[bmcivor]

Is there any way to connect an older Mac, a PowerPC 7100/66, to a DSL modem that only has Ethernet connections? If this is possible, what would be required?
Thanks for the help.

[Iamanamma]

You're going to have to buy an ethernet comm card for your 7100. Last I looked, you could get them for about $80.00, sometimes even less if you shop ebay.

[SeaFox]

The 7100 has built in Ethernet but it's an AAUI-15 connector. You can find the tranciever on eBay for a few dollars to convert it to the standard connector used today. Or you could buy a Nubus ethernet card. You can find then for $10-$20 on eBay if you know where to look.
The built in ethernet will only give you 10BaseT speeds, which should be fine for a broadband connection. The expansion card will be required for more speed, and I don't know how easy it would be to find 100BaseT Nubus cards.

[Iamanamma]

Huh. Sorry to pass not completely accurate information. I even looked that up in the tables in my Mac Repair & Upgrade Bible. It made no mention of the built-in ethernet.

[SeaFox]

I think many people don't consider AUUI ethernet "real" ethernet because of the transciever being involved. I believe the only Power Macs not to ship with built in ethernet of some sort were the Performa models.

[proudy]

The AAUI transceiver was used because at the time, networks were not all 10Base-T. Some were 10Base-2 (or Co-ax) and there were transceivers for that as well.
There were also SCSI ethernet adapters, for those "slot-challenged" Macs. They connected to the SCSI port on the back, and provided either 10Base-t or 10Base-2 connections. (Plus let you use the rest of the SCSI chain!)