Looking for multiport ethernet adapter for < 100$

[Mothergoose729]

I have plans to build a custom router and file server using a intel based PC. Right now it seems like I will simply have to use 4 intel ethernet adapters but I would like to find a 4 port or more ethernet adapter on the cheap. The only ones I have found online are more then a thousand dollars. They come in cheap routers so I know they must exist somewhere. Anybody know where i can find one.

 

[Crusty]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=4%20x%20RJ45

Newegg has 4 different models for less than $500 each.

Those 'cheap routers' contain switches, not quite a quad port NIC.

 

[Mothergoose729]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=4%20x%20RJ45

Newegg has 4 different models for less than $500 each.

Those 'cheap routers' contain switches, not quite a quad port NIC.

Could you please explain the difference? Do you know where I can purchase a quad port "switch"?

 

[Gillbot]

You used to be able to buy Phobos 4 port NICs cheap in FS/FT. Don't see them too much any more, though the retail channel still has some Adaptec models floating around.

 

[Emulex]

quad port nic are usually using bridge chips if they are cheap. which is not bad but keep in mind there is total bandwidth to that connection.

stuffing 4 gigabit on a pcie x1 or pci slot may not give the most desired results.

dualies are far cheaper

 

[Mothergoose729]

Well the way I figure it is, I only have one internet connection anyway, so all I need to do is bring it to one good ethernet NIC, and then distribute it to various PC. I plan to network through it, but using only standard HDD. Maximum 50MB/s. If I get a good network NIC from intel with some onboard cache, then some sort of switch to distribute the traffic, won't I get the same desired effect? A couple of dual ethernet NICs will cost me 150 bucks a piece.

 

[Emulex]

yeah i got a 8 port switch for $15 shipped off ebay - works great.

one gigabit port to that. make sure your other pc's are at gigabit to avoid nagle/flow issues too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

If you can find an old Cisco switch on eBay, maybe you can get one that does trunking...then just trunk a bunch of vlans together to your 'router'.

I'm assuming by router, you're just going to setup a linux box and configure it as an Internet gateway with file sharing enabled (Samba/NFS)? As long as your ports are gig and your file server isn't getting hosed with connections, you probably won't need but a couple of ports anyway. Even 100Mb ports are faster than most people think. I supported an organization's web infrastructure with a single 100Mb port....and they had 14,000 people. It's nice when other bottlenecks take the pressure off.

 

[dman]

You could get an ALIX 2D3 board and run PFSense on it, they have 3 ports on one of the models. The embedded kit costs about $200 or so, but you'd likely want to run the full version and I'm not sure how you'd do the file sharing portion (I haven't looked into it) but I believe BSD has a SMB capability. They have USB ports and should be able to use an internal 2.5" drive but I've only used the CF port.

http://www.netgate.com/ resells the ALIX hardware and is listed on PFSense as a recommened vendor. I've built two firewalls with the kits and they work fairly well, but like I said, not doing any file sharing so can't comment on that part. I have one in a small office load balancing two internet connections and the other I use at my home, both have been solid / stable / reliable since I got them a couple months ago.

Well, this is probably not the direction you were heading but sharing anyway in case others are interested. I ran across this solution here in a different thread and it was just what I needed. The whole assembly only uses a few watts of power (definitely <25w, but I can't test below that value--I've heard it uses closer to 5-10w) so it's a nice alternative to a full blown desktop PC solution (=60+watts), especially for a smaller office / home environment.

 

[xSauronx]

eh...how about use a 10/100 from the modem to the computer, then a 10/100/1000 from the computer to a gigabit switch (that will be under $40) and be done with it?

thats all you need. your mobo likely has at least one NIC on it already, and you can get a gigabit nic from fs/t or newegg cheap enough.

 

[Mothergoose729]

Oh jeeze, now I am overload with suggestions . I want to create a router/ general server with a E3200 and about 2g of ram. I want it to be cheap, compatible with any operating system I decide to put on it (virtual or otherwise) and supports wake-on-lan. More importantly I want to be able to request the biggest MTUs and get the least packet loss and zero slow downs, stuttering, or general restarts that pretty much all routers are victim too; basically to be more the robust enough to handle anything my comcast connection or a little file sharing can throw at it. I am thinking that an intel pro NIC with 64kb cache and a gigabyte switch will do the job?

 

[Gillbot]

http://www.weirdstuff.com/cgi-bin/item/14312

 

[Emulex]

cable modem -> crapbox -> gig-e switch -> pc's

crapbox just needs an onboard 100mbit for cable modem, gigabit single port to switch.

i'd guess anything that can handle sata like a celeron 420 with 512meg of ram and linux would do the job quite fine. never run out of ram and reset with a stable copy of linux.

should be able to handle comcast 50meg down all day long with that and bittorrent and file share. hell throw in a video card and do HTPC too.

 

[Mothergoose729]

cable modem -> crapbox -> gig-e switch -> pc's

crapbox just needs an onboard 100mbit for cable modem, gigabit single port to switch.

i'd guess anything that can handle sata like a celeron 420 with 512meg of ram and linux would do the job quite fine. never run out of ram and reset with a stable copy of linux.

should be able to handle comcast 50meg down all day long with that and bittorrent and file share. hell throw in a video card and do HTPC too.

Thanks, this is kind of what I figured too. OK, so it looks like I need two intel ethernet, one to hook into the modem, then I can ethernet out into a my linksys router which my family uses, and then I can use the second intel ethernet adapter to ethernet out to a switch, for my private network. Yes? Anything I should look for in a switch?

I am thinking about going with a atom 330 on a flex board and 1gb of RAM.

 

[xSauronx]

Thanks, this is kind of what I figured too. OK, so it looks like I need two intel ethernet, one to hook into the modem, then I can ethernet out into a my linksys router which my family uses, and then I can use the second intel ethernet adapter to ethernet out to a switch, for my private network. Yes? Anything I should look for in a switch?

I am thinking about going with a atom 330 on a flex board and 1gb of RAM.

check hot deals and deal sites if youre not in a hurry to do this. trendnet has a 5-port gig switch starting at $35ish and you can get a $10 rebate on it often enough. amazon had the 8-port version for maybe $45 last week, i thin it had a rebate, too.