Gigabit NIC recommendation

tross9

system info
Dell OptiPlex 380 - running pfsense 2.6.0
1 - gigabit nic on motherboard
1 - 3com 10/100 pci nic

history:
I just tried to install a d-link DGE-530t gigabit nic, replacing my 3com 10/100 nic.
total failure.
tried to test the d-link card in a windows 10 machine. system did not even see the card.

called D-link support and according to the tech, the firmware version of the card only works with windows 8.

Questions:
can someone recommend a brand and model nic the will work.
( I did look at the Netgate list of recommended nic and the above d-link was one that should have worked, maybe there are newer firmware versions of the 530t)

also what are your thoughts on USB to RJ45, as to thru put, is there a reduction of speed as compare to straight connection to a NIC . (I'm prefer hardwired, I do not like using WIFI or anything the reduces the speed)
the OptiPlex only has USB 2.0

Thanks Tim

stephenw10

Do not use USB NICs if you can possibly help it. Using VLANs and a managed switch is almost always a better option.

How old is that system if it only has PCI slots and not PCIe?

Steve

AndyRH

My thoughts...
There is a PCIe slot, so I would look for a low profile Intel NIC. There are 4 port ones for not too much money.

Other than USB Ethernet is not good for pfSense, USB 2.0 would perform badly, something in the 200Mb/s range in practice.

tross9

Thanks for the reply ,

the system supports both pci and pcie , not sure the age of the Dell optiplex but i think about 10 to 15 years old at least.

our internet provider upped the area to 200MBs and I'm trying to upgrade my hardware from 100MBs ( replacing one NIC and the 24 port 10/100 HUB) to all 1000base components, ( 1000base NIC , gigabit switches ) , having issues getting the NIC to allow my PC to access the internet. the firewall server seem to be the only system that can access the wan and the LAN.

stephenw10

If you have a PCIe slot available then you have many options for a multiport 1G Intel NIC.

If you have any connectivity on both WAN and LAN it's not a NIC issue.

Look at the pfSense routing table. It may be missing a default route.

If you didn't add a gateway on WAN (it's static) then outbound NAT won't be enabled by default.

Steve

tross9

@stephenw10

looks like the issue is caused by PfblockerNG, it would not allow any WAN traffic.
ran the Pfblocker update function, which seems to correct the issue. ( at least things start work once that is run)

@AndyRH
and yes once i to the USB nic to work it did not go above 80MBs

Tim