NBASE-T / Multi-rate Support

UnixRocks

UnixRocks

Greetings all. What NIC + driver combo would I need on 13.1 to get NBASE-T working on FreeBSD with my ISP's new 2.5 Gbit connection? Searching for FreeBSD + NBASE-T on the web and searching NBASE-T in the forums is not getting me any answers. If I missed a forum post on this, please post the URL for it in this thread.

Ultimately, I don't want to waste money buying something that won't work. I am planning to build a new router box from scratch for this. I looked at https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...3/intel-ethernet-network-adapter-x710t2l.html but do not want to spend that much money before I know it will work for multi-rate / NBASE-T with FreeBSD 13.1. Pretty sure those cards use the ixl driver, but I have not gotten firm information that the driver supports multi-rate successfully. I can't just toss money at the problem with trial and error.

I am hoping someone here has experience getting NBASE-T working on FreeBSD and will recommend a NIC.

TIA!
 
UnixRocks said:
I look at https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...3/intel-ethernet-network-adapter-x710t2l.html but do not want to spend that much money before I know it will work for multi-rate / NBASE-T with FreeBSD 13.1. Pretty sure those cards use the ixl driver, but I have not gotten firm information that the driver supports multi-rate successfully.
Click to expand...
The Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T2L has a native FreeBSD driver:

www.intel.com

Intel® Network Adapter FreeBSD* Virtual Function Driver for Intel® Ethernet Controller 700 and E810 Series

This release includes iavf FreeBSD* Virtual Function Drivers for Intel® Ethernet Network devices based on 700 and E810 Series controllers.
www.intel.com www.intel.com

I glanced through the README from the driver package but found no reference to multi-rates (not that I know what multi-rate even means).

To make sure, I would contact Intel support and ask there if the native driver does support multi-rate.

For the base driver (and NIC recommendation) I would also ask on the freebsd-net@ mailing list.

The README from the driver package is attached below, in case someone is interested.
 

Attachments

  • README.txt
    12.8 KB · Views: 53
I have an impression that few people use "NBASE-T" term these days. That may affect search results.
 
Does that ISP really terminate at 2.5Gbit at your end?

Anything >1Gbps I'v encountered yet is actually delivered via 10G SFP+ and throttled either at the CPE or somewhere upstream. Our ISP only throttles to the leased bandwidth at its AS edge, so any traffic within the ISPs network runs at actual line speed...

So usually the port you will be connecting to (i.e. at the CPE like a small switch the ISP installs at your site) is rated higher than their advertised bandwidth, and I highly doubt any ISP is jumping on the still overpriced 2.5G train if 10G is already widely available, deployed and dirt cheap. So I highly suspect you will actually connect to a physical 10Gbe port (SFP+ or worst case a 10Gbase-T port) anyways, so no need to look for 2.5G hardware - just go for any cheaply available and battle-tested 10G chipset like intel X510 or X710...
But I'd definitely check those technical details with their support first. Some ISPs (especially for consumer-grade lines) have really weird and exotic hardware requirements - usually to lock you in to buying/renting their crappy plastic routers...
 
I keep coming back to this nagging point.

Why would you want to pay so much more for 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet.

These cards are troublesome and cost more.

Double whammy. I see they are flexible but your are paying 10G prices to 2.5G ethernet.

Converged Network Adapter is buzzworthy though.
 
If you notice all the complaints were against older FreeBSD and older Firmware and Driver FreeBSD shipped with at the time.

I would be willing to bet they got it fixed up by now.

I do see the card carries a premium.
 
Phishfry said:
I keep coming back to this nagging point.

Why would you want to pay so much more for 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet.

These cards are troublesome and cost more.

Double whammy. I see they are flexible but your are paying 10G prices to 2.5G ethernet.

Converged Network Adapter is buzzworthy though.
Click to expand...
If I had to guess… to get more speed out of installed cabling.
 
Andriy said:
I have an impression that few people use "NBASE-T" term these days. That may affect search results.
Click to expand...
That could be. Maybe I need to search for 2.5G and 5G as well.
sko said:
Does that ISP really terminate at 2.5Gbit at your end?
Click to expand...
I forgot to state above, one of my cow-orkers has a MikroTik router build that he showed me is working at near 2.5 Gbit with the local ISP. Apparently the advertised rate is 2 Gbps, but to search for supported hardware one has to search for 2.5 / 5.0 / NBASE-T, or the even more obscure 802.3bz.
Phishfry said:
Why would you want to pay so much more for 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet.
Click to expand...
Simply "because it is there". ;) If I can get more "speed", and I can afford it, why not?

For the record, this is not my current ISP. The new ISP just ran their fiber out to my rural neighborhood and is a rival of my current ISP. Competition is good. :) I will be adding the new ISP and will be paying for two connections until I get this working. I don't want to pay for two connections any longer than I need to, but since my current job is a remote Work From Home (WFH) one I can't afford downtime.
 
Phishfry said:
Why would you want to pay so much more for 2.5G Ethernet and 5G Ethernet.

These cards are troublesome and cost more.

Double whammy. I see they are flexible but your are paying 10G prices to 2.5G ethernet.

Converged Network Adapter is buzzworthy though.
Click to expand...

Exactly *this*.
Stupid enough - the early 2.5G chipsets were in fact 10G chipsets crippled by firmware to 1/4th of the bandwidth (and quadrupled in price).

If I absolutely had to connect to some 2.5Gbps port, I'd rather have a look at those SFP+ copper transceivers that support those low bandwidths while still advertising full 10G to the port.

UnixRocks said:
I forgot to state above, one of my cow-orkers has a MikroTik router build that he showed me is working at near 2.5 Gbit with the local ISP.
Click to expand...
I'd rather stay with a lower bandwidth than having to rely on some mikrotik gear. absolutely *anything* I had to deal with from them was absolute crap...
 
I think (very) recent cards with the intel X550 chipset will in all likelihood be 2.5 & 5 GbE capable out of the box (but see references below). However, a lot of cards based on that chipset, especially second hand ones, may have a firmware version that does not have 2.5 & 5 GbE support.

IIRC it is important for a firmware update to succeed to use the firmware update made available by the card issuer/manufacturer (if available); that could be intel but also Dell or HP for example. Unfortunately, I don't have the link for that anymore.

UnixRocks said:
For the record, this NIC works on FreeBSD for NBASE-T / multi-rate / 2.5G / 5G / IEEE 802.3bz: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...thernet-converged-network-adapter-x550t2.html
Click to expand...
On that intel page I don't see any reference mentioning specifically "IEEE 802.3bz"; I could not find any mention of IEEE 802.3bz in the accompanying Datasheet - Intel® Ethernet Controller X550 (Revision 2.6 January 2021) or the Product brief - Intel® Ethernet Converged
Network Adapter X550. However, I do see:
Supplemental Information
Description NBASE-T support in Linux Only
Click to expand...

Furthermore, on the intel forum someone seems to have a hard time getting intel to confirm (or even deny for that matter) and name an advertised/promised (quite some time ago) firmware update that is IEEE 802.3bz compliant:
Intel X550-T2 where is firmware update for promised 802.3bz (official NBase-T standard)?

If I read & interpret the above messages in this FreeBSD forum thread correctly, the ixgbe(4) commit mentioned enables 2.5 & 5 GbE use, although I'm unsure if that constitutes IEEE 802.3bz compliance—or what the (practical) aspects of compliance would bring for FreeBSD usage.
 
Last edited:
Erichans said:
On that intel page I don't see any reference mentioning specifically "IEEE 802.3bz"; I could not find any mention of IEEE 802.3bz in the accompanying ...
Click to expand...
An assumption [yes, I know] on my part, possibly incorrect, is that support of 2.5G and 5G is IEEE 802.3bz. If not, then what exactly constitutes IEEE 802.3bz support / compliance?

Regardless, the driver supports 2.5G and 5G, which is what I needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top