PCMCIA support by portable computers is becoming universal. For example, in our March Lab Report (see "46 Powerful Portables"), 83 percent of the 486-based notebooks and subnotebooks we reviewed contained at least one PCMCIA slot. In addition, internal and external PCMCIA-card readers are also available for desktop systems.
The cards that we tested here conform to the PCMCIA release 2.01 Type II standard and to the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard; they conform to the standard dimensions of 2.16 by 1.35 by 1.3 inches. The cards are all software-configurable and draw their power from the client system, so they do not use external AC adapters.
In the mobile market, these cards compete directly against parallel-port Ethernet adapters. The average price for a PCMCIA Ethernet adapter is $257, which is also the average price for a portable Ethernet ad
apter with EPP support. In our overall tests, the PCMCIA adapters outperformed the portable adapters in EPP mode by an average of 11 percent.
However, we found that the performance advantage of PCMCIA adapters was somewhat application-dependent. For instance, they outperformed the parallel-port adapters by about 15 percent in our spreadsheet benchmarks but posted only a 4 percent advantage in the cc:Mail for Windows tests, which tend to be more processor-intensive.
We saw less than a 7 percent difference between the fastest and the slowest PCMCIA adapters (the 3Com EtherLink III PCMCIA and Xircom's CreditCard Ethernet Adapter, respectively). Consequently, ease of configuration and features largely determined our overall rankings.
These PCMCIA adapters typically come with MAMs (media-access modules), which connect the cards to the physical network. The Boca, CNet, 3Com, and Xircom adapters we tested do not require external modules for 10Base-T connections because they can plug directly int
o an Ethernet hub. The Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card's MAM comes with both 10Base-T and 10Base-2 connectors, and it automatically identifies the proper cable type.
Status lights can be very useful in diagnosing network problems. Typically LEDs, they provide link-status information and show whether data is being transmitted over the wire. All but two of the PCMCIA adapters in this review have at least two LEDs (either on the MAM or on the card itself) for showing both link-status information and whether data is being transmitted over the wire. The exceptions are 3Com's EtherLink III PCMCIA, which has only one LED, and the Boca PCMCIA 10Base-T Ethernet Adapter, which does not contain any status lights. However, neither model was hampered by its design: Both received ease-of-use ratings of excellent.
Whether or not C&S (Card and Socket Services) is present on a client system largely determines how easy a PCMCIA adapter is to use and install. Socket Services is hardware-dependent software that monitor
s each PCMCIA slot in a system to determine if a card is present. Card Services is a hardware-independent software management interface that controls communications between the PCMCIA card and the system. It makes system resources (e.g., IRQ [interrupt request], I/O port, and base-memory address) available to the adapter and dynamically allocates the resources when you load the NetWare DOS ODI (Open Data-Link Interface) driver.
The PCMCIA adapters from Ansel, Kingston, Microdyne, and National Semiconductor ship with their own C&S drivers (along with resource-table management software). The Boca PCMCIA 10Base-T Ethernet Adapter comes with its own C&S software, while the Black Box PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter 10BT ships with a device driver that automatically allocates system resources if C&S is present.
Compex, IBM, and Thomas-Conrad supply enabler software drivers for use with their PCMCIA adapters. An enabler is a device driver that resides in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT and accepts configuration par
ameters (e.g., IRQ, base I/O, and memory address). Enabler drivers can also take over if your system does not support C&S drivers provided by a peripherals vendor. But enablers can limit the functionality of the PCMCIA card. For instance, you must insert the adapter during driver initialization, and there is no card insertion/removal support after you have booted up the system. In addition, you can make changes to the adapter's default settings only in the NET.CFG file for NetWare DOS ODI workstations (or in the PROTOCOL.INI file for NDIS drivers).
The driver software that is included with the CLI IC-Card T and the Addtron EP-200T PCMCIA cards automatically configures the adapters for you as long as C&S is present. The host automatically detects the available resources and then allocates them for use by the network adapter.
While we were testing C&S drivers and enablers or the Versa Technology driver (see the accompanying text box on page 252), we didn't encounter any compatibility problems with
our test-bed notebook. However, our tests didn't include running multiple PCMCIA cards in a single system, and incompatibilities can possibly arise when you are using cards with different drivers.
Rankings for This Category Considered:
PERFORMANCE 50%
FEATURES 25%
EASE OF USE 25%
PCMCIA Cards
For problem-free PCMCIA installation...
BEST OVERALL
3Com EtherLink III PCMCIA
This card, which uses a proprietary controller, scored the best overall performance in our bench-marks. It comes with BNC and twisted-pair couplers that can be inserted only in their proper orientation. The EtherLink III PCMCIA received an ease-of-use rating of excellent thanks to its clear and comprehensive documentation and an installation program that automatically configures the card and loads the files necessary for it to function as a NetWare DOS ODI client. The EtherLink III is not designed to communicate with Card Services; its driver directly pr
ograms the PCMCIA controller in the client to configure the PCMCIA card. (To avoid conflicts, 3Com recommends that C&S not be installed unless it's required by another PCMCIA adapter.) Also worth noting are the first and second runners-up from Thomas-Conrad and National Semiconductor. Each sells for a price near that of the 3Com adapter and offers performance that's a negligible 3 percent slower than that of the leader. The second-place Thomas-Conrad card ships with an enabler software driver. The National Semiconductor adapter offers a C&S software driver.
SPEED EASE
PRICE INDEX OF USE FEATURES
BEST 3Com EtherLink III PCMCIA $225 0.60 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Thomas-Conrad TC5041-T $230 0.58 **** ****
RUNNER-UP National Semiconductor
InfoMover NE4100 $213 0.58 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Xircom CreditCard
Ethernet Adapter
$299 0.56 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Alta Research EtherMCIA UTP $299 0.58 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card $199 0.57 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Microdyne NE4000T $249 0.58 **** ***
RUNNER-UP Kingston EtheRx PCMCIA Adapter $179 0.58 **** **
RUNNER-UP CLI IC-Card T $395 0.57 **** ***
RUNNER-UP IBM Credit Card Adapter $225 0.58 *** ***
NETWORK DRIVERS
NETWARE NET-
SERVER ODI IPX BIOS UNIX
BEST 3Com EtherLink III PCMCIA X X
RUNNER-UP Thomas-Conrad TC5041-T X X
RUNNER-UP National Semiconductor
InfoMover NE4100 X X
RUNNER-UP Xircom CreditCard
Ethernet Adapter X X
RUNNER-UP Alta Resea
rch EtherMCIA UTP X X X
RUNNER-UP Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card X X X X X
RUNNER-UP Microdyne NE4000T X
RUNNER-UP Kingston EtheRx PCMCIA Adapter X
RUNNER-UP CLI IC-Card T X X X X
RUNNER-UP IBM Credit Card Adapter X X X
Key
Poor *
Fair **
Good ***
Excellent ****
Yes = X
PCMCIA Cards
Is $200 your limit?
LOW COST
Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card
This under-$200 card provides overall performance that's on a par with that of PCMCIA adapters that cost $100 more. The adapter's media coupler includes both 10Base-T and 10Base-2 connectors. The card automatically detects the type of wiring in use, and an enabler program automatically loads in the system's configuration to allow the card to function in computers that do not include C&S. An installation utility helps you sele
ct hardware settings and copies the appropriate network drivers to a selected subdirectory. The adapter's software also creates a batch file that logs the user on to the network as a NetWare ODI client. High-quality documentation adds to the ease of installing and configuring the adapter.
Kingston's EtheRx PCMCIAAdapter offers a slightly lower price and fractionally better performance than the Accton Ethernet PCMCIACard. However, we found its standard features to be inferior, especially its selection of network drivers.
SPEED EASE
PRICE INDEX OF USE FEATURES
BEST Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card $199 0.57 **** ****
RUNNER-UP Kingston EtheRx PCMCIA Adapter $179 0.58 **** **
RUNNER-UP Boca PCMCIA 10Base-T $195 0.57 **** **
NETWORK DRIVERS
NETWARE NET-
SERVER ODI IPX BIOS UNIX
BEST Accton Ethernet PCMCIA Card X X X X X
RUNNER-UP Kingston EtheRx PCMCIA Adapter X
RUNNER-UP Boca PCMCIA 10Base-T X
Key
Poor *
Fair **
Good ***
Excellent ****
Yes = X
PCMCIA Cards
