jk3n+@andrew.cmu.edu (John Stephen Kalucki) (09/19/87)
I desperatly need to get either an Ethernet card or an IBM Token Ring card for my Amiga 1000 (512k, 2 drives, standard dreck). CM(U) was nice enough to wire every dorm room with three stylish boxes which can handle Ethernet or IBM's Token ring setup. I would like to be able to set up my Amiga as a "host" on the network here to do the following: Log in and use the CLI from other machines on campus. Call out from the Amiga to other machines on campus. FTP both ways from the Amiga (and it would be nice to FTP both ways from campus machines) The DataComm people here were very helpful, but I really need to find a supplyer of an Ethernet system (or Token ring) and the telenet/ftp type software for the Amiga. Token ring is really not an acceptable alternative unless it is drastically cheaper, only because after I leave CM(U) it will be practically useless. The only information I could find in only magazines listed an Ethernet card for $800, which seems (silly me?) to be quite expensive. No mention was made of software, and their phone wasn't answered the day I called. I don't know much about Ethernet stuff, but are controllers usually that complex? Any pointers/comments to/about people who supply the above / problems and donations of real estate in Manhattan would be greatly appreciated. I would especially like to hear about performance problems or ways to get ethernet really cheaply. I have heard of a kludge where you can build a cheap IBM PC slot, and plug in a rather inexpensive PC ethernet board... -John Kalucki
root@sbcs.UUCP (Root) (09/23/87)
> > > I desperatly need to get either an Ethernet card or an IBM Token Ring card > for my Amiga 1000 (512k, 2 drives, standard dreck). > > CM(U) was nice enough to wire every dorm room with three stylish boxes which > can handle Ethernet or IBM's Token ring setup. I would like to be able to set > up my Amiga as a "host" on the network here to do the following: > > The only information I could find in only magazines listed an Ethernet card > for $800, which seems (silly me?) to be quite expensive. No mention was made The company is Ameristar; they can be reached at (516) 698-0834. I am surprised that they didn't answer their phone - perhaps you called their old number. As for the pricing, well, I designed the card to be produced as cheaply as possible, but the fact of the matter is that the Amiga Ethernet market is simply too small to generate "economy of scale" savings in hardware production. I've tried to compensate for this by persuading Ameristar to sell the software for less than industry average for equivalent functionality: (PC) Sun PC-NFS + brd: $995 (= $395 software + $600 brd) (Amiga) Ameristar brd + softw: $899 (= $699 brd + $200 software) (MAC) Kinetics Enet brd: $799 (board only) Of course, the Sun (PC) price can be trimmed a bit by shopping around for the Ethernet board. > I would especially like to hear about performance problems or ways to get > ethernet really cheaply. I have heard of a kludge where you can build a cheap > IBM PC slot, and plug in a rather inexpensive PC ethernet board... I've covered the approach of PC Ethernet board in a 2000 slot before, but in summary, it will cost you more: A1000->A2000 backpl: ~$700 Commodore Bridge card: $495 Cheap PC Ethernet card: $400 (or so) PD IP/TCP + work: $XXX (what is your time worth) ---- $1595 Plus, I think you'll find that the PD IP/TCP's don't do multiple rlogin's in windows, NFS sessions, have Berkeley socket interfaces, and so on... And of course, you'll probably have to wait even longer for PD NeWS or X window systems, but that's another subject :-). > > -John Kalucki I used to complain alot about what things cost - used to say to myself: "Gee, I could build that and sell it for less than what they do". Of course, the fatal flaw in my line of reasoning is that I was looking ONLY at quantity parts cost - I didn't understand overhead, the effect of volume on retail price, dealers wanting 30% to carry the card, assembly/test/packaging cost, telephone support, the cost of money, etc. IBM-PC Ethernet boards simply cost less because they are probably mass produced off shore, sold only through dealers (i.e. don't call the manufacturer with a question), and they sell a couple thousand or so a month.. Rick Spanbauer