Looking for pfsense compatible 2500Mbps PCIE RJ45 NIC
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Just wanted to add my use case was being able to connect up some 802.11ax Wifi APs that support 2.5/5gbps connections back to my switch. 10gbps network hardware wouldn't have helped because the APs dont support 10gbps and 10gbps switch ports dont support 2.5/5. Being able to use my existing cat 5a cable up out to the 60 or 70 meters saved the hassle of having to run new cables.
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There are no FreeBSD drivers for the RTL8125 so you will not be able to use those NICs.
The 2.5GbE options currently are to use a Broadcom NIC with modified firmware or wait for the Intel i225 as far as I know.
Steve
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The Intel X710-T2L is one card I know works with 2.5/5 Gbps modes out of the box without tinkering on pfSense 2.4.5 and 2.4.5-P1 (For 2.4.4 & 2.5.0 you will need to compile the ixl driver for the card to be detected.) Even the GUI options show up nicely. Also unlike the X550, it actually shows “2500Base-T” and “5000Base-T” in the “Interfaces” section on the WAN side to my modem and LAN side to my AP respectively.
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@aivxtla said in Looking for pfsense compatible 2500Mbps PCIE RJ45 NIC:
The Intel X710-T2L is one card I know works with 2.5/5 Gbps modes out of the box without tinkering on pfSense 2.4.5 and 2.4.5-P1 (For 2.4.4 & 2.5.0 you will need to compile the ixl driver for the card to be detected.) Even the GUI options show up nicely. Also unlike the X550, it actually shows “2500Base-T” and “5000Base-T” in the “Interfaces” section on the WAN side to my modem and LAN side to my AP respectively.
I have my X710-T2L connecting to my Arris S33 2.5gbps port but the pfSense interface shows media detected as
1000baseT <full-duplex>. @aivxtla Did your sync up under automatic detection, or did you have to force to 2500mbps etc? -
@q54e3w Yes it automatically works, no issues for me.
On 2.4.5 if you updated your X710-T2L firmware to something newer than factory default then you need to compile the latest drivers from Intel’s site or you will have that issue as you are facing where it will only work at 1/10 Gbe but not at 2.5/5 Gbe. Other option is to downgrade back to 7.20 firmware.
On pFSense 2.5 even the latest firmware works fine without having to compile the drivers from Intel’s site as a relatively newer driver is used by default.
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@aivxtla Thanks, good to know. Its running stock firmware but I noticed its manufacture date was November 2020 so maybe they've updated stock firmware now too. I'll see if I can find what it came with.
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@q54e3w look for my other thread somewhere here titled X710-T2L. I posted a compiled version of a newer Intel ixl driver, see if that helps, assuming you are on a firmware newer than 7.20. My card was bought in April-May last year so maybe yours was updated.
Edit: Nevermind found my previous thread, driver files are in the 2nd post:
https://forum.netgate.com/topic/155738/nbase-t-issues-on-2-4-5-p1-and-2-5-0/2?_=1612416565734 -
@aivxtla thank you. Will check card firmware and update drivers etc soon as I get a window where some downtime is acceptable.
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Real world info:
I use Intel X550's over 25m of Cat5e and get 10Gbit no problem....Network: Device-1: Intel Ethernet 10G X550T driver: ixgbe v: kernel port: f040 bus ID: 07:00.0
IF: enp7s0f0 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> -
@perlenbacher Thats good to know. But in this case my modem isn't 10g, it's 2.5g. 10g wouldn't help.
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@q54e3w
Intel X550's can do 10Gb, 5Gb and 2.5Gb -
That is for baseT for any other readers.
If you need a fiber connection at those speeds the choice is a lot more restrictive.
Steve
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I added an x550-t2 into my box and it autoselects an "unknown" link, However it does link at 2.5Gbps per the other end reporting as such. It seems to simply be a limitation of the webgui not having the 2.5/5 gig speeds as a selectable option in the interface config. Which is no problem to me. Now that 2.5/5 is becoming more available, there should be an update in the future to properly show the speeds.
Which rolls into the next part. When doing research on this card I came across many threads on it. One in particular stood out to me where someone stated that this card did not do 2.5/5 and referenced the data sheet on it. I wanted to clarify for anyone reading that the stock 1.0 firmware the card comes with does NOT support 2.5/5gbe. However this was added in a firmware update down the line (which you can verify by searching the firmware update history on the card, intel lays it out very nicely), and I'm sure more 10Gbe cards will be updated to support these speeds as well. Anyways this card is up to Firmware 3.30. The flash process was very simple and quick on windows 10.
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@no1warr1or not sure if you read the thread fully but it was already stated months ago previously that the X710-T2L merely shows GUI options nicely unlike the x550.
Brand new though, the X710-T2L seems similarly priced or pretty close from what I’ve seen, so for new buyers it would be the better unless you get a cheap used X550. I’d be careful with some of the listings on eBay though due to knockoffs.
Aquantia (Now Marvell) also seems to makes decent Multi-Gig capable cards, seem pretty reliable from what I’ve seen.
Lastly even the Realtek RTL8125 seems pretty stable these days if you compile the latest drivers, though I’d still be hesitant with Realtek for anything outside client side use.
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@kiokoman said in Looking for pfsense compatible 2500Mbps PCIE RJ45 NIC:
max speed for cat5e is 1Gbs
you need cat6 to be able to go at 2,5GbsBit of an old comment - but wanted to clear this up..
Cat5e is capable of 5gbs - I'm running it without issue on 2.5 for sure.. And its listed as doing so in the 802.3bz spec..
And Cat5 can for sure do gig.. Its in the spec for gosh sake..
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@aivxtla I picked mine up from a used server shop on ebay for $129. It flashed and read as a genuine intel card. I have 2 of the asus 10G cards coming in for my server and desktop which use the aquantia chipsets. I mainly just wanted to let people know it works, I was very hesitant on purchasing the card due to a mixed bag of comments on it.
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@aivxtla said in Looking for pfsense compatible 2500Mbps PCIE RJ45 NIC:
Lastly even the Realtek RTL8125 seems pretty stable these days
Even the word itself makes me dread, whoever can do, forget these PHYs
You should also read other FreeBSD related forums (TreuNAS, etc.), this is exactly the opinion
An exception to this is the John 2.5 + 5G Synology NAS + with Relatek USB NIC solution, as I saw it works
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@no1warr1or said in Looking for pfsense compatible 2500Mbps PCIE RJ45 NIC:
It seems to simply be a limitation of the webgui not having the 2.5/5 gig speeds as a selectable option in the interface config.
The GUI just shows what ifconfig returns so if it doesn't show that it's probably a driver limitation. Either way if it actually links at that speed it should not be a limitation.
Steve
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@stephenw10 probably, I'm not super knowledgeable on how this stuff works in the back end. It does make sense that its a driver limitation, or maybe bug? Either way its nice that autoselect works as it should. Can't wait to get my other cards in and top out my provisioned speed. I can see when running a speed test it maxes out my 1Gbe nic in my desktop
