Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    USB nics

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    8 Posts 4 Posters 840 Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      dszryan
      last edited by dszryan

      PSA

      i have seen a lot of posts asking for usb nics that works with pfSense. something that can work with a NUC that you plan on using for running the software.

      i have purchased this nic
      https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00ECQZM1A/
      and can confirm it shows up as a NIC that supports VLAN

      tl;dr

      NUC specs (as reported by pfsense)
      Vendor: Intel Corp.
      Version: SYSKLi35.86A
      Release Date: Thu Nov 12 2015

      NIC Sepcs (the model number that supports vlans)
      Brand StarTech.com
      Item Model Number USB31000SPTB

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • GertjanG
        Gertjan
        last edited by

        Good, the kernel could find it, with the capabilities.

        Can pfSense use it ?

        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
        Edit : and where are the logs ??

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D
          dszryan
          last edited by

          yes. the kernel picked it up. no additional drivers required. have setup vlan's.

          excerpt of ifconfig below:
          ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
          options=8000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
          ue0.2: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
          options=80000<LINKSTATE>

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

            What driver does it use? You might check the boot log to see that.

            Are you able to get close to Gigabit speeds through it?

            The problem a lot of people have with USB NICs is them failing after some time. I'd be interested in how reliable you find it after a few weeks. There are people using USB NICs with no issues though.

            Another potential issue is that if it becomes unplugged and you reboot pfSense it will stop at the interfaces assign screen as the console and not fully boot. So be sure that doesn't happen. 😉

            Steve

            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • D
              dszryan
              last edited by dszryan

              it does register as a gigabit duplex card, i still need to put the card through its paces

              ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
              options=8000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
              media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
              status: active
              ue0.2: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
              options=80000<LINKSTATE>
              media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
              status: active
              vlan: 2 vlanpcp: 0 parent interface: ue0
              groups: vlan

              and regarding the hardware disconnecting, i mean the power supply could off too and the machine will not boot... will have to keep an eye out for that too.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • T
                tman222 @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10

                Looks like it would be the axge driver in FreeBSD?

                https://www.startech.com/Networking-IO/usb-network-adapters/USB-3-Gigabit-Ethernet-Adapter-with-USB-Port~USB31000SPTB
                https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=axge&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+11.2-RELEASE+and+Ports&arch=default&format=html

                While I'm not a fan of USB based gigabit NIC's general, I've seen a little better performance with the ASIX based USB adapters over the Realtek based ones (this is only based on testing with laptops though).

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

                  Yup, me too. But even that is no guaranty of success unfortunately.

                  Steve

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • D
                    dszryan @tman222
                    last edited by dszryan

                    @tman222 yes is it the ASIX driver.

                    ugen0.6: <ASIX Elec. Corp. AX88179> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=ON (124mA)

                    fortunately, this is a working solution to give (an otherwise unused) NUC some purpose

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • First post
                      Last post
                    Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.