Network cards with 5 Gbit/s suddenly cheap, also as M.2 card for Raspi 5
A new network chip from Realtek enables inexpensive adapters with 5 Gigabit Ethernet. It starts at less than 10 euros per import.
Iocrest's RTL8126 network adapter in M.2 design.
(Image: Iocrest)
The chip designer Realtek has launched the RTL8126 network chip, which transmits up to 5 gigabits per second. It uses a single PCI Express 3.0 lane for this purpose. The first manufacturers are now selling network cards with the RTL8126, which are significantly cheaper than previous versions with chips from Aquantia, Intel, Tehuti or Marvell.
The Chinese company Iocrest, for example, offers an M.2 card with Realtek's RTL8126 – two PCIe slot bezels of different heights are included for the RJ45 socket. This design is particularly practical because the vast majority of modern mainboards now have several M.2 slots. The contact row is designed as a B+M key and therefore fits into the widely used M key connections.
Suitable for Raspi hobbyists
The 5 Gbit/s network card also fits into many mini PCs. Even the Raspberry Pi 5 runs with it if you use an M.2 adapter –, a so-called HAT –. Officially, the single-board computer only supports PCIe 2.0, which slows down the speed of the network chip, but the Raspi 5 also unofficially supports PCIe 3.0 speed. This requires a small adjustment under /boot/firmware/config.txt.
A test confirms that RTL8126 adapters run well with the Raspi 5. Interested parties only need to download and install the Linux driver from Realtek. According to tester Jiri Brejcha, the chip requires 1.5 watts in idle mode and 2.1 watts under full network load. With peak temperatures of just over 80 °C, no cooler is required – unlike with many 10 Gbit/s models.
The only question is what you can do with a Raspi and a 5 Gbit/s adapter. You can't write the data away as quickly as the RTL8126 delivers it. Hobbyists could at least buy a HAT with two M.2 slots and operate an NVMe SSD alongside the network adapter. However, this design is only possible with a PCIe switch on the HAT, which halves the transfer rate per M.2 connection.
For less than 10 euros from China
Network cards with the RTL8126 are slowly spilling onto the market. Iocrest's M.2 adapter costs less than 10 euros including shipping via Aliexpress. The company also offers a PCIe x1 plug-in card for just under 20 euros.
So far, only Delock offers such a card in Germany, but it costs considerably more (ab 45,76 €). Other 5 Gbit/s cards with chips from Intel & Co. cost at least 70 euros.
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