Thinwire to UTP
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@derelict Sounds like pfsense fits the bill perfectly. Thank you for the feedback.
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pfSense doesn't support DECnet or LAT, look at an old Cisco on ebay with AUI & ethernet interfaces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_Unit_Interface
A Cisco 2514 would probally do it, if you can find the adaptors for 10BaseT & 10Base2.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-2500-Series-Model-2514-Dual-Serial-Ethernet-Token-Ring-Router/362248696857?epid=1104448365&hash=item5457b47419:g:ZTMAAMXQtRxSJLoe
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@nogbadthebad I actually don't need pfsense to support DECnet or LAT. As long as those protocols are kept to the thinnet side of the router, as @Derelict has suggested, it should work admirably.
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@basilh said in Thinwire to UTP:
@nogbadthebad I actually don't need pfsense to support DECnet or LAT. As long as those protocols are kept to the thinnet side of the router, as @Derelict has suggested, it should work admirably.
Think you'll struggle to find a 10Base2 PCIE card, have a look here for supported cards:-
http://www.si.freebsd.org/relnotes/CURRENT/hardware/support.html
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@nogbadthebad Haven't seen any PCIE on offer, but there's a 3Com PCI combo card that several sellers seem to be offering on ebay and tons of ISA cards. However, it's rare to find a motherboard that supports ISA so those cards are next to useless. I still have a motherboard that has PCI slots so there's a match there for me. Are there going to be any issues with drivers for pfsense? The card model is 3COM PCI 3C5900-COMBO ETHERLINK XL - RJ45 - AUI - BNC Card 03-0108-002 REV A.
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I would personally look for an old ethernet hub with a 10Base2 port instead of a card. That way you can use a reasonably-modern NIC and let the old hub talk to the old gear.
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You could use a 10 Mb hub. Many of them had a BNC connector. I have one of those hubs here. However, I don't understand why you'd use pfSense for this, as mentioned above, it doesn't support DecNET.
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lol. beat you by like a second.
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@basilh said in Thinwire to UTP:
@nogbadthebad Haven't seen any PCIE on offer, but there's a 3Com PCI combo card that several sellers seem to be offering on ebay and tons of ISA cards. However, it's rare to find a motherboard that supports ISA so those cards are next to useless. I still have a motherboard that has PCI slots so there's a match there for me. Are there going to be any issues with drivers for pfsense? The card model is 3COM PCI 3C5900-COMBO ETHERLINK XL - RJ45 - AUI - BNC Card 03-0108-002 REV A.
You'd need to check the link I supplied, pfSense is based on FreeBSD.
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@Derelict @JKnott Am I missing something? As long as DECnet is isolated to the thinwire side, pfsense doesn't need to support it. I looked high and low for a hub with a bnc port and lucked out. Besides, a hub would allow both LAT and DECnet to flood the home network which is what I'm trying to avoid. If I need to play around with LAT or DECnet, I'll do so on the thinwire side, otherwise from the home network, I'll access a VAX using IP.
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Yes, you are missing something.
Use a hub to bridge from the thinwire to 10BaseT. Connect 10BaseT to a modern NIC in pfSense. That way you don't have to try to get some old-ass card working in pfSense.
From a broadcast domain perspective nothing changes.
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@derelict Ahh. Gotcha. Good point. I'll have another look for a suitable hub.
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@nogbadthebad Thanks for the link. Have confirmed the BNC NIC I was interested in is not supported.
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