# Best supported NIC by FreeBSD 9.2?



## bsdorusr (Nov 20, 2013)

Hi,

What's the best supported GigE NIC for FreeBSD 9.2 amd64?

We have an onboard Intel NIC, but experienced some strange problem. From time to time, the interface lost network connectivity. No ping, nor any network traffic to or passing the interface. System shows the interface is up, switch shows the port is alive and up. Only rebooting can bring the interface back again.  

So we are looking for putting in another NIC card. Any suggestions are appreciated.


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## DutchDaemon (Nov 20, 2013)

I'd say the Intel PRO/1000 NICs are pretty much unbeatable at this point.


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## wblock@ (Nov 20, 2013)

Intel is probably the best card, and the best supported.  There are various differing versions.  Broadcom cards are not bad, and now Broadcom is contributing to the FreeBSD drivers.  Down the line are the ubiquitous re(4) Realtek cards, which generally work acceptably well.  Other brands are less common, but I've used the Atheros gigabit cards on a couple of FreeBSD machines.


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## neel (Nov 20, 2013)

Like @DutchDaemon and @wblock@ said, I'd go with the Intel NICs if you care about quality. But first, try unplugging your computer and then plugging it back in. This may fix your problem. Although I have a motherboard with a Realtek chip, this may work on Intel NICs also.


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## User23 (Nov 21, 2013)

Intel ^^'


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## phoenix (Nov 23, 2013)

Intel PRO/1000 NICs have been discontinued.  These used em(4) or igb(4) drivers depending on the specific model number/revision of the chipset.

Intel i350 NICs have replaced them.  These use only the igb(4) driver.


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