From owner-freebsd-net@freebsd.org Tue Jan 2 23:14:58 2018 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-net@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 48A11EBE799; Tue, 2 Jan 2018 23:14:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net) Received: from pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net (br1.CN84in.dnsmgr.net [69.59.192.140]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 244007821A; Tue, 2 Jan 2018 23:14:57 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net) Received: from pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net (8.13.3/8.13.3) with ESMTP id w02NEtvs093503; Tue, 2 Jan 2018 15:14:55 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net) Received: (from freebsd-rwg@localhost) by pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net (8.13.3/8.13.3/Submit) id w02NEtfK093502; Tue, 2 Jan 2018 15:14:55 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg) From: "Rodney W. Grimes" Message-Id: <201801022314.w02NEtfK093502@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net> Subject: Re: Recommendations for cheap PCI-E network adapter ? In-Reply-To: <14197.1514925499@segfault.tristatelogic.com> To: "Ronald F. Guilmette" Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2018 15:14:55 -0800 (PST) CC: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org, freebsd-net@freebsd.org X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL121h (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-BeenThere: freebsd-net@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.25 Precedence: list List-Id: Networking and TCP/IP with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2018 23:14:58 -0000 > > I need to buy a PCI-E ethernet card. It won't really matter if it > is 10/100/1000 or just 10/100 but it has to work with FreeBSD at a > minimum. It would be Nice if it was also supported by Linux and > Windoze7, but that isn't really critical. > > I'm a serious cheapskate, so I'd like to spend as little as possible. > I don't need anything super-deluxe. Whatever is cheapest will be fine, > even if the performance is only so-so. > > Recommendations would be appreciated. > > > P.S. The small amount of research I just now did suggests that Realtek > based cards should be avoided, but one reviewer said that the Rosewill > RC-411v3 works just fine on Ubuntu, so I'm not sure what to think about > Realtek-based cards now. The price is right (for me) on the Rosewill > RC-411v3, but various online threads (relating to Realtek chips) give > me pause... > > https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/60033/ > > https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/55861/ > > I really can't see blowing fifty bucks on a simple, low-end ethernet card, > but everything inexpensive seems to be Realtek-based. :-( I would seek the used channel, you can easily get good Intel chip based nics that just tend to work everywhere, are 10/100/1000, for well under $20 shipped, and often close to $10.00. ebay is the source. Se the em(4) man page for a good list of chips and cards. These well outwork and outperform any realtek card you might find, I have used realtek when it is a builtin, or for simple testing. The 8111 gigabit chips seem to work well everyplace I have used them. -- Rod Grimes rgrimes@freebsd.org