Chinese I226-V on 23.05.1, problems

[stephenw10]

@w0w said in Chinese I226-V on 23.05.1, problems:

I don't know how well it is supported today, but several years ago it was a pure lottery with Aquantia.

Yeah, and it looks like not yet to me:
https://github.com/Aquantia/aqtion-freebsd/blob/master/aq_main.c#L92

[Unoptanio]

@w0w
it's amazing how many fake network cards there are out there. Especially the Chinese that pass for $100 Intel.
The most counterfeit, the I350T4, after a short time of use no longer work.

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/comparison-intel-i350-t4-genuine-vs-fake.6917/

[stephenw10]

Yup. Used OEM rebranded cards are usually a much better buy for that reason:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/list-of-nics-and-their-equivalent-oem-parts.20974/

[w0w]

@Unoptanio
Not sure is it actual now, those fake cards. My experience is that, what you have on the modern market, even if we are talking about Ali or any other big, then if we don't look at on the cheapest shit. Then mostly what we have is OEM branded Intel like Dell/HP used cards removed from servers in unknown condition and custom firmware that is mostly outdated if we compare it to Intel original. For the entry level as I350 I have one Chinese card that was working about 5 years and replaced just because I upgraded to higher speeds. If we are talking about i225/226/2xx then there are no cards from intel at all, those chips are embedded solution for the motherboards. But there are a lot of custom variants stand-alone cards, and I think not all of them are bad or fake.
But if you want to go with reliable solution, then you should buy some new well known from a reliable supplier.

[Unoptanio]

@w0w

At the moment I have an original Intel I350-T4V2 network card paid in Italy for € 359.
I would say quite expensive

[Unoptanio]

@w0w

Can we trust these cards?

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005005555386876.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.133eM02OM02OJ7&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid=b18994b2-888a-4e8a-9609-73f3dd8a9350&_t=gps-id:pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40050.354490.0,pvid:b18994b2-888a-4e8a-9609-73f3dd8a9350,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238115%232000&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%2143.16%2115.1%21%21%21328.70%21%21%40211b5e2016951912733636498e1443%2112000033532152942%21rec%21IT%21744027985%21S

Scheda di rete da 2.5G Intel i226 PCIE a RJ45 100/1000/2500Mbps interfaccia RJ45 LAN adattatore Gigabit Etherent per PC/Desktop per Win

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005005929535264.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.691e3fafJW4RXl&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid=ae7eec44-ebb4-43c7-9ece-60a95b450ba5&_t=gps-id:pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40050.354490.0,pvid:ae7eec44-ebb4-43c7-9ece-60a95b450ba5,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238112%231997&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%2156.17%2115.83%21%21%21427.81%21%21%40211b5e1d16951923413203930e1357%2112000034891978936%21rec%21IT%21%21ABSt

[stephenw10]

'Trust' how? I have a card similar to that I bought from ebay. It shows up as an i225-V and works fine where I've used it.

[Unoptanio]

@stephenw10

Trust, in the sense that they really cost too little.
Will they be rubbish?

For the price they cost I'll give it a try

[stephenw10]

The one I bought was deliberately the cheapest I could find! It reports as an i225-V.

It works fine for the what I've used it for, which was mostly testing in a 7100.

There is some speculation that the errors seen on i225/i226 are more likely on faster systems that can drive the NIC harder. I've seen no problems with either on the C3K systems we ship but if you look at the problem reports in Windows and Linux they are often in gaming rigs and similarly powerful machines. That is only speculation at this point.

Steve

[w0w]

@Unoptanio
Intel does not produce NIC based on I225/i226 series chipsets AFAIK, but the chipset itself costs less than $5. So the price for the card based on this chipset does not look like “cheapest”, the price looks quite normal.

[RobbieTT]

@w0w said in Chinese I226-V on 23.05.1, problems:

@Unoptanio
Intel does not produce NIC based on I225/i226 series chipsets AFAIK, but the chipset itself costs less than $5. So the price for the card based on this chipset does not look like “cheapest”, the price looks quite normal.

Well I'm still staggered you can get an i226 NIC for £8.98. Almost free!

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[stephenw10]

And it comes in stealth black with cool backlighting.

YMMV!

[RobbieTT]

@stephenw10
If I bought the 2-port version would I get even more bling lights?

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[stephenw10]

I would assume

[RobbieTT]

@stephenw10

Ordered the 2-port version. I'll be sure to post a photo if it has more bling...

Spoiler

Glad my network rack lives in a cupboard.

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[w0w]

@RobbieTT
Just remember those two/four port cards are coming with asmedia pcie hub/splitters, I suspect this can be the cause of some glitches I have had with 4 different variants.

[RobbieTT]

@w0w said in Chinese I226-V on 23.05.1, problems:

@RobbieTT
Just remember those two/four port cards are coming with asmedia pcie hub/splitters, I suspect this can be the cause of some glitches I have had with 4 different variants.

Ok, that does not sound great.

Switched the order to the single port version, just to be sure.

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[stephenw10]

But... the blinkenlights.

[w0w]

@RobbieTT
For that value of money you can take both, just be ready

[RobbieTT]

@stephenw10 said in Chinese I226-V on 23.05.1, problems:

But... the blinkenlights.

It is indeed a tragedy, in 3 parts.

I've not even ordered the new mini-server the card is aimed at. For whatever reason it has zero native multi-gig RJ45s but does have 4x1 GbE ports that I will never use. Not sure why they bother with them; waste of PCB space on a small server.

But the lights, the blue/green lights...

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