Just buy a el cheepo card on eBay. Just check to see if the chipset support a 9x.

My favourite card of all time was the Intel Pro/100 type (intel 82558 / 82559 chipset) - they worked in machines that didn't like the Realtek... pretty sure I used one under 98 - yep, 98 drivers available for Pro/100 and even Pro/1000

Also drivers available for the Realtek - some call them "crab cards" due to Realtek's logo on the chipset - some brand name cards also use the chipset, and will work fine with generic Realtek drivers.

To me 3com cards are really great because they get the job done without asking the cpu too much. The etherlink 3 is one of my favorite dos/win3x card due to it being supported by windows 3.11 and the Microsoft network client out of the box which is really neat and saves a lot of time and the etherlink XL 10/100 (also know as 3c905b-tx) is my favorite for windows 9x for the same reasons. They also have boot roms available on the internet that you can find easily and they are well documented.

Sure you can buy another network card without probably having any issues but since I have a lot of those cards and that they are known to be great cards, I'm basically using those only

3Com 3C509 series. ISA for better compatibility, and rock solid.

Older PCI Linksys or 3COM would work (driver needed).

I have a 3C509B-C in my PPro system. Works fine in Windows NT 4.0.

Alright thanks everyone for the quick reply! if I find an older card I would be pleased! But do you guys think any contemporary card will work? found a really cheap TP-LINK TF-3239DL still on the market for example and it says it's plug and play (maybe not PnP in windows 98?) I'm not really that good with older systems and these kind of components. I'm just starting out as a vintage collector. Shouldn't any 10/100 card be recognized by W98?

most newer ones will work as well, my 98SE IBM i only had a TP-Link 1gb card I bought at Fry's in 2014 available, it has 9x drivers and works great.

I have used a very similar card in a 9x box and it worked fine.

Also 9x only supports one cpu, if your Pent Pro system has two cpu's the second one will go unused.

Only cards worth getting are 3com and Intel, in my opinion.

Pro/100 can work on 9x and so can 3c905. Not sure about 3.11 if you ever wanted to use that, maybe a 905 will work, or maybe you'd have to use an ISA card like a 3c509.

I have used just about every thing out there and I can't say the same, Reel tech cards are ok, its not like one will be watching youtube or using PXE on a 9x box. VIA also make a few good chipsets for 9x systems. it all really depends on what your doing.

@kenrouholo

I've successfuly used 3c905 under MS-DOS and Windows 3.x

I won't explain it right now, but I've managed to make a network bootable image which allows you to install windows 3.x, windows 95, 98 or whatever 😉

I'm pretty sure I can even install 2k or xp with that (if the installers can be lanched from MS-DOS)

Intel Pro 100 is what I use on most boards including Socket 8. I dont even have any non Intel NICs anymore. I use Pro 100 or Pro 1000. Pro 1000 probably wouldn't bring much benefit with a PPro.

I tend to stick with 3COM 3C905 for PCI or 3C509 for ISA. AMD PCnet is also fine for PCI.

Great found a TP-LINK TF-3239DL that also comes with a cd for drivers, manual said it supports win98 so it's orded and on it's way! Will update if I get it to work

German Electronics company Conrad Electronic sells a PCI Gigabit LAN card under their own name that works in Windows 98SE (and it works as intended).

I used a lot of SMC EtherEZ cards >15 years ago.

Anything with the Realtek 8139 chipset will be well-supported in Windows (95 through 10, 3.1 may be a little troublesome). The newer gigabit-capable Realtek 8169 and 8111 have Win9x drivers also, but are kinda overkill. But, they're so cheap and common that you might as well.

Intels and 3Coms are better cards, no doubt, and the AMD Lance/PCNet/PCNet-Fast are solid too, but if you want cheap and good enough, Realtek will fit the bill. I would strongly prefer a 3Com (3c905c) or Intel (EEPro100 or EEPro1000) if you're going to be hosting games, though - those chips handle large numbers of packets more adroitly.

jade_angel wrote:

Anything with the Realtek 8139 chipset will be well-supported in Windows (95 through 10, 3.1 may be a little troublesome). The newer gigabit-capable Realtek 8169 and 8111 have Win9x drivers also, but are kinda overkill. But, they're so cheap and common that you might as well.

Intels and 3Coms are better cards, no doubt, and the AMD Lance/PCNet/PCNet-Fast are solid too, but if you want cheap and good enough, Realtek will fit the bill. I would strongly prefer a 3Com (3c905c) or Intel (EEPro100 or EEPro1000) if you're going to be hosting games, though - those chips handle large numbers of packets more adroitly.

I would also say 3com 3c905, but not 3c905C, I would suggest 3c905B. Windows 95 totally freaks out with some submodels of 905Cs (C-TX-M for example - Windows 98 SE and above could totally use the C models, though).

Realtek 8139 is also a solid card in my opinion (my only copy is a 10mbit only card, though), and it has the ability to have native support from windows 9x and above. It definitely has working drivers available for Windows 3.11 (just as virtually all 3c905s have).

My personal choice is 3c905B-Combo (nice retro look with totally useless features like BNC and thicknet connectors 🤣).