From owner-freebsd-net@freebsd.org Wed Jan 3 21:51:21 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 90D3CEB1134; Wed, 3 Jan 2018 21:51:21 +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 69681681E2; Wed, 3 Jan 2018 21:51:20 +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 w03LpC3d098173; Wed, 3 Jan 2018 13:51:12 -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 w03LpCtO098172; Wed, 3 Jan 2018 13:51:12 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg) From: "Rodney W. Grimes" Message-Id: <201801032151.w03LpCtO098172@pdx.rh.CN85.dnsmgr.net> Subject: Re: Recommendations for cheap PCI-E network adapter ? In-Reply-To: <18959.1515010411@segfault.tristatelogic.com> To: "Ronald F. Guilmette" Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2018 13:51:12 -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: Wed, 03 Jan 2018 21:51:21 -0000 > > In message , > John Lyon wrote: > > >What's your use case? If this is for a home box, developer box, or > >something that is not "enterprise production," then I wouldn't worry about > >RealTek cards bought in the last 5 years. Their 10/100 cards from 15 years > >ago were crap, which is how they earned their bad reputation. However, the > >continuing dismissiveness towards RealTek is mostly undeserved in my > >opinion. > > This is just for my home network. Not "mission critical", but I don't want > my equipment being eternally flaky, of course. And I am not enthused about > the possibility of having to frequently build and/or install a new driver > that isn't in the stock FreeBSD releases. > > >The issue currently is the state of the drivers themselves and not the > >cards. For example, the drivers themselves that FreeBSD includes have > >problems. However, you can always download the source code to the latest > >FreeBSD drivers from the RealTek website and all of the "bugs" disappear. > > Hummm... Am I being naive to ask why, if there are better drivers available, > they do not get rolled into -CURRENT? > > >That said, if you're cost sensitive, buy your NICS used. > > Oh yes! This is for a "new" system build for which I am buying everything > as used parts. Depending on which specific motherboard I decide to go with, > I may or may not have a good old fashioned PCI slot to work with on the > motherboard. > > If I do, then I'm good, because as I discovered last night, I have/had, sitting > inside a box of old parts up on my top shelf, no fewer than four (4) Realtek > cards, two (2) Intel cards, two (2) Netgear cards, one (1) HP card, and even > one ancient 3Com 3C509B card. (I'm pretty sure that all of these are 10/100 > cards. They are definitely all PCI.) > > The problem is that all these cards are verging on being obsolete now, because > many newer motherboards... and even ones that are several years old now... have > dropped the old fashioned PCI slots altogether (e.g. ASUS B85M-G). > > >Last time I checked, the going rate for > >used Intel NICS was something like $10 per port + shipping. I think used > >Broadcom NICS were similar in pricing. > > Really? Where? > > I checked on FleaBay and as far as -Intel- PCI-E cards, the best I could find > was about $12 USD. > > I don't know how to search FleaBay for Broadcom-based cards, because I don't > know any relevant model numbers (or even manufacturer names). ebay search for broadcom gigabit I see some Dell cards, dual port, $9.95 And some single ports at $4.99 These are shipped prices. Some people cuss at Broadcom, some people swear by them. I don't own any of there cards, but I have never had problems with the inbuilt broadcom nics in any of my dell servers. -- Rod Grimes rgrimes@freebsd.org