Looking for suggestions for 2.5 Gbps PCIe Ethernet adapter that runs on Ubuntu

[thiggins]

Post title pretty much says it all. Most of what I see on Amazon use Realtek RTL8125-CG and are from no-name Chinese manfs.

Looks for suggestions from folks with hands-on experience. Thanks.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Post title pretty much says it all. Most of what I see on Amazon use Realtek RTL8125-CG and are from no-name Chinese manfs.

Looks for suggestions from folks with hands-on experience. Thanks.

I used a DELL BROADCOM BCM57810S to Bypass my Bell Modem.

The guide I used to patch the driver was here: [Internet] Bypassing the HH3K up to 2.5Gbps using a BCM57810S NIC - Bell Canada | DSLReports Forums

 

[follower]

Post title pretty much says it all. Most of what I see on Amazon use Realtek RTL8125-CG and are from no-name Chinese manfs.

Looks for suggestions from folks with hands-on experience. Thanks.

Has anyone done thermal testing on the RTL8125 2.5GbE controller?

Controller in question: https://www.realtek.com/en/products/communications-network-ics/item/rtl8125bg-s-cg Around a week ago, I purchased some 2.5GbE adapters since a generic Rosewill one was a little under $18 each. https://www.newegg.com/rosewill-rc-20001/p/N82E16833166146 (price went up...

www.snbforums.com

Intel i225(on board chipset) is worse than RTL8125. You may lose your packet with it. Intel i225 is a garbage.
So there is only one choice. It's RTL8125. I had both of them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y2GWVB8/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[John Davis]

personally, for linux server use I'd go the intel x550 just for driver stability - it'll auto-neg down to 2.5gbe (don't think you can force the link speed though - but can always do that on the switch).

 

[thiggins]

personally, for linux server use I'd go the intel x550 just for driver stability - it'll auto-neg down to 2.5gbe (don't think you can force the link speed though - but can always do that on the switch).

Thanks for the info that it will negotiate down to 2.5GbE. I will be direct connecting, so no switch.

The X550's are still spendy, even after all these years, though, and I need two.

 

[avtella]

You can get them for around $150 or lower for server pulled ones. Brand new is kinda expensive almost in the X710-T2L price range at times.

I have a StarTech branded x550-T2, willing to sell it if you want. Currently idling on eBay .

Other option is if you want a cheaper Intel one, wait for the V710 5Gbe adapter coming out this year, assuming you don’t want the likes of Realtek. For client side use I think Realtek is actually ok, just wouldn’t use them for a Server, NAS or Firewall.

Edit: Forgot about Aquantia (now Marvell) 5Gbe models, QNAP branded single port and dual port models can be had for around ~$50 and $90 respectively.

 

[John Davis]

Edit: Forgot about Aquantia (now Marvell) 5Gbe models, QNAP branded single port and dual port models can be had for around ~$50 and $90 respectively.

I'd go the full 10gbe aquantia aqc107 (asus c100c and tp-link tx401 seem to be the cheapest 'name brand' options) rather than the 5gbe aqc108 models (which seem to be just as dear as the 10gbe cards)

The aqc107 does fallback to 5/2.5/1 and you can lock the rate.

They seem pretty solid performance/driver wise - I was doing some testing at work just before xmas with a ptp link between a machine with an x540 and a machine with a c100c and was pushing fulll 10gbe bidirectionally using iperf for hours at a time with zero issues.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. John, why did you choose the C100C vs. the TP-Link?

 

[John Davis]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. John, why did you choose the C100C vs. the TP-Link?

simply availability - local shop had the c100c in stock on the shelf - wheras I'd have had to order in the tp-link

design-wise there's not much between them - both have very large heatsinks (but no fan)

 

[thiggins]

Ordered a pair of the TP-Links. Both it and the ASUS were back-ordered on Amazon, but TP-Link can ship sooner.

 

[follower]

Ordered a pair of the TP-Links. Both it and the ASUS were back-ordered on Amazon, but TP-Link can ship sooner.

It's been back ordered for a year. I don't know why. I have TP-Link one and had ASUS one. I've checked the chipsets before.
ASUS: aqc107-b0-c
TP-Link: aqc107-b21-c
I don't know the difference. But I do know both of them are hot.

 

[BeLikeWater]

Post title pretty much says it all. Most of what I see on Amazon use Realtek RTL8125-CG and are from no-name Chinese manfs.

Looks for suggestions from folks with hands-on experience. Thanks.

I’m really happy with the “Plugable” brand of USB to 2.5Gb adapter. I paid $30aud with free delivery if you have Prime membership.
That’s $23 usd.

They are completely plug and play in Win 10, Linux and MacOS so long as you’re up to date.
The RealTek chipset is very, very stable under load. I haven’t experienced a thermal throttle so far and these are the slowest thing on my 10Gb network.

Never thought I would say this but it is very handy to have the usb-c / usb-a adapter hanging off the end of the cable.

Oh, and they hot plug better than any of my 10Gb to thunderbolt 3 adapters.

Edit: I forgot the link, stupid me.
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B084L4JL9K/

 

[RMerlin]

The Intel 2.5G Inter Packet Gap variance (which caused packet drops) was fixed a long time ago. Anything manufactured since at least the second half of 2020 has a newer revision of the chip without that issue.

 

[follower]

The Intel 2.5G Inter Packet Gap variance (which caused packet drops) was fixed a long time ago. Anything manufactured since at least the second half of 2020 has a newer revision of the chip without that issue.

That's i225-v b3. It has not been released widely. There are still a lot of on-board b1 and b2 chipsets in the market and owner. The issue is not only Packet issue but also crash.

 

[RMerlin]

That's i225-v b3. It has not been released widely. There are still a lot of on-board b1 and b2 chipsets in the market and owner. The issue is not only Packet issue but also crash.

Latest info I saw only mentioned the second revision which had resolved the issues back in April. I haven't seen any mention of other issues fixed by a newer revision.

EDIT: from what I found, the onboard Intel NIC on my Asus TUF Gaming Pro motherboard is the b3 revision. The board was manufactured around August or September. So by now I assume that a fair number of sold addon NICs would be on that new revision, unless dealing with old inventories. Might be wise to double check the exact chip used if one buys a PCI-E Intel NIC just to be safe.

 

[follower]

Latest info I saw only mentioned the second revision which had resolved the issues back in April. I haven't seen any mention of other issues fixed by a newer revision.

EDIT: from what I found, the onboard Intel NIC on my Asus TUF Gaming Pro motherboard is the b3 revision. The board was manufactured around August or September. So by now I assume that a fair number of sold addon NICs would be on that new revision, unless dealing with old inventories. Might be wise to double check the exact chip used if one buys a PCI-E Intel NIC just to be safe.

That's old info. There are still tons of old inventories.

 

[HellDiver]

Just be aware if you intend using the lower-priced X550 cards that have SFP+ on them, most SFP+ to ethernet modules only work at 10GBe - they won't negotiate lower.

As for the i225V, I've not had any trouble with mine, no idea what revision it is though. It's on an Asus Strix B550-XE Gaming.

 

[Waltski]

Ordered a pair of the TP-Links. Both it and the ASUS were back-ordered on Amazon, but TP-Link can ship sooner.

How do you like the TP-Links TX401 adapters so far? Any issues?

​

 

[BeLikeWater]

Just be aware if you intend using the lower-priced X550 cards that have SFP+ on them, most SFP+ to ethernet modules only work at 10GBe - they won't negotiate lower.

As for the i225V, I've not had any trouble with mine, no idea what revision it is though. It's on an Asus Strix B550-XE Gaming.

Errr, that's BS! You need to use different transceivers if you are having that problem. Try ones from FS.com, Mikrotik, Flypro, Ipolex - they all work at multi-speeds on my 10Gbs networks.

 

[follower]

How do you like the TP-Links TX401 adapters so far? Any issues?

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Pros:
It works good. No issue. Also you can upgrade the firmware and driver from Marvell website even if it is not in the support list. You don't need to download old firmware and driver from TP-Link website.

Cons: hot. You should check you motherboard before you buy it. You should have 'opened PCIE x1' or PCIE x4 or PCIE X16 slot. If you use PCIE x16 all of PCIE X16 slots work as X8.