I work in Cable Modem operations. We have some  customers who buy cheap, and often problematic NIC's, ony to face hours of endless troubleshooting on NIC issues. The NetGear FA-310 is one of their biggest problems. Made of  flimsy greenboard and "? " type Chinese components, NetGear's  crusade of inexpensive NIC's has made a joke of consistentcy. The price may  be attractive, yet you would be hard-pressed to find any company who would  commit to using NetGear NIC's throughout their operation: Simply because  the service and quality is inconsistent. NetGear's customer support is  short of laughable, as well.