Renee made a very good point but I also wanted to add
that networks will promise better deals but it is not always the case. This industry is based on networking.
Networks could argue that they have great relationships with the best of the affiliate programs so you won't have to take a risk in working with a company that doesn't pay or trying to build on a relationship with each affiliate program.
To get ahead in this industry, however, you do need to network and build those relationships yourself to get even better commissions than the networks can offer.
If you can make a good contact within an affiliate program, then you should get more benefit then if you were going through a network.
How about starting with me as your test case

