Presario 6000 1.73GHz 512mb just upgrade NICS or entire PC Please help me decide
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I have a Presario 6000 1.73GHz 512mb with Two gigabit Realtek Nics, they were only $8 each shipped on newegg. I got the Presario 6000 for free.
Everytime I lose power or restart my Pfsense router, my computers do not have Internet connectivity. I have to attach a monitor to my pfsense router and select option 4 (Reset to factory defaults) and then do the auto detect for network assigning where you plug in the cable and hit enter for both WAN and LAN. I have to do this EVERY TIME that my computer reboots.
Now, I know for a fact that its not Pfsense because back when I would use smoothwall I had a similar problem with this same machine where I had to load the old configuration and couldnt just let the computer boot.
I also had that same exact problem when these two network cards were in a different PC all together. So I am thinking these network cards really suck.
My internet service is Cable (hoodcanal communications, Up to 10 meg Cable Modem Service)
Everyone seems to praise the Intel network cards, For my Presario I was thinking of ordering two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106121
When I read this post however it says that the PCI bus can limit performance: http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,36307.0.html
I am just not sure how much the PCI bus would affect my performance, I use a D-Link DGS-1024D 10/100/1000Mbps 24-Port Switch to share internet at my house: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817111031
So I have my cable modem SB5101, then pfsense Presario 6000, then D-Link DGS-1024D 24-Port Switch, to about 6 computers and three HTPCs, and occasionally an extra computer or two out in the garage. There is no wireless in this system. For my application would the PCI bus limit me? I am curious if the PCI express route would give me any advantages at all, such as download speed for files, or responsiveness when loading web pages, or Ping/Latency when playing online video games.
So if I did build another machine I would buy a motherboard with a couple PCI express slots and buy PCI express network cards, two of any of these:
$28 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033
$40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106036
$80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106011Any comments, opinions, answers are GREATLY APPRECIATED!
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The PCI bus is not going to limit your application.
If you only have WAN and LAN then the only traffic going through your pfSense box is going via your cable connection which is 10Mb/s. You would only be limited if you added another NIC and used it for separate local network segment. Then traffic between the two local NICs has to go via your pfsense box and could be at gigabit speeds. This has to go over the PCI bus which is 32bit at 33MHz so approximately 1Gb/s bandwidth (less than that in reality).
Steve
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Here is a lot 3 NICs for less that the price 2 NICs fm Newegg. You will have a spare just in case.
http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-3-Intel-Pro-1000-GT-Desktop-Adapter-PWLA8391GT-/380342300447?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588e2aef1f
Have you updated the BIOS on the PC? Increasing the RAM on the system? Check the HP support for the cpu your system will support based on the system's BIOS revision, and that could assist you in buying a more powerful cpu, if possible. This could help in the systems throughput.
I have a HP DC5750 that came with AMD64 2.0Ghz, I updated the BIOS to most current, checked HP support, and with the current BIOS the system can support 3.0Hgz, I upgraded the RAM and CPU, added 2nd NIC intel pro/1000 XT PCI-X (the pci slot supports it) and never looked back.
as for the losing the internet connectivity, I believe the BIOS revision might fix that. I never experienced that before with pfsense in the last 3yrs of using it, both 32bit and 64bit in any version. I just made sure my hardware was compatible, BIOS was most current, and turned off the items in the BIOS that was not needed.
Pfsense Docs is a great place to start - http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Main_Page
Buy the book - great book.
Lastly search the forums, always my ticket to any issue I ever had.
Hope this help.
