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From: Will@cup.portal.com (Will E Estes)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Cost of 10BaseT
Message-ID: <27314@cup.portal.com>
Date: 25 Feb 90 17:43:58 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 20

I want to connect 5 people in an Ethernet LAN, and the number of connections
could grow to a total of 20 by the end of the year.  I want to use
Ethernet because of the speed, and I want something that is both inexpensive
and flexible enough to allow us to grow.  My questions are:

1) If I go the 10BaseT route, what are the pieces of hardware I need to
buy, and what are the costs?  I realize I need 5 10BaseT cards and the
RJ45.  What else?

2) I have heard some people express concerns that the 10BaseT vendors
manufactured their cards before the spec was finished.  Is this a 
concern, or did the spec that was used to build cards end up being
the final spec?  In particular, will I be safe buying 3COM's 10BaseT
cards?

3) Are there any potential compatibility problems in putting together
a heterogeneous network of PCs, Macs, Suns, and DEC VMS workstations?

Thanks,
Will              (sun!portal!cup.portal.com!Will)