SY-PEX24076

Edit: as of XigmaNAS 13.1.0.5.9725 this adapter is now recognized and works as-expected! Thanks to ms49434 and zoon01 for applying a kernel patch to accept the PHY that is present. Original review follows. The adapter arrived in a small, cardboard box. The heatsink is attached securely. A hardware check indicates that the chip is revision 03. Under Windows 10/11, the adapter is usable with no additional effort or configuration on the user's side. Under Linux/FreeBSD, the adapter may or may not work depending on the version of the driver used to attempt init. Under FreeBSD specifically, support for the I225 was added in 13.1 via 𝚒𝚐𝚌, however the driver performs an unnecessary PHY vendor ID check, which may fail if the adapter reports an ID that isn't listed in an internal table. The fix (recommended by Intel themselves) is to no longer perform this check and instead assume a PHY for all I225 adapters. This fix is available in FreeBSD 13.2 and/or 14, and would need to be backported if using anything earlier. Examples; TrueNAS Scale 22.12.0 supports this adapter, while XigmaNAS 13.1.0.5.9687 (latest as of this review) includes 𝚒𝚐𝚌, but fails to init with the adapter I received.

I installed this in my old QNAP TS-563 expansion slot. I had to change to the low profile header, and then bend the header flat because QNAP decided to use a flat header. I will duct tape the header to the chassis. But the good news is that it works at 2.5G. Price of this was $17 and change, the QNAP one is $70. I will deal with the duct tape. Edit 6 months later - still working great

I can’t get any machine I own to recognize this device. It’s not a driver problem - the UEFI firmware just doesn’t even recognize there’s a device plugged in. I’ve tried messing with PCIe settings in the firmware, but no luck. The activity lights on the back of the card do come on, but that’s the extent of the activity I’ve seen from this card.

I eventually got it to work after hacking the driver inf file and forcing unsigned driver signature in a special boot mode in order to get this to work. There is very little good easy information out there on how to do this. It is Intel's fault and BS. Once hacked the driver works fine. These are obviously not for any production server, but work fine in my lab/test/home environment. I bought it to get a 2.5Gbps link to my Internet provider. Is working after hacking the driver on Windows Server 2022. Paid a bit much for what it is and what had to be done to make it work. Same chipset cards can be had for less if you are willing to wait for slow shipping. Steve at MichiganBroadband

Every other NIC available seems to use Realtek chips, which are an absolute nightmare when it comes to Linux compatibility most of the time. This card is plug-and-play with no drivers needed on Ubuntu and Arch, and works with the official Intel drivers on Windows (which I did need to download separately). I tested the throughput with a large file transfer through a 2.5Gbps switch, and it delivered a flawless 2.5Gbps transfer rate.

Plug and play with unRAID (tested with 7.0). Achieves full throughput

This card works in my workstation running Ubuntu 22.04, getting full 2.5 gb speeds. This card did not work in a different machine with an older Intel processor and PCIE 2.1 buss, where installing the NIC caused a no boot failure. This was my second attempt, as the Realtek 8125B based NICs were dead on arrival, so my experience is that these Intel based NICs are the better option.

ESXi-7.0U2d reports the I225-V as revision 3 and getting the full 2500Mbps speed. I also tested with PCI passthrough in ESXI and had no problems, the VM had full access to the network card. Using the Community Networking Driver for ESXi Native Drivers. I have 3 vms assigned to this physical network card and will continue to monitor for a couple of days to check the stability. So far no problems. Happy with purchase! Vendor Name: Intel Corporation Device Name: Ethernet Controller I225-V Vendor ID: 0x8086 Device ID: 0x15f3 SubVendor ID: 0x8086 SubDevice ID: 0x0000 Device Class: 0x0200 Device Class Name: Ethernet controller Revision ID: 0x03