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    4 Port NIC a bad idea?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • F
      Fandangos
      last edited by

      I was reading here and I'm starting to think I should have red more before buying the NIC.

      I got an Intel 4 port 2.5gbit network card that I was planning to use to migrate my current PfSense setup to it.

      The only 2 devices with 2.5gbit network cards I have is my personal computer and my NAS.
      So I was planning my new setup as using the 4 ports like so:

      1 - WAN
      2 - LAN - Gigabit switch with other stuff in my house
      3 - LAN - 2.5gigabit personal computer
      4 - LAN - 2.5 gigabit NAS

      but having all under the same network is a must here, everything needs to be able to reach each other and discover each other like a normal network.

      I was hopping this would improve LAN speed because it would be done on a i5 4570k instead of a cheap switch.

      So, I'm looking for trouble here? Or can I achieve what I want?

      johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • AndyRHA
        AndyRH
        last edited by

        Looking for trouble. A cheap switch will be faster (ASIC) switching traffic than pfSense (CPU).

        o||||o
        7100-1u

        F 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • F
          Fandangos @AndyRH
          last edited by

          @AndyRH

          Just be to be sure, I can still use this NIC if I only use 2 ports, right? I mean, use it like normal and keep those 2 other ports disconnected.

          D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            dylanc23 Netgate @Fandangos
            last edited by

            @Fandangos pfSense should be able to handle 2.5gbps no problem with that CPU.

            Still yes if you want max performance on a Layer 2 network would be to just leave it as Layer 2 with an unmanaged 2.5gb switch.

            Thanks,

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • AndyRHA
              AndyRH
              last edited by

              You can use all of the ports, just different networks.
              Bridging is troublesome, different networks is great. I have several.

              o||||o
              7100-1u

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @Fandangos
                last edited by

                @Fandangos said in 4 Port NIC a bad idea?:

                LAN speed because it would be done on a i5 4570k instead of a cheap switch.

                That cheap switch has specific hardware designed to do switching. Any "cheap" switch is going to be way more efficient and faster at "switching" then doing some bridge in software - doesn't matter how "fast" your cpu is here..

                As mentioned if you want a 2.5ge switched network - then get a cheap 2.5ge switch.. I have seen multiple options in the 100 price range.. That prob has come down even since last time I looked..

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • M
                  mcury Rebel Alliance @johnpoz
                  last edited by mcury

                  @johnpoz said in 4 Port NIC a bad idea?:

                  I have seen multiple options in the 100 price range.. That prob has come down even since last time I looked..

                  I got one from Ali, I was worried about not being a good switch, but in fact it is.
                  Have been using for a few months and it has been working perfectly.
                  TL-SH1005, it is a dummy switch.

                  dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • AndyRHA
                    AndyRH
                    last edited by

                    ServeTheHome has been looking for the perfect cheap 2.5Gb switch and they have plenty of reviews. They include performance data.

                    o||||o
                    7100-1u

                    M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • M
                      mcury Rebel Alliance @AndyRH
                      last edited by

                      @AndyRH said in 4 Port NIC a bad idea?:

                      ServeTheHome

                      I got the TL-SH1005 idea from him.. ๐Ÿ˜‚

                      dead on arrival, nowhere to be found.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Since you already have the card you could try setting it up as a bridge and see for yourself. It will probably work fine. The biggest issue is usually not getting locked out while you're setting it up! ๐Ÿ˜‰

                        johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • johnpozJ
                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @stephenw10
                          last edited by johnpoz

                          Another option if you don't want to buy a 2.5ge capable switch is just run another network between your PC and nas. I do this as it was a cheap easy way to add 2.5ge to my nas (it has not ability to add cards) so had to use a usb nic dongle.

                          I then just used another dongle on my pc and ran a wire between them.

                          Just setup another network for this connection.

                          So my normal network is 192.168.9/24 with pc at 9.100 and nas at 9.10

                          This new 2.5ge network is 192.168.10/24 with pc being 10.9 and nas being 10.10 with no gateway or dns set on these interfaces.

                          I then use this IP to connect to my nas from pc, and get 2.5ge speeds.

                          $ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.10.10
                          Connecting to host 192.168.10.10, port 5201
                          [  5] local 192.168.10.9 port 52258 connected to 192.168.10.10 port 5201
                          [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
                          [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   287 MBytes  2.40 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.38 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   283 MBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec
                          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                          [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
                          [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  2.77 GBytes  2.38 Gbits/sec                  sender
                          [  5]   0.00-10.01  sec  2.77 GBytes  2.37 Gbits/sec                  receiver
                          
                          iperf Done.
                          

                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                          F 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • F
                            Fandangos @johnpoz
                            last edited by

                            Thanks for all feedback.

                            I've upgraded my setup to a xeon e3 1270 and added the 4 port NIC.

                            It's much faster now but I'm only using 2 ports as usual, LAN and WAN.

                            As I want the simplest solution I'll just get the switch and solve all my limitations at once.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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