Re: [gentoo-user] Ethernet card for puter

[William Kenworthy]

In reality, today there seems to be little to choose from between
ethernet cards for the average user - wasn't always the case though.  I
have a number of usb-<->ethernet plugins and pcicards.  Some are bonded
(mix of usb and pci) and are mostly realtek though there is an intel or
two.  I am using a usb2->ethernet to the fibre based internet (1Gb AU
NBN) without any speed problems.  Note there is a linux kernel driver
bug in an odd combination of realtek and usb2 for some versions which
cuts throughput by ~1/3 unless patched - the dongles themselves are
fine.  Currently, with the covid supply chain issues its more a problem
just getting "something" :)

BillK

1000/50 over usb2 realtek

~17.44pm - at other times its usually a little better.

moriah ~ # speedtest
Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
Testing from iiNet Limited (nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn)...
Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
Selecting best server based on ping...
Hosted by Internode (Perth) [1.07 km]: 2.796 ms
Testing download
speed................................................................................
Download: 929.99 Mbit/s
Testing upload
speed......................................................................................................
Upload: 45.82 Mbit/s
moriah ~ #

On 6/11/21 4:13 pm, Frank Steinmetzger wrote:
> Am Fri, Nov 05, 2021 at 08:03:32PM -0500 schrieb Dale:
>> Manuel McLure wrote:
>>> I highly recommend getting an Intel card. Back in the day the e1000
>>> cards were the ones to get,
>>> nowadays https://www.newegg.com/intel-expi9301ctblk/p/N82E16833106033
>>> should be a good option for a single port card. Intel cards have been
>>> well supported in Linux for a long time.
> I have no idea how you came across that one first. Network cards are a
> commodity and start in the single-Euro (so probably also dollar) range these
> days. Intel cards start in the 20–30 range:
> https://geizhals.eu/?cat=nwpcie&sort=p&xf=14063_Intel%7E14065_LAN-Adapter%7E14066_PCIe-Karte
>
>> I was looking at the mobo manual and noticed the built in network port
>> is a 1Gb chip as well.  It is a Realtec and the last time I tried to use
>> it, it was a bit flakey.  Sometimes it would work but sometimes I'd have
>> to restart the network to get it going again.  That was about a decade
>> ago.
> My PC is over 7 years old now and I’ve always been unsing its internal
> ethernet port. Most consumer boards use Realtek chips, and so does mine,
> because they are a little cheaper than Intel’s counterparts. Enthusiasts and
> power users like Intel more because it does more in hardware and offers more
> features, whereas the realtek driver puts some load on the CPU, AFAIK. But
> in my view, that is counting crumbs, as we say in Germany. I’ve never had
> bandwidth problems and always had the full 1 Gb to my NAS. For us normal
> home user folk, it won’t make a difference, IMHO. (Except if you are a
> purist and care about code quality; I think there were niggles with
> Realtek’s code a longer while back.)
>
>> I wonder, is the drivers better today than they were then?  I would have
>> used it all this time if it worked well.  Anyone have experience with this
>> in the last year or so that is showing it working really well and stable? 
>> Keep in mind, I run 24/7 here.  If that works fine, I could just use it. 
>> lspci shows this for the on board network:
>>
>> Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit
>> Ethernet Controller (rev 06)
> That’s the one veryone uses. I actually have two of those installed; one
> one-board, the other one as a PCIe card that I got from my old employer.
>
>> I have 2 PCIex1 and one PCIex 4 slots open.  The small ones are close to
>> my video card and I'm not sure I can use them.
> Sure you can. Are you a hardcore gamer? Does your card consume 100s of W all
> the time? Usually the GPU is the top-most card except for cases that hold
> the board upside-down (meaning hot air rises away).
>
>> Can I plug these types of cards into the larger slots?
> Yes. Speeds are downward-compatible. One PCIe 2.0 lane is fast enough for 1
> Gb.
>
>> I think I read once that can be done.  It's been ages tho. My old network
>> card appears to be in a old PCI plain slot.  It's a really old card, works
>> faithfully tho. 
> If you change the filter in the link I gave you at the top, you can also
> look for PCI-based cards (unselect PCIe first). It’s possible that PCIe,
> though a faster interface, may be more frugal these days. When PCI was
> invented, power saving was not an issue.
>
>> This may require some rearranging.  Or using the on board network one. 
>> I'd really prefer the card tho.  They just tend to work better.
> Why should they? A hunch? The only real benefit is you can easliy swap them
> in case of failure. But as long as you have it and it works – why not give
> it a try with what you have before you spend more for something you may not
> even need?
>