I’ve been hearing good things about the “Syba Dual Port Gigabit Ethernet Network PCI-express x1 Controller Card SY-PEX24028.” If you’ve got a spare PCI-express x1 slot and you’re looking for a cheap (less that $50) dual port NIC, give this one a shot.
- Designed to Meet PCI Express Specification Revision 1.0a
- 10/100/1000M Data Auto-negotiation
- Support Wake On Lan (WOL) Power Management (Optional)
- Full Duplex Mode Doubles the Network Connections Speed
It’s a no frills dual port NIC, but for a lab it should work just fine and should save you a few bucks compared to the cheapest dual port Intel NIC.
Hi Ryan, Have you used this card in ESXi? What version? Do you have to load any drivers to get it to work? I have a 5.1U1 lab box that i would like to add some additional NICs to I only have PCIe x1 slots left on my board. Just trying to make sure it will work before i order. Thanks!
Hey Mike, yep I’ve used it. Works great in a couple boxes running 5.1U1. I know of a few others using it as well!
Hi Ryan,
I just upgraded to ESXi 5.5, from 5.1U1, in my lab. I am using a Dell XPS 8500, which has an onboard NIC utilizing the Realtek 8168 chipset. I injected the 8168 driver into a custom 5.5 ISO, ran the install, the NIC was recognized, and all is working fine. I would like to add additional NIC ports and am interested in the SY-PEX24028, as my system only has x1 slots available for use. I understand the SY-PEX24028 utilizes the Realtek 8111E chipset. My understanding, now that I have injected the 8168 driver, the SY-PEX24028 should work out of the box. Am I correct or will I need to inject an additional driver?
Thanks in advance for your assistance!
I would think you’re probably ok. No way to really know on this stuff unless you give it a shot. Keep us posted! I’d be curious to hear if it works.
Gotcha there; will post an update on how I make out.
Thanks
I can confirm this NIC works on VMWare ESXi 5.1, however it DOES NOT work on VMWare ESXi 5.5
Rob, have you tried adding in the Realtek drivers for ESXi 5.5? See: http://www.ryanbirk.com/fixing-broken-realtek-and-marvell-nics-in-esxi-5-5/
Ryan,
Received a SY-PEX24028 today; installed and both NIC interfaces were recognized out of the box. Also, tested connectivity of both interfaces and traffic passed without error.
Thanks again and Happy Holidays
I have the dell 8700 xps with the Realteck 8111 nic. It was a very painful road trying so many different things and nothing worked. My last ditch effort was the buying of this card on your suggestion here, and it worked like a champ. Thanks
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