Question What specs are important on a new PCI-e network card?

[tinpanalley]

I need to get a new card for faster speeds I'm going to be getting and for future proofing. For the time being I'll be getting 2gbps but I'd like to not have to buy another card for as long as I can avoid it.
What do I need to look at? I don't have much experience with buying network cards. I definitely don't need it to have WiFi, Bluetooth would be cool if that's possible.
But there are surely specs that matter to ensure the card is good for my purposes. It's basic internet use with Cat7e cables that we have, but if it makes a difference, we do a lot of sending and receiving of uncompressed video and audio to a private server.
Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[sdifox]

I see. Do you mean bypass their router or their modem? I mean, in the case of a 3000/4000 they're one and the same device. I could see why one would want to bypass a 4000 for one's own modem with more control and possibly even better QoS. But if we're simply talking routers how would gateway mode be different than just using just a switch? I assume a router is used by most people to simply send a WiFi or cable signal to other devices, right?
(Sort of related, is there ANY way to put a new ASUS modem or something on Bell's Fibre cable? Or would you have to have to have the same kind of input on the modem as on a 4000. While we're on the subject if anyone can give me the names for all these ports and connections I'd like to learn them all so I don't have to keep saying 'the white cable with the green squarish thingy on the end that goes into the metal port thing on the modem'. Been trying to find a site that has images and official names for these things.)

Bypass their router. That box is a combo device, ont (optical network terminal) and router. The manual should have a diagram identifying which port is what. I am assuming the one you are referring to is the fiber from the street.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I see. Do you mean bypass their router or their modem? I mean, in the case of a 3000/4000 they're one and the same device. I could see why one would want to bypass a 4000 for one's own modem with more control and possibly even better QoS. But if we're simply talking routers how would gateway mode be different than just using just a switch? I assume a router is used by most people to simply send a WiFi or cable signal to other devices, right?
(Sort of related, is there ANY way to put a new ASUS modem or something on Bell's Fibre cable? Or would you have to have to have the same kind of input on the modem as on a 4000. While we're on the subject if anyone can give me the names for all these ports and connections I'd like to learn them all so I don't have to keep saying 'the white cable with the green squarish thingy on the end that goes into the metal port thing on the modem'. Been trying to find a site that has images and official names for these things.)

Some fibre to home ISPs will allow the connection to enterprise class network L3 switches (and/or enterprise class managed routers). The issue with that is you also need a firewall/NAT router to typically handle you own network (as well as potentially dhcp services). Basically all the functionality that a typical consumer wifi "router" provides needs to be handled by something, and something with high enough performance to route 10gbps through the firewall and routing tables. Very few things will handle 10gbps without spending $500-800 for routing and firewall.

For direct fiber, your isp may provide or require you to provide an appropriate SFP+ (or faster/higher bandwidth) capable port on your network equipment with an appropriate transceiver that is compatible with the type of fiber optic cable they have to your home. After that, you would then be required to properly configure your network to use it as your external route.

Case in point, my network is capable of this (however I do not have fiber to the home, but a cable modem). I have a Brocade ICX6610 L3 switch, which I have configured VLANs on, with the port that my cable modem connects to designated to the "WAN" VLAN. I have a system running pFsense for my firewall/edge router. It is connected to another port on the ICX6610 which has both the "WAN" VLAN and my "LAN" VLAN defined so that the pFsense system can decide to allow or deny traffic that enters or leaves my local network. The ICX6610 performs the routing between my other VLANs (I have a "guest" VLAN, "management" VLAN, "IoT" VLAN, and "production" VLAN). The guest VLAN can only reach my dhcp server for dhcp services and the out to the internet. Same with the IoT. My production VLAN can initiate connections to the IoT VLAN or the management VLAN. The management VLAN can not initiate connections to anything else. All these routing rules happen at full wire speed on the 6610 (up to 40gbps to my server).

Anyway, most fiber to home will support this kind of config, but you need to have a lot of networking knowledge and have certain specific equipment to do so (which is why most ISPs provide the all in one device).

 

[mxnerd]

Well, I'm not Canadian. I'm from SoCAL.

Anyway, if you still have Home Hub 3000.

There is instruction on youtube: how to remove/bypass Bell Hub 3000 and use your own router

 

[mv2devnull]

Router forwards traffic between subnets. Typically, we have:

home-LAN ----- router ----- ISP-LAN (aka WAN)

The router is just a client device in the ISP-LAN and gets IP address from ISP('s DHCP server).
The router has IP address in home-LAN too. Other clients in home-LAN are set to send not link-local traffic to router's address.
Other clients in home-LAN usually get configuration from DHCP server that runs in the router.

Fiber transfers Ethernet packets as light. Ethernet packets in Cat[567] are electric. Ethernet packets in Wifi are radio.
Transceiver converts between light and electric. WiFi NIC converts between radio and electric.

You could have:

1. PC ---- home-LAN ---- Hub(w/router) ==== ISP-LAN
2. PC ---- home-LAN ---- Router ---- ISP-LAN ---- Hub(no router) ==== ISP-LAN
3. PC ---- home-LAN ---- Router ---- x-LAN ---- Hub(w/router) ==== ISP-LAN
4. PC ---- home-LAN ---- Router ---- ISP-LAN ---- Media Converter ==== ISP-LAN
5. PC ---- home-LAN ---- Router ==== ISP-LAN

In case 1 the Hub acts as your router.
In case 2 you have your own Router and use Hub only as tranceiver. As "media converter".
In case 3 there are two routers and third LAN (just between the two routers).
Case 4 is like 2, but with different media converter.
Case 5 is like 1, but your router hosts the transceiver.

Which are possible?
Depends on ISP. If they force you to use the Hub, then 4 and 5 are out. mxnerd's video hints that they might not force.
Depends on Hub too. If you can't disable the router function in Hub, then 2 is out.
The 3 has probably "double NAT", so it is the last option.
If you don't want the Hub to be in your home-LAN, then 1 is out.

Furthermore, every link in the path between PC and ISP must support a higher speed and every router must be powerful enough to route. Oh, and if multiple PC's need the faster link, then home-LAN needs a switch. (You don't want to buy a router that has multiple 10G/SFP+ ports, do you?)


Wifi. Wireless clients. Wireless Access Point (AP). An AP can be a separate device in the home-LAN or integrated to device that does routing too.