Quad Gigabit on PCIe 3.0 x1 ?

[DrFrog]

HI,
I searched the forum and found no answer for this. If this was already answered, then I'm sorry but I didnt find it (The forum is really big ).
I've got only one PCIe 3.0 x1 port on my little MicroServer and would like to use a quad port gigabit ethernet adapter. Is there any possibility to do this ? I'm new to opnsense and the whole server thing, so I thought better ask people, who know more before buying waste . Which chipset or which card would be best ?
Thank you for help.

[cookiemonster]

Have a look at a similar query that had a nicely composed answer of the stack involved.
You could do with doing a similar research. What the CPU can do, what the Motherboard can do, and what capability be left for the pcie connector.
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=35702.msg174245#msg174245
Long story short, yes it is perfectly possible to add such a card. What the performance is going to be, you need to research more. Go for Intel based NICs, not Realtek so they are supported by the OS better.

[DrFrog]

Thank you very much.
Ofcourse 10G networking can ba a problem, but I think, that 4 x 1Gbit should be OK with most low power CPUs. I use an Intel N100 and the Pcie 3.0 port is electricaly x1 and not multiplexed, so the CPU can push about 8 Gigabits per second on this bus (stands in the 3.0 Pcie spec).
I read the link you gave and I still dont know which card could be an option for me. Most pcie cards I find are x4, but my port is only x1, so no way to attach it. Any Idea, if there is a possibility ?

[cookiemonster]

unless I misread your post, a search for "4 port nic pcie x1" brings me some results, like:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1000Mbps-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network-Adapter/dp/B072C6J1W4
https://www.lr-link.com/products/lrec9224pt.html

[DrFrog]

Its hard to buy a LR Link card here in europe and I hoped that perhaps someone has some experience with a product like this. The amazon one is a 200 pound card, thats rather a joke for a 4 x gigabit card from china.
I will see myself, thanks for help....

[abulafia]

PCIe 3.0 x1 is 8 GT/s or 0,97 GByte/s (https://www.heise.de/select/ct/2020/24/2014911062765141952), so yes, 4x Gigabit is no problem.

As to cards, customary proposal would be an Intel i350-T4 (and variants) -- buy used, but beware the fakes (https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/comparison-intel-i350-t4-genuine-vs-fake.6917/).

[cookiemonster]

Its hard to buy a LR Link card here in europe and I hoped that perhaps someone has some experience with a product like this. The amazon one is a 200 pound card, thats rather a joke for a 4 x gigabit card from china.
I will see myself, thanks for help....

Yes, new Intel cards are relatively expensive for most home users. Many buy second hand, from forums, ebay, aliexpress and the like. The risk of getting a dud or a fake is the one to balance.
Doesn't have to be Intel-based, there are other chipsets supported by freebsd, please see the hardware compatibility list. It's just realtek that are cheap from what I've seen so far, but for a reason.