MOBO acts as a limitation for reaching 1Gbps speeds on ISP connections.
MOBO acts as a limitation for reaching 1Gbps speeds on ISP connections.
You choose either 1 gig or 2.5 gig, with no options in between—it's the most affordable reliable choice they offer.
There are many more affordable choices available. The $80 price tag usually comes from Intel support. It offers the highest compatibility overall. You won’t have to worry about drivers when using Linux or FreeBSD, and features like WOL function properly. Most options under $30 use RealTek chipsets, which often cause problems unless you’re on Windows. So spending around $80 for a network card can be justified if it ensures smooth performance in various environments. If you mainly browse the web from Windows, a cheaper model should work just fine?
It's reasonable to say I have two Realtek 2.5Gbit USB adapters and they perform well without the typical issues seen with Realtek NICs. They function flawlessly on Linux and Windows, including a brief test on MacOS. The main limitation is their lack of advanced features like VLAN support on Linux, since Realtek discontinued drivers for newer kernels after the standard USB Network driver was released. I’d still prefer Intel if available, especially for PCIe cards, but Realtek remains my choice because they’re the only ones offering USB versions, which were essential for my laptop and a Mac Mini M1 running Linux. On Gigabit speeds, you might still gain some extra performance if another client needs bandwidth while your PC is operating at full speed, so it doesn’t necessarily mean you lose data.
Generally speaking, this has been my situation as well. Mostly I rely on Linux. The $80 card was bought for my TrueNAS unit which comes with a built-in Realtek 2.5 GbE chipset. It functioned properly at first. But WOL didn’t perform well unless the PC was shut down in a particular way. I don’t remember the exact handshake needed. With the Intel card, it works consistently regardless of conditions. These small details are what keep my motherboards equipped with Intel chipsets.
It's ironic how many folks face problems with the Intel i225, even some who thought the B3 version was a fix. Personally, I had to swap out my gaming PCs AQC107 based on a 10Gbit card because it kept crashing the whole network stack. Recently, I added that card to a new NAS/server build since I couldn't locate the full-height bracket for my Intel X520 NIC—its actually working better than the version without any issues. This shows you rarely get things as straightforward as brand claims suggest.