pfsense recommended NIC in All Things Unix http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19513120 en Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:18:13 EDT Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:18:13 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19533575 anon : Yes it will work but I believe they made the embedded version specifically so that it would not make frequent writes to the card and cause early failure. I have heard reports of around a year before failure using non embedded versions on compact flash. Do a Google search and see for your yourself, but it is not generally recommended.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19533575 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:25:32 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19524894 luma : I am going to use the full version of pfsense and use a CF card that is large enough to support it.

I am not going to use the "embedded" version.

I could be wrong but it should work :) only one way to find out.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19524894 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:57:33 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19522877 sporkme : Don't quote me on this, but you might want to look at using the hard drive as I *think* that some of the add-on packages and long-term stats are not available on the flash version of pfsense.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19522877 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:24:20 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19520379 luma : Here is what I am planning:

3x Intel pro 1000 desktop adapters (will arrive thursday) 33 bucks each.

Athlon 2200+
1 gig of ram
20 gig HDD (won't be using it)

for the OS I am going to use a IDE to CF adapter with a 2 gig Compact Flash card.

OS: Pfsense

Wan1: 8megabit cable
Wan2: 8megabit cable
Lan1: gigabit to gigabit switch.

the computer is a old desktop I have in the closet not being used so yes it is overpowered for a router but it works, it is stable and it only uses about 200 watts of power MAX so won't hurt the electrical bill.

I think this setup will be great for my use.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19520379 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:52:53 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19519556 ddrmanxbxfr : I've used 3x Dlink DFE 530TX here working nice and an 24 ports 10/100 switch on them.

First card : Internet Modem adsl
2nd Card : to my wifi AP
3rd Card : To my switch

getting around 9 mbps on local transfer using the switch sometimes 11 mbps depending on the pc used.

The server was an Pentium 2 350 Mhz with 512 Meg of ram and 6 gig of scsi hard drive 15K Rpm]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19519556 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:37:24 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516252 luma : thanks everyone,

I pretty much made my decision to go with the pro/1000 from intel at 33dollars.
I won't bother going with 100 because it is almost the same price.

DaSneaky1D I have a netgear router with 4x gigabit ports and a SMC switch with jumboframe (not using the jumboframe) that has 5x gigabit switches. all my computers have gigabit except for one or 2 which are on a 10/100 dlink switch.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516252 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:48:52 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516227 DaSneaky1D : Curious, what sort of switch are you using?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516227 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:38:00 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516171 index1489 : go for the intel cards the cheaper nic put a strain on your cpu reducing throughput.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19516171 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:13:00 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515839 sporkme :
said by luma See Profile :

I think I am going to go for the intel :) a lot of folks seem to really like them.
The fxps are, and as long as I've been using FBSD (2.1.6), have been rock-solid. Agreed that that rls are 'teh suck'. The other cheapies are good for an application like this, but under real load the hardware is really lacking.

There's some very interesting reading in many of the manpages for the cheap-o chipsets. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515839 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:55:51 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515650 BosstonesOwn : I used old rev netgear fa311's I have a total of 2 lan adapters that one incoming is my comcast cable the other is out to my switch.

With 4 wireless cards each connected to my neighbors (1 t-1 2 cable , 1 sprint evdo card) and even with powerboost and a download accelerator I never hit the full 100 mbit speeds of the nic's.

Id go 100 mbit to keep down costs.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!"]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515650 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:23:32 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515477 Aidens Daddy : I use Intel, 3com 905's and I think I have an Netgear FA311 in there.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19515477 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:54:17 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514825 deblin : Oh, I'd also recommend against rl cards, if you don't go with em or dc. :)

According to the rl man page, that means avoiding these cards:

quote:
o Accton ``Cheetah'' EN1207D (MPX 5030/5038; RealTek 8139 clone)
o Allied Telesyn AT2550
o Allied Telesyn AT2500TX
o Belkin F5D5000
o BUFFALO (Melco INC.) LPC-CB-CLX (CardBus)
o Compaq HNE-300
o CompUSA no-name 10/100 PCI Ethernet NIC
o Corega FEther CB-TXD
o Corega FEtherII CB-TXD
o D-Link DFE-528TX
o D-Link DFE-530TX+
o D-Link DFE-538TX
o D-Link DFE-690TXD
o Edimax EP-4103DL CardBus
o Encore ENL832-TX 10/100 M PCI
o Farallon NetLINE 10/100 PCI
o Genius GF100TXR
o GigaFast Ethernet EE100-AXP
o KTX-9130TX 10/100 Fast Ethernet
o LevelOne FPC-0106TX
o Longshine LCS-8038TX-R
o NDC Communications NE100TX-E
o Netronix Inc. EA-1210 NetEther 10/100
o Nortel Networks 10/100BaseTX
o OvisLink LEF-8129TX
o OvisLink LEF-8139TX
o Peppercon AG ROL-F
o Planex FNW-3800-TX
o SMC EZ Card 10/100 PCI 1211-TX
o SOHO (PRAGMATIC) UE-1211C

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Hello...is there anybody in there?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514825 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:27:16 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514807 dot_null : I have a couple of cheapie 100Mbps cards in my pfSense box. I believe one is a Netgear NIC and another is a Motorola with an intel chipset (?).

Can't remember for sure because I deployed it around 2 years ago and haven't opened the case in probably a year. :D

Here are what my system logs ID the NICs as:

ADMtek AN985 10/100BaseTX
NatSemi DP8381[56] 10/100BaseTX]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514807 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:25:04 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514454 luma : Thanks Cabal,

Appreciate the info!

I think I am going to go for the intel :) a lot of folks seem to really like them.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514454 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:32:00 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514438 Cabal : I recommend the $33 Intel 1000GT (em) cards, I've bought a bunch recently and their performance and support is great. The driver is also regularly updated and the maintainer is an Intel employee and a mailing list regular.

I've been happy with the 3com 905-series (xl) cards in the past, but had some problems with watchdog timeouts under recent 6.x release of FreeBSD with otherwise good hardware (no connection problems, just daily log spam).
--
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19514438 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:29:07 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513758 luma : Sporkme thanks for the reply.

as I said in my main post I did take a look at the Freebsd hardware page but because it support sooo many cards I wanted to know what people are running.

thanks for letting me know that you run the dc/xl and sis without problem. will look into those.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513758 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:54:54 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513738 sporkme : FreeBSD 6.x (which pfsense is based on) supports pretty much all of the $15 Staples ethernet cards. My box has a dc(4), xl(4) and an sis(4). Other than the 3com, those are all just $10-$15 cheapies.

Hardware list is here:

»www.freebsd.org/releases/6.2R/ha···ETHERNET]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513738 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:52:06 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513496 luma : I can live with 33 dollars compared to the lovely DFE570 (which would be nice to have though!)

I will talk to my computer guy in town and see if I can get a deal (need 3 after all)

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513496 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:16:40 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513481 deblin : Hrm the prices are more expensive than I remember paying, so perhaps these cards are better than what I have. But here's what I'd recommend from newegg:

»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···33106123
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Hello...is there anybody in there?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513481 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:14:46 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513474 luma : ya I am going to use the desktop adapters as well :)

my server (if you remember the chat we had about performance with freebsd 7 and mysql) has 3 intel pro/1000 server adapters. they are super nice but I rather not pay the price just for a cheap router.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513474 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:13:28 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513463 deblin : I have the Desktop adapters I think, and they perform great. But, I'm a cheap ass :)
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Hello...is there anybody in there?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513463 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:11:42 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513440 luma : I am a geek I already have a file server :)

I use FreeNAS for the fileserver
going to use PFsense (for dual wan) on the router.

I am probably going to go with a soekris type small router later on with pfsense but the wife won't let me buy one just now :)

I might go gigabit right now anyways and later on use the cards as spares.

which model of card for intel/1000 is recommended? from newegg or something.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513440 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:07:55 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513403 deblin : Just figured if you wound up using it as a file server later on, you'd save yourself from having to buy a gigE card then. But fxp (Intel 10/100) should be fine in the near term. :)
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Hello...is there anybody in there?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513403 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:02:52 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513321 luma : ya I was looking at some EM cards but I don't see the point in spending the extra few dollars.

I have gigabit at home but this will be a router that will route 16megabits of data maximum. the machine won't be used for anything else except as a router. Unless rogers really really upgrades my connection :P

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513321 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:51:21 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513231 deblin : I would get em cards (Intel 10/100/1000). They are excellent and well supported. If you're on a budget, get Intel 10/100 cards. But if you want to plan ahead if/when you'll want gigE on the LAN side, look at em cards.
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Hello...is there anybody in there?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513231 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:37:13 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513226 luma : the DFE-570TX is a nice card but with a ~250$ price tag it would be a bit difficult to convince the wife :P

I am just looking for something half decent, it does not have to be server class top of the line. as long as it is pretty good and reliable and lasts a year or 2.

Thanks for the opignon though that is a nice card.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513226 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:36:11 EDT Re: pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513162 leibold : If those two are your only choices, the Intel pro/100's are in my opinion the better choice.
If it were me however I would use a single 4-port DFE-570TX (uses Digital/Intel Tulip chips which I prefer for 10/100 NICs) when building a router.
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Got some spare cpu cycles ? Join Team Helix or Team Starfire!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513162 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:26:53 EDT pfsense recommended NIC http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513120 luma : Hi everyone,

on the weekend I am going to go out and buy 3 network cards and build me a router using some hardware that I have at home (older athlon)

I read the PFsense hardware page and it supports a LOT of network cards.

what are you all running?

this will be a dual wan router using 8/1 connections so nothing super crazy or special but quite a few packets in and out.

I was thinking some dlink DFE530's or Intel pro/100's

no need for Gigabit since the connection is 8/1.

Any other hints/tips/recommendations?

have a great day.

Luma]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19513120 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:18:51 EDT