LANtastic(TM) AE-2(TM) and AE-2 MC(TM) Adapters
Standard Bus and Micro Channel

When PC Magazine ran LANtastic NOS over LANtastic AE-2 Ethernet Adapters,
they wrote: "LANtastic blows away the DOS-based competition in terms of
performance." (May 29, 1990) 

LANtastic AE-2 Ethernet is an 8/16-bit adapter that can be used in either a
16-bit or an 8-bit slot, or run in 8-bit mode in a 16-bit slot. The adapter
auto-senses between these two modes and switches itself for higher per-
formance.

LANtastic AE-2 MC Ethernet for Micro Channel machines is a 16-bit adapter
that can be used in either a 16-bit or a 32-bit slot.

AE-2 Ethernet and AE-2 MC Ethernet are downward compatible with Novell's
NE2000 hardware.

Both adapters are in 100% compliance with IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet standards.
And both come with on-board 16K RAM that is user expandable to 64K.

A high-performance transceiver drives cable lengths up to 300 meters (984
feet) per segment with thin RG-58A/U coaxial cable (Cheapernet) and will
handle 30 nodes per segment. Or using an external transceiver with thick
Ethernet cable, LANtastic AE-2 and AE-2 MC Ethernet support network segments
of up to 500 meters (1640 feet) and 100 nodes. 

Specifications.

Hardware compatibility:
*Five-year warranty
*Standard Bus (ISA): IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 model 30, 30-286 and compatibles, 
 and 386-based IBM PC bus compatibles
*Downward compatible with Novell NE2000
*Jumper for non-standard bus
*Micro Channel: IBM PS/2 Micro Channel and compatibles

PC requirements:
*One floppy drive
*PC or MS DOS 3.1 or higher (3.2 not recommended)
*Standard Bus (ISA): One 16- or 8-bit slot (hardware and software auto-senses
between these two modes)
*Micro Channel: One 16- or 32-bit slot in PS/2

Standard:
*IEEE 802.3 10Base5
*IEEE 802.3 10Base2

Data Transfer Rate:
*10 megabits per second

LAN Controller
*NS 8390 chip set
Buffer RAM:
*On-board 16K, user expandable to 64K
*Automatically switches to correct RAM size when the chips are inserted 

Boot ROM:
*Optional

I/O Base Address:
*Standard Bus (ISA): 300h, 320h, 340h and 360h
*Micro Channel: 300h, 320h, 340h, 360h, 1000h, 2020h and 8020h

Interrupt Request Lines (IRQs):
*Standard Bus (ISA): 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 15
*Micro Channel: 3, 4, 5 and 9

DMA Channels (Standard Bus):
*1, 3, 5, 7 are available if needed (The AE-2 NetBIOS software provided does 
 not use DMA channels)
*Jumper enable

Power Requirements
Standard Bus (ISA):
*+5V 1100mA max
*+12V 200mA max supplied to external transceiver
Micro Channel:
*+5V 1300mA max
*+12V 175mA max supplied to external transceiver

Access Protocol:
*CSMA/CD
 
Topology:
*Linear bus

Maximum network cable lengths per segment:
*Up to 185 meters (607 feet) with RG-58A/U coax cable (Cheapernet) 
*Up to 300 meters (984 feet) with RG-58A/U coax cable (Cheapernet) using    
 jumper option not in compliance with the IEEE 802.3 standard
*500 meters (1640 feet) with Ethernet cable

Maximum nodes per segment:
*30 nodes (RG-58A/U)
*100 nodes (Ethernet)