Overkill, but possible depending on your device and port.
Overkill, but possible depending on your device and port.
Completed installation of Cat6a throughout the residence. Seeking options for 10GbE connectivity to an ITX system already equipped with a GPU, ruling out PCIe. Most reviews for 10GbE over Thunderbolt 3 to RJ45 appear unreliable, though SFP+ devices seem more dependable. I’m open to using a transceiver but would appreciate insights from others who have tested these setups to help decide on the best purchase.
Do you have a high-speed USB connection available? A 10Gb/s USB port would be suitable. Are you looking for such rapid internet speeds, or is this simply because you have the option? If it's the latter, it's perfectly fine—just a standard Gigabit connection is okay.
The available options don't include 10Gbit USB adapters, even if they existed, they would only support one direction at a time with some delays. There are no 5Gbit USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices on the market; the best current ones are Gen 1, capping at 3.6Gbit because of extra requirements. Using high-speed copper transmission consumes significant power, making it unlikely to work over fiber, though it might function over fiber optic cables. I discovered an alternative: if your board has two M.2 slots, you can repurpose one for a PCIe adapter. Things get worse when Windows Update interferes with network speeds, capping performance at 2-3Gbit. On the other end, a machine with a 10Gbit connection only achieves about 7Gbit in the opposite direction. Booting into Linux works fine for both speeds, except for the 5Gbit adapter limitation.
I haven’t completely ruled out the idea of removing an Ethernet cable from that space and swapping it for fiber, though I was hoping for a more straightforward fix without adding another wire. I’m open to testing M.2 adapters and PCIe cards, but would need inventive mounting ideas instead.
I own the CalDigit Tbolt3-to-10Gig device and it functions excellently with my Macbook Pro. I expect it will work similarly on a Windows PC, though I have no prior experience with that platform. It tends to heat up slightly; the whole casing acts as its heat sink. Still, using iperf allows me to achieve 10G speeds through it.