In message <15114.6365.145100.550435@maes.adc-itcl.ce.philips.com> you write:

|> that's what i'm a bit afraid of.
|> it would have to serve two 10Mbit connections.

That would probably push the machine to its limits, but with ample
memory, it might do, depending on how heavily those network segments
are loaded, how much of the traffic actually needs to be routed, and
how much NAT and filtering has to be done.

|> #Besides from decreasing raw network throughput compared to a
|> #100 Mbit el-cheapo PC card, thus increasing the time needed to
|> #transmit a packet of given size, it may also force your switch
|> #or dual-speed hub into store-and-forward mode which may add a
|> #delay more or less noticeable depending on the device's design.

|> okay i get the message.

No offense intended, but I don't think so. What I tried to point out is
that the ping round trip times are just what you'd expect get if you
compare pinging a 100 MBit device from another 100 MBit device via a hub
with pinging a 10 MBit device from a 100 MBit device via a dual-speed
hub or a switch, even if that 10 MBit device were directly connected to
the backplane of a Cray Y-MP.

|> i'll keep the SS1 as a plaything and use an old 486 or so

That 486 will handle not much more network bandwith than the SS1+. It
certainly won't handle a 100 MBit going full blast. With SBus Sparc,
a rule of thumb is 1 Mbit per 1 MHz CPU. For ISA 486, probably less.

What's more, I wouldn't like to try to get two NICs to cooperate in an
ISA PC (can you spell "interrupt conflict" and "port adress conflict"?).
With a Sun, you plug in a 501-2015 or so, create /etc/hostname.le1,
reboot, and it just works.

|> for the cable connection.

Aha. There's the answer for my question:
|> #How small? I.e. just a 9k6 analog, or a 622m ATM?
If I get you right, you want to route between your SOHO and your TV
cable "modem". So at least one of the networks won't be going full
blast all the time, and only part of the traffic on the other network
will actually need to be routed.

Why don't you just give it a try?

	vb