[geeks] 486 as router/firewall/server

[Rick Hamell]

> have tried, and failed, in getting the two ISA NIC's working properly. the
> first NIC is a 3Com Etherlink III 3c509b. The second is a D-Link DE 250.

	3Com is notrious for having junk in the PC world. One card will
work great, the next one nothing but problems. Saying that, once you get a
card that actually works, it never goes bad. :) 

> Also, which of these OS's/version are best for router/firewall/server?
> FreeBSD 4.3, Debian Progeny 1.0, Red Hat 7.1, or Caldera Workstation/Server.

	Whichever works best for you. FreeBSD I know for sure will see the
3Com card with no problems. Just make sure you (as other's have
mentioned,) assign it a IRQ. The 486 PNP stuff never worked/works very
well.

	Rick