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Xircom adapters on eBay

M

mbbrutman

Associate Cat Herder
Staff member
Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
6,432
These adapters are good for connecting vintage hardware to Ethernet. They use the parallel port and after the drivers are loaded they look just like a real Ethernet card. That is useful for machines that have limited (or no) ISA slots.

Standard displaimer. None of these are mine, nor do I have an interest in them

380299765916: $10, New, PE3, but don't know if it uses ThinNet (BNC) or twisted pair.
180596852345: $25, Used, PE3-10BT, with wall power adapter, shipping included.
350373711799: $30, PE3-10BT, claims to be new but can't possibly be ...
280600043603: $25, Used, with PS/2 keyboard 'phantom power' cable but no wall power
370459871454: $32, PE3-10B2 (ThinNet), New, free shipping,


These things hang off your parallel port and require external power. The preferred way to power them is to use an AC adapter which was included in the box. There was also a 'PS/2 keyboard phantom power' cable that could leach power from your keyboard port for the Xircom; this is not as desirable for those of us who have older, full sized keyboard plugs. (Or who don't have a standard keyboard plug at all.)

The 2nd and 5th ones would be my bet .. #2 is used but works on modern networks. #5 is new but requires ThinNet.


Mike
 
There's always a few of these on eBay... I'm looking to get one or two myself, but I'm waiting for them to drop in price(maybe never).
 
I've got a couple of them (PE3-10BT) both with the PS/2 adapter cable. I'd be willing to sell one for $20 shipped (continental), but I'd want to test them first. What's an easy way to test it on a standard DOS-booting machine?
 
mbbrutman said:
These adapters are good for connecting vintage hardware to Ethernet. They use the parallel port and after the drivers are loaded they look just like a real Ethernet card...
Click to expand...

Just the way they tighten the connection screws is wild...
 
And another few notable Xircoms ..

  • 350432976590 - Bare unit only, used, $15 with shipping. You need to supply a power adapter to make it work.
  • 270688682069 - Bare unit with 'PS/2 phantom power cable' - can be powered off of the PS/2 keyboard port. A wee bit expensive - around $30 with shipping.
  • 290446248938 - Older model - PE2, not PE3. Probably works well with a packet driver on older machines, but no personal experience. With original packaging and power adapter, under $25 shipped
  • 390274666689 - PE3-10BT-AM - supposed to be new, not sure if it is ThinNet, Twisted Pair, or capable of both. $32 with shipping.

As always, I have no personal or financial interest in any of these. I just want to spread the joy of DOS Networking.
 
Another reasonably priced PE3-10BT on eBay: 270791529340
 
i love these things, they are so useful for ancient laptops. i have 3 myself. one broke though. :(
 
I keep meaning to pick one up. Could've had 3 for $35 not too long back, but forgot about it, then the auction closed and never returned (unsold). I put bids on this one..
 
mbbrutman said:
And of those of you wondering what a Xircom PE3 is :)

http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/xircom_pe3.html

(We should do a page like this for *all* of the common old good adapters ...)
Click to expand...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

I recently bought one of these xircoms to connect my old laptops (one at a time, obviously :p ) to my network for file/data transfer, but the SOB who sold it did not provide drivers (of course) and the only ones I found at IBM were apparently for ORIGINAL PEs....
Your link got it running IMMEDIATELY!


I must NOT EVER EVER lose this software! :D

Thanks again!
:D
 
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