SOLVED: 8.1 xl + dual-speed Netgear hub = yoyo

[perryh at pluto.rain.com]

> > You can either replace the NIC with something else,
> > or replace the hub.  IMHO, I would replace both.
>
> I can replace the hub easily enough -- I have a 100-only
> Netgear that _is_ a true hub (has been used successfully
> for sniffing) ...

That fixed it.  For the archives, this particular xl (on
a Dell mainboard) is not compatible with a Netgear DS-106
"dual-speed hub" at 100MB, at least using the driver that
shipped with FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE.  (I haven't tried other
xl's, or other FreeBSD versions.)  It does work with a
Netgear FE-104 100-only hub.