Samba & 3com NIC

[Tom Hallewell]

We've had a horrible time with the 3-Com 905 series, especially under Linux.
If we switch them out with the Intel EtherExpress Pro, our problems go away.
The auto-negotiation seems to be unruly at best and they do not seem
particularly good at error-handling.  Pretty much all our servers are
running EEPro's now and I am getting great speeds.  One thing you might want
to check is that the ports on your switch or hub are set for
auto-negotiation.  I have found the 3Com to be particularly unforgiving in
this regard.  You should also confirm that the NIC itself is set to
auto-negotiate, too.
Or buy Intels or whatever...