every one of my computers, including my test systems-I install everything over the network since it's much easier and faster than having to worry about multiple CD's-but I do have floppy drives in them. Luckily, though, I didn't even have to use the driver CD...
Powering Up...
Installation of the card was actually easier than I had expected--in fact, it was literally a snap! Because of the above-mentioned CD problem that I anticipated, I copied the drivers from the CD-ROM drive of another computer through my network (using the network card that was already installed into the computer at that time) to my test system (remember, the computer doesn't have a CD-ROM drive). It turned out that I didn't even have to use these drivers from the CD since it worked automatically with the Windows native drivers (the chipset on the card is Realtek 8139(A)-compatible, something that I didn't even notice until Windows used that driver for it). What a bonus! I guess the CD isn't going to be a problem in the future anyways!
Performance
To test the performance of the Belkin PCI network card, I used NetIQ's QCheck network diagnostic program on my Pentium III 1GHz test system (128MB PC133 SDRAM and Quantum Fireball Plus LM hard drive). I only had one of the Belkin PCI network cards, so the results were not going to be higher than the Linksys 10/100 network card, which is the fastest network card we have in the lab, that I had on the other end (Athlon 650MHz system). All results are the average between 5 results.
The Linksys cards managed 90.206Mbps transfer rate while the Belkin managed 89.069Mbps (with a Linksys card at the other end), a difference of only about a little over 1%. This difference is hardly noticeable. Overall, the Belkin PCI 10/100 network card is a top performer.
Conclusion
The Belkin PCI 10/100 network card is a fine card. Performing almost identical to our highest-performing network card, the Linksys 10/100 network card, its performance won't disappoint. Plus, with a Wake on LAN feature, it also allows the computer to be turned on and off from a remote location--if the user wishes to use it. Finally, with its hassle-free installation process on all Windows machines, Belkin has shown that it can, without a doubt, match the quality and value of the other network cards in the market with its new line of network cards for both the desktop and laptop.
Pros
- Easy to install--no special drivers required for Windows systems
- Top performer
- Wake on LAN feature
- It's a network card! Works as advertised!
Cons
- At $29.99 USD, it is slightly on the expensive side for a network card (-0.5)
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