Craptastic Hardware
Somewhere along the line, someone decided that the millions of chipsets that are produced at VIA don't need to be strictly PCI 2.2 compliant. I spent this weekend updating my home network. My puppy Kiko decided that the 100 foot LAN cable running from my cable modem to my router was fun to chew on. I suppose I could have replaced or even repaired the cable but the wireless solution seemed to solve more than just my broken connection. My wife would be relieved that the cable was gone and I wouldn't trip over it every day. Anyway, the Netgear WG311T netcard was my first choice. 108 Mbps type G, it was what I initially purchased. I would play Counter-Strike: Source for like 15 minutes and bam... hard freeze. I restart and same thing. After doing research, I find out that the 108 type wireless NIC cards have an issue with VIA chipsets. The NIC chipset by Atheros doesn't communicate very well supposedly because of the PCI problem mentioned earlier under stress loads (like gaming). So I took it back and got the 54g which features a T1 chipset. Works like a charm. It even has a better connection to the router. The numbers like 11, 54, and 108 are the transfer rates between other wireless computers on the network. 54 MB per second is enough for anyone. If folks bring over a computer to a LAN, I will simply either buy a couple USB wireless NICs to use or get a couple long cables to set up temporarily. Since the router is now over the modem which is by my X-Box, I took the opportunity to sign up for X-Box LIVE. It was a free 2 month trial and so far I like it. Its easy to use and I find it fun to race or fight against other people online. I especially like Rally Sport Challenge 2. I got some solid practice time for my piano in this weekend. Daylight savings has thrown off my previous sleeping schedule so I came in an hour late today. I removed the forums from my website since they seem redundant (thanks JP). The Pope of the Roman Catholic church died this weekend. Although I myself am not a practising Catholic, I admired his willingness to promote peace and unity throughout the world regardless of faith (or lack thereof). His contributions to humanity were great. I wonder what his replacement will have in store for that church.
posted by FM Hradek @ 4/04/2005 11:20:00 AM
2 Comments:
Regarding the kikonater munching your cable-age, my mom says "Wait till you have kids."
I was gonna ask you how you felt about the whole Pope deal. I remember in the before-days you had strong feelings about Catholicism. I've heard a lot of people say they're glad he's dead blah blah pederasty blah blah south america. Hypocrites. Seems to me that, even on the level these people are judging him, the political, he made extraordinary efforts and changed the world for the better. This is to say nothing of his spiritual guidance, of which I know nothing. Thoughts?
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