[jhallenworld]

The funniest Ethernet system I've seen is that used in dataprobe's "iBoot" remote power switch. These used 8051 microcontroller (the classic 40-pin DIP) connected to an ISA-bus FIFO-based 10/100 Ethernet chip using GPIOs. The FIFO saves you since the 8051 doesn't have to keep up with the line rate (one whole packet has to fit in the FIFO).

But I know these devices fail when the network is chatty- like if you have spanning-tree enabled.

The iBoot has a simple web interface. Somebody wrote an entire network stack for 8051..

[nousermane]

Hooking up an ISA Ethernet card (or chips designed to go into one) to an 8051 (and later, AVR) was actually the go-to way to do "internet of things" back in the day. Then ENC28J60 came along, and things got much easier.