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* Drew P. Vogel <dvogel@intercarve.net> on Wed, May 15, 2002:

>=20
> Does anyone know why the BBA doubled in price anyway? Have the Sega-Japan
> version always been more expensive? Is there really anything different
> about them other than the instruction booklet? Is Sega even the one
> jacking up the price or is it the retailers because they know this is
> their last supply (or at least they can tell us that)?
>=20

There are two Dreamcast network adapters floating around.  The first was
released in Japan circa 1999, and it's called the "Dreamcast LAN Adapter",
model HIT-0300.  It was shipped with a web browser.  It is not compatible
with any DC software other than the web browser that it ships with.  It uses
a Fujitsu chipset on a proprietary bus.

The second is the one most people refer to, called the "Dreamcast Broadband
Adapter", model HIT-0401.  This is the BBA that generally sells for $120 on
lik-sang.com and goes for more on eBay.  It is compatible with all games
that explicitly support "broadband access".  It's comprised of a Realtek
8139c chip on a simple "PCI-like" interface.

The HIT-0401 is what's supported by NetBSD, Linux, etc.  There is limited
homebrew software that does support the Japanese-only HIT-0300, I don't know
if NetBSD does.  You should be able to find the HIT-0300 at about half the
price of the HIT-0401, this may be an alternative for you if it is indeed
supported.

Note: The HIT-0300 is only capable of 10Mbps speeds.  The HIT-0401 is
10/100Mbps capable.

M. R.

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