The 'nic-modules' packages are described as containing 'Common NIC
drivers'. However, I would estimate only two of those drivers are
commonly used (tg3 and xen-netfront).

The current module selection might make sense if the real purpose of the
split is to support old systems that are short of memory. If that's the
intent I would just like to change the description.

Otherwise, I would guess that the real commonly-used modules (other than
wireless) are:

Atheros: atl1c, atl1e, atl2 [1]
Broadcom: bnx2, tg3, broadcom[2]
Intel: e1000, e1000e, igb
Nvidia: forcedeth
Realtek: r8169
paravirt: virtio_net[3], vmxnet3, xen-netfront
library: dca, libphy, mii

[1] I'm not sure about which of these are most common
[2] PHY driver required by tg3 to support some boards
[3] This is included for completeness but is currently in the
'virtio-modules' package which seems reasonable to me

Ben.

--
Ben Hutchings
Absolutum obsoletum. (If it works, it's out of date.) - Stafford Beer