For PCI, the Intel Ether express 10/100/1000. You can get drivers for nearly every OS, including packet drivers for native Dos.

There are other gigabit nics with Dos support, but the Intel cards are usually easiest to find and have the widest array of software.

For ISA I typically stick to Realtek Rtl8019/8029 or 3com 3c509 for the same reasons - ubiquitous software support.

I bought a generic RTL8139D PCI NIC for $2 on ebay just because the listing said it has Win98 drivers but I found out after it's also supported by pretty much every OS under the sun (DOS, Win 3.1, Win95, Win98/ME, NT3.51, NT4, XP, Vista, 7, SCO Unix, Linux, MacOS, NetWare 3/4/Client). There are also heaps of them around.

megatron-uk wrote on 2026-04-26, 06:55:

For PCI, the Intel Ether express 10/100/1000. You can get drivers for nearly every OS, including packet drivers for native Dos.

There are other gigabit nics with Dos support, but the Intel cards are usually easiest to find and have the widest array of software.

For ISA I typically stick to Realtek Rtl8019/8029 or 3com 3c509 for the same reasons - ubiquitous software support.

Thanks.

That still leaves me without a proper chonky preferrably 2-port PCI card for my server though. Doesn't feel right, putting a tiny low profile Realtec or Intel into that huge box.

Why the need for two ports? Are you using it as a gateway or router, or configuring it with link aggregation to a switch?

If you want more bandwidth then instead of 802.3ad / 802.1ax aggregation you're probably better off getting a switch with at least one 2.5G port and getting a cheap 2.5G NIC for your server. I bought a 6 port 2.5G switch the other day for £30 delivered, and cards (Realtek, admittedly) are like £10-12. It doesn't make sense to buy old server network hardware anymore - it's no cheaper and it's often much, much hotter/power hungry; things like the typical Intel X520 NIC's are monstrous power hogs compared to modern stuff.

songoffall wrote on 2026-04-26, 06:10:

And the last batch had a very nice NIC from 1996 - Netgear FA310TX, an early version with DEC Tulip chip. Thought it would be a very nice addition to my Pentium II 1997 build, but once I got to the drivers, I was quite surprised to find the abundance of systems supported by this NIC - it had DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 9x, Novell NetWare, OS/2, SCO Unix, and apparently early Linux versions too. And it is 10-base-T with 10/100 support. This is not the case with most NICs I stumble upon. So I might have stumbled upon something special here.

Can you post a picture of this card please?

songoffall wrote on 2026-04-26, 06:10:

So I might have stumbled upon something special here.

No.
It's common for NICs to have support for a wide range of systems.

The only notable exception is my personal most-hated NIC ever - 3CSOHO100B.
Officially, only supports Windows ME, 2000, and XP.
Unofficially, also works with 98SE, and Linux.
The perfect NIC for a Windows ME troll-build 🤣

Over the years I've had good luck with RealTek, both ISA and PCI editions, I particularily like them being NE2000 compatible, which (IMHO) is just about the most common/supported NIC in various classic systems.

Intel, Dlink, SMC, WD and others have also been good.

PKTDRV.ZIP on my site has a decent collection of dozens of packet drivers I've found most useful with classic systems, as well as a tool called PCINIC which finds, identifies and reports configuration (addresses etc.) for PCI networking cards (information you need to install some packet drivers)

Disruptor wrote on 2026-04-26, 08:26:

songoffall wrote on 2026-04-26, 06:10:

And the last batch had a very nice NIC from 1996 - Netgear FA310TX, an early version with DEC Tulip chip. Thought it would be a very nice addition to my Pentium II 1997 build, but once I got to the drivers, I was quite surprised to find the abundance of systems supported by this NIC - it had DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 9x, Novell NetWare, OS/2, SCO Unix, and apparently early Linux versions too. And it is 10-base-T with 10/100 support. This is not the case with most NICs I stumble upon. So I might have stumbled upon something special here.

Can you post a picture of this card please?

I will photograph the one I have once I open up the old Pentium II PC. But here's a picture of the same exact card from the internet:

Unlike other Netgear FA310TX cards, the chip is not marked as Netgear, clearly marked as DEC and there is no yellow Netgear mascot stencil on the back. Unlike later LiteOn based FA310TX cards, there's a second IC on the board. The option rom socket on my card is unpopulated as well.

megatron-uk wrote on 2026-04-26, 07:34:

Why the need for two ports? Are you using it as a gateway or router, or configuring it with link aggregation to a switch?

If you want more bandwidth then instead of 802.3ad / 802.1ax aggregation you're probably better off getting a switch with at least one 2.5G port and getting a cheap 2.5G NIC for your server. I bought a 6 port 2.5G switch the other day for £30 delivered, and cards (Realtek, admittedly) are like £10-12. It doesn't make sense to buy old server network hardware anymore - it's no cheaper and it's often much, much hotter/power hungry; things like the typical Intel X520 NIC's are monstrous power hogs compared to modern stuff.

To connect the server to two networks at the same time. Nothing practical, just to build something fun.

songoffall wrote on 2026-04-26, 13:42:

I will photograph the one I have once I open up the old Pentium II PC. But here's a picture of the same exact card from the internet:

The attachment 71unLW-cQSL._SL1500_.jpg is no longer available

Unlike other Netgear FA310TX cards, the chip is not marked as Netgear, clearly marked as DEC and there is no yellow Netgear mascot stencil on the back. Unlike later LiteOn based FA310TX cards, there's a second IC on the board. The option rom socket on my card is unpopulated as well.

Does that mean you have two NIC in your computer?

I like the Dec 21140 chip because it's one of the few PCI network interfaces that have Windows NT 3.1 drivers.

I love the 3Com 3C905, because it can directly boot from Lan.
Of course some other cards do it too with a AllInOne floppy, but it's very useful.
And of course there are drivers for most of old OS.

Well, there is the famous Cogent EM110 TX/T4.
One one PCI card you have:
10 Base 2 (BNC) thin wire
10 Base 5 (AUI) thick wire
10 Base T (TP) cat 3 full-duplex
100 Base T4 (TP) cat 3 half-duplex
100 Base TX (TP) cat 5 full-duplex

Disruptor wrote on 2026-04-26, 17:13:

songoffall wrote on 2026-04-26, 13:42:

I will photograph the one I have once I open up the old Pentium II PC. But here's a picture of the same exact card from the internet:

The attachment 71unLW-cQSL._SL1500_.jpg is no longer available

Unlike other Netgear FA310TX cards, the chip is not marked as Netgear, clearly marked as DEC and there is no yellow Netgear mascot stencil on the back. Unlike later LiteOn based FA310TX cards, there's a second IC on the board. The option rom socket on my card is unpopulated as well.

Does that mean you have two NIC in your computer?

Not in the Compaq, no.

Disruptor wrote on 2026-04-26, 18:32:

Well, there is the famous Cogent EM110 TX/T4. One one PCI card you have: 10 Base 2 (BNC) thin wire 10 Base 5 (AUI) thick wire 10 […]
Show full quote

Well, there is the famous Cogent EM110 TX/T4.
One one PCI card you have:
10 Base 2 (BNC) thin wire
10 Base 5 (AUI) thick wire
10 Base T (TP) cat 3 full-duplex
100 Base T4 (TP) cat 3 half-duplex
100 Base TX (TP) cat 5 full-duplex

Very nice!
3C905B-COMBO is also worth mentioning - supports almost all of the above, the exception being 100 Base T4.

fosterwj03 wrote on 2026-04-26, 17:24:

I like the Dec 21140 chip because it's one of the few PCI network interfaces that have Windows NT 3.1 drivers.

I've got a few Realtek {mumble - I can figure out the model number if anyone cares} that are PCI and are fully NE2000 compatible, which is compatible with almost all OSs. It's been years, but I'm pretty sure they worked on NT 3.1, 4, 2000 also used them with Wfw 3.1, 95, 98 etc.

Heck I even use them in DOS with an NE2000 packet driver.

Grzyb wrote on 2026-04-27, 00:09:

Disruptor wrote on 2026-04-26, 18:32:

Well, there is the famous Cogent EM110 TX/T4. One one PCI card you have: 10 Base 2 (BNC) thin wire 10 Base 5 (AUI) thick wire 10 […]
Show full quote

Well, there is the famous Cogent EM110 TX/T4.
One one PCI card you have:
10 Base 2 (BNC) thin wire
10 Base 5 (AUI) thick wire
10 Base T (TP) cat 3 full-duplex
100 Base T4 (TP) cat 3 half-duplex
100 Base TX (TP) cat 5 full-duplex

Very nice!
3C905B-COMBO is also worth mentioning - supports almost all of the above, the exception being 100 Base T4.

I have one of these 3Com EtherLink III 3C509B-C(ombo) NIC adapters. It's an ISA card, so it's suitable for even more vintage systems. Its configuration can be set by software tool. Also it supports boot ROM - I'm using it with XTIDE BIOS.

EDIT: Mistakenly swapped the numbers in NIC's model.

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-04-27, 03:28:

PCI and are fully NE2000 compatible

Linux "ne2k-pci" driver supports the following:

RealTek RTL-8029(AS)
Winbond 89C940
Compex RL2000
KTI ET32P2
NetVin NV5000SC
Via 86C926
SureCom NE34
Winbond W89C940F
Holtek HT80232
Holtek HT80229
Winbond W89C940(misprogrammed)

Heck I even use them in DOS with an NE2000 packet driver.

Yes, they should work even with a not-PCI-aware NE2000 driver, you just need to specify the I/O address and IRQ manually, which may change after adding/removing other cards.

aVd wrote on 2026-04-27, 06:58:

I have one of these 3Com 3C905B-C(ombo) NIC adapters. It's an ISA card, so it's suitable for even more vintage systems.

3C509B is ISA.
3C905B is PCI, and its COMBO variant is a rare example of 100 Mbps card with AUI and BNC ports.