Supported 2.5 Gbps NICs

[sclawrenc]

Hello everyone.

Are there any supported 2.5 Gbps options to use with OPNsense?

I was considering either using the QNAP QXG-2G2T-I225 (Intel I225) or a SY-PEX24069 (Intel X550) since it will operate at 2.5 Gbps.  The X550 will operate at 10 Gbps, but it's also more expensive.

Thanks,

S

[sclawrenc]

Just checking in to see if anyone might be able to help.  Thanks. 

[Greelan]

This may help: https://bsd-hardware.info

[opnfwb]

This doesn't exactly answer your question but, both the Realtek 2.5G and Intel 2.5G desktop NICs have had some issues operating at 2.5G speeds. These include weird timeouts, random connectivity drops/reconnects, odd data transfer rate drops when not under load, etc. These have primarily been reported on a lot of the gaming Reddit threads that I follow as the guys there tend to build with the newest hardware and they were all early adopters of these NICs built-in to their new mainboards.

My 2c, I would avoid anything right now with either of those 2.5G desktop-class NICs. For a firewall, I'd pay the higher cost and go upmarket to the server grade X550 and then "downclock" it to the 2.5G speed that you want.

[CJ]

This doesn't exactly answer your question but, both the Realtek 2.5G and Intel 2.5G desktop NICs have had some issues operating at 2.5G speeds. These include weird timeouts, random connectivity drops/reconnects, odd data transfer rate drops when not under load, etc. These have primarily been reported on a lot of the gaming Reddit threads that I follow as the guys there tend to build with the newest hardware and they were all early adopters of these NICs built-in to their new mainboards.

My 2c, I would avoid anything right now with either of those 2.5G desktop-class NICs. For a firewall, I'd pay the higher cost and go upmarket to the server grade X550 and then "downclock" it to the 2.5G speed that you want.

Do you have any examples of these threads or have you tried it yourself?  I'm curious if it's a hardware issue or maybe something with the windows drivers as I don't see most gamers running bsd.

I only have a free x1 slot which is why I'm looking at a 2.5G NIC to match my modem instead of going with a 10G.

[opnfwb]

Based on all the discussion I think it's a hardware issue coupled with immature drivers. The Intel chip has gone through a few revisions now. I'm not sure if the Realtek chip has been revised. The driver issue would also concern me as BSD tends to be the absolute last OS to get a modern driver pack.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/i56htd/pushing_1g_over_gigabyte_b550i_25g_realtek/
https://wccftech.com/intel-foxville-i225-v-2-5gbe-networking-issues-persist-z490-motherboards-affected/

Just googling for "2.5g NIC problem" gets some pretty interesting threads. Enough that I wouldn't want to put either of these in a firewall right now.

[CJ]

Thanks.  I'd like to upgrade to 2.5G but realistically it won't make a difference in anything I do so it's low on the priority list.