DSL/Ethernet

**George Foster** · December 17th, 2013, 12:58 PM

I would like to have everyones opinions about something. I have long felt when using DSL for your internet connection it is best to use a seperate ehternet card versus the ethernet port on the mother board. I would like to find out everyones opinion on that.

**CeeBee** · December 17th, 2013, 06:51 PM

False unless the separate card is faster (ex gigabit card vs 10/100 internal) or has a fancy chipset (most common in some server cards).
Otherwise they will either share the same bus in the end or the on-board might even have the advantage of a dedicated bus on some chipsets.
With a DSL line you're not going to see the slightest difference if they run at the same speed (ex 100Mbps). The speed and latency of the DSL line are orders of magnitude different from the ones of the card.

**George Foster** · December 18th, 2013, 04:58 AM

I wasn't clear in my posting, I realize that now when I read it. I was talking about the fact that I feel using a seperate ehternet card with DSL tends to protect the motherboard in case of a lightening strike. I have had customers with seperated ethernet cards on their computers that got hit from a strike presumbly from the lightening coming in on the phone line and all that was ruined was the card. I had one customer with two computers one which I had put a card in for him and one where the ethernet cable was plugged into the motherboard ethernet port. I had to replace the card on the computer which had one but the motherboard was fried on the other computer.

**CeeBee** · December 18th, 2013, 02:51 PM

There is galvanic isolation between the line and the "card" thanks to transformers.
If the strike makes it through 2 transformers (one at each end of the cable) you deserve it. Just use a surge protector for the phone line.
Having a separate card will not prevent damage with a strike, it will just make it less likely - but it can still fry the computer.

**George Foster** · December 19th, 2013, 04:52 AM

Are you aware you aren't suppose to use a surge protector with DSL as it interferes with the signal? Lots of times if you use a surge protector you can't get connected.

**CeeBee** · December 19th, 2013, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by George Foster

Are you aware you aren't suppose to use a surge protector with DSL as it interferes with the signal? Lots of times if you use a surge protector you can't get connected.

All half-decent surge protectors handle DSL lines very well. Example: http://www.apc.com/products/resource...ase_sku=P11GTV
In the vast majority of instances there should be no interference as they only have some MOVs as protecting devices.

**MobilePCPhysician** · December 20th, 2013, 12:12 AM

Unless we are talking about protecting a high end server board, most computers are throw aways. On-site back up, off site backup, bring on the weather. What type of network are you trying to protect???