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.