# NIC on docking station



## balanga (Oct 22, 2017)

I've just picked up a docking station from a local car boot sale and it has a NIC. Can FreeBSD access this NIC along with the laptop's built in NIC?


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## Phishfry (Oct 23, 2017)

On my Dell docking station there is no actual NIC. It passes through the laptop ethernet.
This is usually a convince feature so you can slip the laptop out of the dock without fumbling with cords.
Docking stations do break out connectors not available on the laptop on some older models and add additional USB ports.


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## SirDice (Oct 23, 2017)

balanga said:


> I've just picked up a docking station from a local car boot sale and it has a NIC. Can FreeBSD access this NIC along with the laptop's built in NIC?


That really depends on the brand/model of the laptop and docking station. As Phishfry mentioned, some docking stations provide more or less a 'pass-through' interface while others provide a genuine second network adapter. Typically the older models provide a second adapter and more modern docking stations provide a 'pass-through'.


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## balanga (Oct 25, 2017)

It seems that I confused NIC with LAN port... I saw the LAN port on the docking station and assumed it was a NIC but it turns out to be just a different way of accessing the NIC on the motherboard. Excuse the naivety, I've never had a docking station before.


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## SirDice (Oct 25, 2017)

balanga said:


> It seems that I confused NIC with LAN port


It's the same thing. NIC is *N*etwork *I*nterface *C*ard.


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## balanga (Oct 25, 2017)

I though a NIC would have a unique MAC address.... I can PXE boot from either port but the came MAC address is used...


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## SirDice (Oct 25, 2017)

Then it's a 'pass-through'. Basically exactly the same interface except now it's wired through the docking station. If it had a different MAC address it would have been a separate interface.


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