Choosing the right network interface card

[fufuman]

Hello!

I am new to FreeBSD and I am trying to learn more and more about this system. I have set up a challenge for myself to try and build a router or a wireless hotspot from an old computer that I intend to install FreeBSD on.

To do this I will need to upgrade my network interface card to one that matches my broadband speed, which is 1000 Mbit/s in both directions. I ask advice from you on which network interface cards that would be both suitable for the task and compatible with FreeBSD. Which one would you have picked and why? When taking on a project like this, is there anything else I should keep in mind in terms of hardware?

I thank you on forehand for any and all answers and hope that I can get assistance as I'm a beginner in the field of hardware and FreeBSD. Also, I think this should be posted in the right section of the forum, otherwise you are welcome to move it to the right spot and correct me.

Cheers!

 

[wblock@]

Intel Pro/1000. Good hardware, good drivers, well-supported. The network card in that computer will probably work. If that computer does not have PCIE, it's not really worth buying a new gigabit card for it.

 

[Anonymous]

For Gbit NICs it is even more crucial to have a decent cache size than for the 100 Mbit NICs.

I second the choice of @wblock@ in regards to Intel Pro/1000.

In my machine, I have a Dual Port Intel Pro/1000 and an on-board RealTek 8111.

...
re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F PCIe Gigabit Ethernet> port 0x3000-0x30ff mem 0xf0004000-0xf0004fff,0xf0000000-0xf0003fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
...
em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.4> port 0x1040-0x107f mem 0xf0140000-0xf015ffff,0xf0100000-0xf013ffff irq 21 at device 0.0 on pci5
em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.4> port 0x1000-0x103f mem 0xf0160000-0xf017ffff irq 22 at device 0.1 on pci5

The RealTek Ethernet got two memory blocks having 4 kB and 16 kB respectively, while the Dual Port Intel Pro/1000 got three blocks of 128 kB, 256 kB, and 128 kB.

In my house I have one quite remote 100 Mbit station connected via one Gbit switch and a 40 meter Cat 5 cable to my FreeBSD box. I cannot use the RealTek interface for this line, because of an unacceptable high packet loss. One of the Intel Pro/1000 ports serves this line without any problem. In my test runs no single packet was lost. So, my experience is, cache size matters, and my suggestion is to keep an eye on this. Anyway, with the Intel/Pro 1000 you would be certainly on the safe side.

 

[SirDice]

I have several machines at home running on cheap Realtek gigabit cards. Performance may not be stellar but they work and they're cheap.

 

[wblock@]

The Realtek 8111 variants built into a lot of motherboards are not too bad. For add-ins, the Intel cards are about double the price of a Realtek, but worth it. Still not a lot, last I looked the Intel PCIE Pro/1000 was about $30 US.

@fufuman, please describe the machine you intend to use. Even if you have a gigabit connection to the modem, the bandwidth is probably not really a full gigabit, and there is likely an existing card that will work for experimenting. If it actually turns out to be too slow, it can always be upgraded later.

 

[fufuman]

Intel Pro/1000. Good hardware, good drivers, well-supported. The network card in that computer will probably work. If that computer does not have PCIE, it's not really worth buying a new gigabit card for it.

For Gbit NICs it is even more crucial to have a decent cache size than for the 100Mbit NICs.

I second the choice of @wblock@ in regards to Intel Pro/1000.

In my machine, I have a Dual Port Intel Pro/1000 and an on-board RealTek 8111.

...
re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F PCIe Gigabit Ethernet>  port 0x3000-0x30ff mem 0xf0004000-0xf0004fff,0xf0000000-0xf0003fff irq  16 at device 0.0 on pci1
...
em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.4> port  0x1040-0x107f mem 0xf0140000-0xf015ffff,0xf0100000-0xf013ffff irq 21 at  device 0.0 on pci5
em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Legacy Network Connection 1.0.4> port  0x1000-0x103f mem 0xf0160000-0xf017ffff irq 22 at device 0.1 on  pci5

The RealTek ethernet got 2 memory blocks having 4 kB and 16 kB respectively, while the Dual Port Intel Pro/1000 got 3 blocks of 128 kB, 256 kB, and 128 kB.

In my house I have one quite remote 100Mbit station connected via one Gbit switch and a 40 meter Cat5 cable to my FreeBSD box. I cannot use the RealTek interface for this line, because of an unacceptable high packet loss. One of the Intel Pro/1000 ports serves this line without any problem. In my test runs no single packet was lost. So, my experience is, cache size matters, and my suggestion is to keep an eye on this. Anyway, with the Intel/Pro 1000 you would be certainly on the safe side.

Thank you so much for the replies, fellas!

I did a quick search on amazon.com and intel.com and I found a series of different cards that supported 1000 Mbit/s and had some different features and specifications from one another. Since I lack any real experience in hardware, I'm not sure which model is the one that I should be looking for. Could you please help me out and give me a link to a product page of some kind? Thanks again!

The Realtek 8111 variants built into a lot of motherboards are not too bad. For add-ins, the Intel cards are about double the price of a Realtek, but worth it. Still not a lot, last I looked the Intel PCIE Pro/1000 was about $30 US.

@fufuman, please describe the machine you intend to use. Even if you have a gigabit connection to the modem, the bandwidth is probably not really a full gigabit, and there is likely an existing card that will work for experimenting. If it actually turns out to be too slow, it can always be upgraded later.

The machine I intend to use is a HP Pavilion d4240.se, you can see more details on the link below. I'm thinking I should just remove all the stuff in the computer that I won't be needing and just keep RAM, hard drive, processor, network cards and so on. Is there anything else I should do with it?
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...d=1148700&prodTypeId=12454&objectID=c00530828

 

[wblock@]

Intel Pro/1000 PCIE or PCI.

That old Pavilion only has one PCIE slot, already occupied by the video board. There is no on-board video connector, so a video card is needed. There is supposed to be a video tuner card, and a pair of 160 GB hard drives. It does have an on-board network port.

I'd remove the tuner, reconfigure the drives into a mirror with gmirror(8), and just use it as-is. For it to be a router, you would need another network card. Rather than buy a new PCI card, look for a local computer recycling place that will probably have a stack of PCI cards for next to nothing. Get Intel if available, but if not, FreeBSD has drivers for most common cards.