old hardware, what brand is it?

sorry about the vagueness of this post, but does anybody know how to identify old hardware? i have linux on a 486 with a modem and a ethernet -i guess- card. i would like to start using that, but i`m afraid i don`t know the model or make of any of those. i don`t have any manual or anything like that, all i can do is open the machine, should i look for something? is there a way to identify positively a brand and make by just looking at the card?
thanks in advance.

You should be able to make an identifiction by looking for the OUI/FCC number or the chip manufacturer/model. There is a guide at http://www.windrivers.com/identity/

thank you very much, i`ll check that url right away.