Mulit-port network cards, which to get?

[Soul Rebel]

So after a previous suggestion in my last thread, I want to get a multi-port network card. I currently have a solid dual-wan router, but I still get the occasional hiccup or slowdown at the tables. Basically I want there to be zero downtime caused by hardware. So here are some questions:

1. I want to replace my dual-wan router with this, it looks like the network card will do the job better than a router, is this true?

2. I don't know much about network cards, but it seems that many of the multi-port cards are made for different purposes. I just want zero downtime when 1 connection goes out, so what should I be looking for?

3. Any specific recommendations for which card to get, or anything else I should know?

Thanks again for the help.

[buckslayer80]

Why do u have a dual WAN router?? And what are your connection types?

[nuclear500]

What you are experiencing is not going to be resolved by a multi-port NIC.

Multi-port NIC's are meant for link aggregation and failover, neither of which you are experiencing here. If a failover scenario actually occurred, that means the "router" hardware is simply bad to begin with and should be fixed there, or the NIC itself.

Link aggregation can introduce more issues to over come as well, especially on an non-layer 3 switch which is what a Broadband "router" is.

Your problem is most likely something completely unrelated to hardware and throwing more hardware at it is most likely not going to solve the problem.

<rant>Broadband "routers" aren't routing anything and in most cases --can't-- actually route anything. I've hated that term being used to reference a hardware NAT device since they came out.</rant>

But if you are set on a multi-port NIC, get a Broadcom NetXtreme http://www.shopping.com/xPO-IBM-20758237