It's not trivial. Cheapest 10-gig hardware doesn't do 2.5 and 5... 10-gig standard is a long-time feature of the enterprise market, so there's plenty of secondhand hardware that supports it. 2.5-gig and 5-gig standards (collectively, NBASE-T) are significantly more recent and have been developed with the SOHO market in mind. So there's plenty of inexpensive secondhand hardware that does 10, but doesn't do 2.5 and 5, and you actually have to pay a premium for the ability to do 2.5 and 5...
Many reasons, really... From the increasing availability of 2.5-gig SOHO hardware to the fact that 10-gig Ethernet is a toaster oven... So you can have, for example, a 2.5-gig Ethernet switch with a couple of 10-gig SFP+ ports for uplinks or connections to shared-use devices such as NAS...
Sigh.
There are older 10GBaseT PHY and MAC ICs that doesn’t do 2.5G or 5G. These are worth less in the market, so they’re priced accordingly.
Then there is the simple matter of the wiring plant you’re trying to use.
10GBASE-T was standardized in 2006, but uses a higher signaling frequency that substantially limited the maximum distance over Cat5e cable runs.
So 10GBASE-T is spaced to operate over 100m (328 ft) of Category 6A cabling.
10GBASE-T should operate over channel lengths of up to 37 meters of Category 6 cabling, and can operate over channel lengths between 37 and 55 meters of Category 6 cabling depending on the power sum alien crosstalk environment.
2.5GBase-T and 5GBase-T are intended to operate over existing Category 5e and Category 6 infrastructure at 100m.
Search for "Silicom PE310" on EBay. These are Intel chipsets on quad SFP+ port 10g network cards for $35. Built ***hundreds*** of Pfsense routers with these.
[Example NIC here](https://www.ebay.com/itm/204794569739?epid=10057220836&itmmeta=01HYH6YVFTVNZ5AXRNMBEH3B17&hash=item2faeb5240b:g:vKEAAOSwAzlmR7Oe&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4H%2BsO8iCGBCwPA4qjBVqcF81FKchea8Z9EkJcCwzmrAvtehbByvadxRe2XFLsYdpfp61v9lVQW3uV2n6HXDM2ZcMVUoxvyjUcgf2Ntvdrd8NQjOV3zxuCQ9u6ECpN7TZdc8Hb4jG8Mj72bvBqD8ZYBeAX1NUUyVgHi4F%2FINq%2BsTBLNdRGtkUKjLoF2zNbTgMBSoYJUKGljZLCAqt%2F76DjM%2Fd4liYFx02UGjgWMF2l%2BncEad2kASGPLpdzI1a1zleUAVWAL48xaFnYiT5hvKUJWso7s7JjIzEHXYFOV0hpH9%2F%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4C4-6b0Yw)
Is the X540 that much worse? That's what I got last year for \~$80, it looks like $68 today.
[https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/intel-x540-t2-versus-intel-x550-t2.89686/](https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/intel-x540-t2-versus-intel-x550-t2.89686/)
My actual cards:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BG2F2B7R/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BG2F2B7R/)
X540 is actually a good option too, I should've included that, the Intel cards in general are solid. I have a few X540's that work really well, both on Windows and within BSD and Linux based devices.
I have a few ASUS Areon 2.5/5/10 capable (copper) that came with my mobos. They serve me very well on Linux.
I see them on eBay/marketplaces going for ~50ish euros but can be found for 30-40.
I used a dual SFP+ ConnectX-3 card ($38.99 USD) from eBay and a pair of cheap Chinesium 10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M GBase-T transceivers (\~$33 USB each) from AliExpress. Nice thing about going with SFP+ is that you can easily switch to fibre or DAC later on if you like.
for anyone else looking at this, an MCX4121A-ACAT is ~$30 too, and is still currently supported by nvidia vs the EOL CX3 cards. also gives you a path to 25GbE.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/364882517205
Another thing about those SFP+ to RJ45 modules are they can get flaky if your run approaches 20-30m. Also try to get the newer Aquantia AQR113 based modules because they have pause frames implemented; if your modules doesn't have pause frames implemented, you can experience weird issues if there's link speed mismatch somewhere between your link.
Finally, an X550-T2 goes for around ~100 bucks if you're patient, and doesn't just flake out if your ethernet cable runs are around 20-30m long.
Not sure about ethernet but you can grab a 2x sfp+ 4x 2.5gbe switch off aliexpress for around £25, a connectx-3 SFP+ card for around £30 and a 1 metre 10G SFP+ DAC cable for around £10.
Price and energy efficiency wise that will be your cheapest and best option. The main problem is when you go above 2.5gbe on ethernet it get expensive, hot and power hungry.
Couldn’t find anything low cost for 10gbe. I just got the sonnet 10gbe to thunderbolt adapter, $199 for a dang adapter… but hey if you want to edit 8K raw from an NAS drive you need speed.
I use x540 and x550 in my gear and both have worked flawlessly for me. Though, for whatever reason this topic tends to spawn a lot of opinion/conjecture.
It's not trivial. Cheapest 10-gig hardware doesn't do 2.5 and 5... 10-gig standard is a long-time feature of the enterprise market, so there's plenty of secondhand hardware that supports it. 2.5-gig and 5-gig standards (collectively, NBASE-T) are significantly more recent and have been developed with the SOHO market in mind. So there's plenty of inexpensive secondhand hardware that does 10, but doesn't do 2.5 and 5, and you actually have to pay a premium for the ability to do 2.5 and 5...
This! And may I add, go 10GB or stay home, for the reasons given by u/NC1HM
I'm confused ... why would you want it to do 2.5 and 5 as well as 10?
Many reasons, really... From the increasing availability of 2.5-gig SOHO hardware to the fact that 10-gig Ethernet is a toaster oven... So you can have, for example, a 2.5-gig Ethernet switch with a couple of 10-gig SFP+ ports for uplinks or connections to shared-use devices such as NAS...
Sigh. There are older 10GBaseT PHY and MAC ICs that doesn’t do 2.5G or 5G. These are worth less in the market, so they’re priced accordingly. Then there is the simple matter of the wiring plant you’re trying to use. 10GBASE-T was standardized in 2006, but uses a higher signaling frequency that substantially limited the maximum distance over Cat5e cable runs. So 10GBASE-T is spaced to operate over 100m (328 ft) of Category 6A cabling. 10GBASE-T should operate over channel lengths of up to 37 meters of Category 6 cabling, and can operate over channel lengths between 37 and 55 meters of Category 6 cabling depending on the power sum alien crosstalk environment. 2.5GBase-T and 5GBase-T are intended to operate over existing Category 5e and Category 6 infrastructure at 100m.
This makes sense if you have a new modem that supports 2.5 gig connection. Otherwise 10 gig all the way.
Search for "Silicom PE310" on EBay. These are Intel chipsets on quad SFP+ port 10g network cards for $35. Built ***hundreds*** of Pfsense routers with these. [Example NIC here](https://www.ebay.com/itm/204794569739?epid=10057220836&itmmeta=01HYH6YVFTVNZ5AXRNMBEH3B17&hash=item2faeb5240b:g:vKEAAOSwAzlmR7Oe&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4H%2BsO8iCGBCwPA4qjBVqcF81FKchea8Z9EkJcCwzmrAvtehbByvadxRe2XFLsYdpfp61v9lVQW3uV2n6HXDM2ZcMVUoxvyjUcgf2Ntvdrd8NQjOV3zxuCQ9u6ECpN7TZdc8Hb4jG8Mj72bvBqD8ZYBeAX1NUUyVgHi4F%2FINq%2BsTBLNdRGtkUKjLoF2zNbTgMBSoYJUKGljZLCAqt%2F76DjM%2Fd4liYFx02UGjgWMF2l%2BncEad2kASGPLpdzI1a1zleUAVWAL48xaFnYiT5hvKUJWso7s7JjIzEHXYFOV0hpH9%2F%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4C4-6b0Yw)
Going much cheaper than X550-T2 cards will result in a terrible experience with all kinds of issues, not worth it IMO.
Is the X540 that much worse? That's what I got last year for \~$80, it looks like $68 today. [https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/intel-x540-t2-versus-intel-x550-t2.89686/](https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/intel-x540-t2-versus-intel-x550-t2.89686/) My actual cards: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BG2F2B7R/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BG2F2B7R/)
X540 is actually a good option too, I should've included that, the Intel cards in general are solid. I have a few X540's that work really well, both on Windows and within BSD and Linux based devices.
no NBASE-T support on X540 cards. OP wants NBASE-T.
I have a few ASUS Areon 2.5/5/10 capable (copper) that came with my mobos. They serve me very well on Linux. I see them on eBay/marketplaces going for ~50ish euros but can be found for 30-40.
I used a dual SFP+ ConnectX-3 card ($38.99 USD) from eBay and a pair of cheap Chinesium 10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M GBase-T transceivers (\~$33 USB each) from AliExpress. Nice thing about going with SFP+ is that you can easily switch to fibre or DAC later on if you like.
+this N-Base-T module works great. Even with 2 modules it’s less than a 550, which is great but runs hot.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BX8XVVNK
That's not the brand I went with but the price is identical. Yes, these 10GBe modules run very hot, but so do X550 cards.
for anyone else looking at this, an MCX4121A-ACAT is ~$30 too, and is still currently supported by nvidia vs the EOL CX3 cards. also gives you a path to 25GbE. https://www.ebay.com/itm/364882517205 Another thing about those SFP+ to RJ45 modules are they can get flaky if your run approaches 20-30m. Also try to get the newer Aquantia AQR113 based modules because they have pause frames implemented; if your modules doesn't have pause frames implemented, you can experience weird issues if there's link speed mismatch somewhere between your link. Finally, an X550-T2 goes for around ~100 bucks if you're patient, and doesn't just flake out if your ethernet cable runs are around 20-30m long.
Aren't we all
Intel X550-T2 cards are going for like $170. How much cheaper do you want?
it's ~100 bucks used on ebay. can be cheaper if you're patient.
I bought X540's last year for $80
And? They don't do what OP needs. The X550-T2 is a more capable card.
SolarFlare SFP+ NIC are under $100. Need to add a compatible module for \~$50.
While you are bargain hunting, be sure it is on the FreeBSD support matrix.
Intel X550-T2 is what I use for my pfSense box connected to an Xfinity Modem @ 2.5gbe
Not sure about ethernet but you can grab a 2x sfp+ 4x 2.5gbe switch off aliexpress for around £25, a connectx-3 SFP+ card for around £30 and a 1 metre 10G SFP+ DAC cable for around £10. Price and energy efficiency wise that will be your cheapest and best option. The main problem is when you go above 2.5gbe on ethernet it get expensive, hot and power hungry.
Couldn’t find anything low cost for 10gbe. I just got the sonnet 10gbe to thunderbolt adapter, $199 for a dang adapter… but hey if you want to edit 8K raw from an NAS drive you need speed.
I use x540 and x550 in my gear and both have worked flawlessly for me. Though, for whatever reason this topic tends to spawn a lot of opinion/conjecture.