Most of my little network uses old 10BaseT network cards however I recently
purchased a 10/100 hub and notice that the latest network cards I have
ordered are also rated 10/100. I was therefore wondering a few things:
Firstly, are 10MHz and 100MHz (on a 10/100 NIC) two discrete speeds or could
the NIC/hub pair negotiate an intermediate speed if that is all my dodgey
D.I.Y network cabling can handle? (i.e. is it possible for a 10/100 link to
run at say 50MHz?) If so then is this intermediate speed negotiated only
when the link is first made or will it dynamically drift higher and lower
from minute to minute?
Secondly, to satisfy my curiosity, I was wondering if anyone could recommend
any little Linux programs which I can run in the background to dynamically
monitor the speed at which my PC's network card is actually running.
Thirdly I notice a couple of the latest NIC's I have ordered
(3Com905CX-TX-M) are "managed" and "offer complete PC management". This has
captured my imagination as I had always considered network cards to be
pretty dumb, boring things. Could anyone guide me to something which could
give me a crash course in remote NIC/Hub interrogation as (to me at
least)(and yes, I know I need to meet more people and get a life!) this
sounds quite an interesting and exciting concept.
Finally, does using "managed" network cards within a network mean that my
network's security is about to become non-existent? (i.e. if a hacker
managed to gain access to my network but couldn't hack into my PC could he,
for example, in frustration, remotely configure all my "managed" NIC's to do
silly things making my network unusable?)
Ian.