Network Cards Compatibility

[Daniel Feenberg]

On Thu, 17 May 2012, Christian ROUSSEAU wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>                      I would like to have a list of the free bsd compatible
> network cards . Is it compatible with realtek chipset drivers. That comes
> with most PC's?
>

Just guessing, you have to restrict yourself to a very limited selection?

You would do better to post a list of the cards available to you and ask 
what will work. I have purchased many very inexpensive (<$10) NICs and 
never had a compatibility problem with whatever was the latest FreeBSD 
version available at the time, although very expensive cards, and very new 
motherboard with embedded NICs have sometimes not worked. Also, if you are 
running an older version of FreeBSD you may have more difficulties.

My cynical view is that the vendors of cheap cards don't bother to make
modifications to the reference design, so they remain compatible.

The official list of compatible NICs is sometimes difficult to reconcile 
with what is available in the local Micro-Center or Fry's, and I expect 
the situation is no better where you live.

   http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/CURRENT/hardware/support.html#ETHERNET

The Intel Pro/1000 is our current favorite card, but is $35. It supports 
PXE booting, which we do a lot.

Daniel Feenberg
NBER