Tehuti 10 Gbe NIC (TN9710P) Supported?
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Hey all, as some of you may recall I am transitioning over to pfSense. I elected to repurpose a Mac Mini for my hardware and running as a stand alone piece of hardware. One of the limitations is a single NIC. However, a second NIC can be added with a Thunderbolt2 to Gigabit ethernet adapter from Apple for $30. However, both the internal and TB2 NIC’s are Broadcom based which I understand doesn’t play well with netmap and creates issues with Snort and/or Suricata depending which mode is selected.
In a different thread, it was suggested by @NollipfSense to utilize a TB2 to PCIe enclosure and throw in a supported NIC card as he had done this with success.
In my search for this creature I stumbled onto an Akitio TB2 to 10 Gbe adapter.
https://www.akitio.com/blog/discontinued/thunder2-10g-network-adapter-eol
I don’t need 10 Gbe but price point is similar as alternative enclosures with 1 Gbe NIC. Best I can tell the card is a Tehuti / OWC device. I am unfamiliar with them. And perhaps it’s relabeled and I’m unaware.
https://www.akitio.com/software/10g-ethernet-driver
T2NA-TLITS-AKT, NBASETNC-A01, T3NA-T3LNITY-AKT
I am looking for confirmation if pfSense fully supports this card. If so I am interested in purchasing but don’t want to waste the $$$ if it’s not going to work.
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It appears a driver was submitted for inclusion in FreeBSD in 2019 but after some questions from developers the author never followed up:
https://reviews.freebsd.org/D18856Edit: Actually looks more complicated than that, there are multiple open code reviews. But none have made it into FreeBSD yet.
So, no, the driver is not yet in FreeBSD and as such is not supported in pfSense.
A driver does exist so if you had the NIC already it might be worth trying to compile it but otherwise I would not recommend it.Steve
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@stephenw10 appreciate the fast response! That’s too bad it never got included but I agree with your synopsis. No sense spending money to create a headache for myself.
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Yup. Use an Intel NIC unless you have a good reason not to. One of the OEM rebranded x500 series devices is hard to beat:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/list-of-nics-and-their-equivalent-oem-parts.20974/Steve
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S sledge referenced this topic on
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S sledge referenced this topic on
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@stephenw10 I think I have a deal worked out on a TB2 to PCIe enclosure which will allow me to run an Intel NIC.
I don’t necessarily need 10gb but am okay buying. Mainly looking to buy full compatibility. I noticed the STH link has lots of OEM alternates. Any I need to avoid for pfSense? Any I should prefer?
Primarily looking at x540-T2. They seem to range from $60-100 depending if Intel or an OEM.
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The one thing to try to avoid when buying any Intel based NIC are the large number of 'fake' cards you will find at prices that are too good to be true. That's why the used OEM NICs are often a much better buy.
If you don't need 10G then don't get it. The NICs are a lot more expensive and they use a lot more power, run much hotter. Intel 1GbaseT NICs are easily available.Steve
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@stephenw10 thank you, I will start looking at the 1G cards instead. I will be looking at Intel or OEM equivalents. What specific 1G cards are supported fully in pfSense?
I’ve seen people reference the Intel Pro 1000 and i350 cards. Since I’m buying new I’d just prefer compatibility and want to get this right. It seems like my “near free” project is costing me a little everyday.
LOL, been second guessing my decision to repurpose this Mac Mini about everyday. I could have just bought me a 6100 or 7100 and been done with it.
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Yeah, the i350 is probably the best your could get but there's not much in it.
I think the only one I've seen reported as actively bad is the Pro1000-VT. But that was a long time ago and I've never personally seen an issue with them.
The one thing you should be aware of is the current issue with the e1000 driver that prevents it passing vlan0 tagged traffic. If your ISP requires that then you would need to use another NIC type and the script that allows pfSense to accept it. You probably don't though.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Tehuti 10 Gbe NIC (TN9710P) Supported?:
Yeah, the i350 is probably the best your could get but there's not much in it.
I think the only one I've seen reported as actively bad is the Pro1000-VT. But that was a long time ago and I've never personally seen an issue with them.
The one thing you should be aware of is the current issue with the e1000 driver that prevents it passing vlan0 tagged traffic. If your ISP requires that then you would need to use another NIC type and the script that allows pfSense to accept it. You probably don't though.
Steve
Thank you again @stephenw10. I have started looking for an i350 using that compatible list. Also I have been reading up on how to spot all the fakes. I was told there is less/no fakes on the Supermicro i350 versions. Is this true?
At the risk of sounding really dumb, how would I know of my ISP requires vlan0 tagged info? Just call them? I can see the tech person not understanding and I don’t have a deep enough understanding to walk them through it.
If it provides any additional clarification, my fiber hits an ONT box on the outside then has a splice to my existing Cat5e cable that allows me to hook up an Eero device (hate that system). No separate modem or authentication required like when I had cable gigabit or even ATT 1gb fiber. The lack of that makes me think it won’t be affected.
Lastly, any advantage to getting the 4-port version NIC? I am going immediately to a Ubiquity 24 port PoE managed switch. And is there any advantage or disadvantage to using the internal Mac Mini NIC (Broadcom) for the WAN? If nothing negative, I’d have a 3 port (or 5 port) in a sense.
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@sledge said in Tehuti 10 Gbe NIC (TN9710P) Supported?:
I was told there is less/no fakes on the Supermicro i350 versions. Is this true?
I couldn't tell you if there are none but I'd guess it's far less likely. The fake cards all try to look like the Intel branded devices that fetch the highest prices.
@sledge said in Tehuti 10 Gbe NIC (TN9710P) Supported?:
how would I know of my ISP requires vlan0 tagged info?
It's unlikely they do. Are you using pfSense to connect now? You would know if you are since pfSense requires a netgraph script to be used for ISPs that use priority tagging.
If not try connecting using pfSense with whatever you have. If it can pull a DHCP lease from the ISP you're good.4 port cards generally use more power, create more heat. That's about the only disadvantage.
Steve
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@stephenw10 unfortunately I haven’t got switched over yet. I am like a Yoda of parts purchasing lately though, lol. Nearly got it all ordered and here. I got a sweet deal on that PCIe enclosure box and it’s supposed to be here on Friday. However, I need to get a NIC decided on and ordered.
Temporarily I could install pfSense on the Mac Mini and use the Apple ethernet adapter to confirm if it can obtain a DHCP lease or not.
Then temporarily switch back to the Eew-yuck-o so my wife and kids don’t murder me for killing their Wi-Fi. And once the final parts arrive, wipe the Mac clean and start with a fresh install and start setting up all my new gear.
One more question on the Supermicro cards….is there a way to decipher what date they were manufactured? As I’m looking at used primarily I’d prefer to get one with less miles on it if possible.
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@sledge said in Tehuti 10 Gbe NIC (TN9710P) Supported?:
Temporarily I could install pfSense on the Mac Mini and use the Apple ethernet adapter to confirm if it can obtain a DHCP lease or not.
You can just install with only the on-board NIC. As a test you only need one NIC to be WAN and try to pull a lease. It will do that in the default setup after installing.
No idea on the SM NICs unfortunately. Not something I've ever looked into. The one I have here (AOC-SGP-i4) doesn't appear to have any sort of date on it directly.
Steve
