Artisoft's AE-3 Ethernet Adapter Preliminary Specifications Artisoft's AE-3 Ethernet adapter is not only the smart choice for LANtastic(TM) customers, it's the best choice for Novell customers because it's 100% downward compatible with Novell's NE2000 drivers. This means our board is not only compatible with the NE2000, but improved with these features: Up to 64K buffer RAM. Like the NE2000, our adapter offers 16K buffer RAM, which is twice as much RAM as you'll get from most other boards. But only our AE-3 is upgradeable to 64K, which means you can get information off the cable much faster so your computer can move onto other jobs. Ultimate flexibility. The AE-3 supports the three kinds of Ethernet cabling -- thin, thick and twisted-pair. Which means you can initially connect your network with the less expensive twisted-pair cable commonly found pre-wired in newer office buildings. And when your network expands beyond the twisted-pair's 100 meter limitations, you can upgrade the network to either thin or thick Ethernet cable for 500 meter capabilities... without having the major expense of replacing your adapter cards. Increased efficiency. Artisoft's AE-3 adapter gives you more IRQ options (Interrupt Request Lines) than other adapters. These additional IRQs can be used by AT class machines or above, which means you'll have free IRQs for other hardware devices. The Artisoft AE-3 Ethernet can be used in either a 16-bit or an 8-bit slot, or can be run in 8-bit mode in a 16-bit slot. With its auto-switching capabilities, the AE-3 auto-senses between these two modes and switches itself for higher performance. A high-performance on-board transceiver drives cable lengths up to 300 meters (984 feet) per segment with thin Ethernet cable and can handle 30 nodes per segment without repeaters. Using an external transceiver with thick Ethernet cable, the AE-3 supports network segments of up to 500 meters (1640 feet) and 100 nodes per segment. The Artisoft AE-3 Ethernet is in 100% compliance with IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet standards, and offers a 10 Mbps transfer rate, optional diskless remote-booting and a five-year warranty. Specifications. Hardware compatibility: * IBM PC, XT, AT, and 386/486-based PC compatibles, and PS/2 model 30, 30-286 and compatibles * Downward compatible with Novell NE2000 * Jumper for non-standard bus PC requirements: * One floppy drive * PC or MS DOS 3.1 or higher (3.2 not recommended) * One 16- or 8-bit slot (hardware and software auto-senses between these two modes) Standard: * IEEE 802.3 10BASE5 * IEEE 802.3 10BASE2 * IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T Data Transfer Rate: * 10 megabits per second LAN Controller: * NS 83902 chip Buffer RAM: * On-board 16K, user expandable to 64K * Automatically switches to correct RAM size when the chips are inserted Boot ROM: * Optional I/O Base Address: * 300h, 320h, 340h and 360h Interrupt Request Lines (IRQs): * 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 15 DMA Channels: * 1, 3, 5, 7 are available if needed (The AE-3 NetBIOS software provided does not use DMA channels.) * Jumper enabled Power Requirements * +5V 1100mA max * +12V 200mA max supplied to external transceiver Access Protocol: * CSMA/CD Topology: * 10BASE5 and 10BASE2: Linear bus * 10BASE-T: Star Maximum network cable lengths per segment: 10BASE5 and 10BASE2: * Up to 185 meters (607 feet) with RG-58A/U or RG-58C/U coax cable (Cheapernet) * Up to 300 meters (984 feet) with RG-58A/U or RG-58C/U coax cable (Cheapernet) using jumper option not in compliance with the IEEE 802.3 standard * 500 meters (1640 feet) with Ethernet cable 10BASE-T: * 100 meters (328 feet) with twisted-pair cable. The number of segments is limited by the number of ports in the hub. Maximum nodes per segment: 10BASE5 and 10BASE2: * 30 nodes (RG-58A/U) * 100 nodes (Ethernet) 10BASE-T: * One node per segment Artisoft's Promise To You * Free, unlimited technical support to registered endusers and dealers who call 602-292-6363 * An unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee on all Artisoft products * Artisoft's five-year warranty on all hardware products.