So I’ve been very depressed over the last week, not seeing anything that looked like it would provide a good solution for my newest 1st world problem of not being able to leverage a new 5GB ethernet connection. I finally found a provider for an NBase-T NIC that does 1GB/2.5GB/5GB/10GB connection speeds!
Of course, no good solution is truly a solution if you can’t be aggravated by the two most common issues in today’s day and age: pricing and availability.
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I have attempted to use a system based on a SuperMicro X10SLH-N6-ST031 motherboard, but it was confirmed only after I installed pfSense 6.20 on it that it was incompatible with the “multi-gigabit” NBase-T standard that AT&T is using for it’s copper RJ45 handoff. It only wanted to connect at either 10G or 1G, and since I didn’t have anything in the 10G range, it stuck to 1G, which was no better than my existing VM of pfSense. But, that was entirely my bad for not asking the seller if it was compatible, so I’ll own this failure.
After all the hoops I had to jump thru to keep the network up and working while I performed maintenance on my server, it became clear that I really need to invest in a dedicated “bare metal” pfsense box. The timing is good too because a new upgrade in the AT&T Fiber to the Home has improved my base connection from 1GB to 5GB. So I’ll be reviewing the available tech to see what I can line-up in the next month or so.
So the new HBA card arrived last week, but I was way too busy to deal with it then. Plus, I like to plan things out when doing installations like this.
Anyways, I woke up earlier than expected this morning, and since my wife was still asleep, I decided that it would be a great time to get the new HBA installed and configured. I figured that should only take about 30 minutes. Little did I know, the universe had other plans.
I’d been hearing this in the tech news for the last couple of weeks, but had never gotten the actual e-mail warning me of this impending date. Today as a user of G-Suite Free (Legacy), I finally received that e-mail notification.
I don’t really use the G-Suite tools at all, but it does sound like I’ll have to give-up my Google custom Domain e-mail addresses. If so, then I’ve decided I’ll just add a new e-Mail Server VM or Container to my growing list of things to add:
Once I get new HBA & Cables setup, I can add: