GigE troubles or why Dell/Broadcom suck

I’ve been considering upgrading my network to GigE (gigabit ethernet) for a long time because of the sheer amount of data (hundreds of gigs nightly) that I push around between my computers. I had been considering picking up a Linksys EG008W because it would stack perfectly on my customized Linksys WRT54g running Tofu’s firmware. However, after reading this review, I realized that it doesn’t support jumbo frames (i.e. MTU > 1500) which will effectively limit my peak throughput to around 400-500mbps. The suggestion in the review was to look at the SMC EZ Switch SMC8508T which supports jumbo frames. At $88, I’m probably going to wait it out. Another option is going for the 5-port version which is closer to $58.

This isn’t the end of the story though. After seeing the lack of jumbo frame support at the switch level in the Linksys EG008W, I started hunting for information on my GigE network cards. Luckily, my Dell PowerEdge server has an Intel GigE network card which supports jumbo frames and checksum offloading which should allow a max throughput of around 900mbps or higher. My other system has a Realtek 8169 GigE network chip directly on the motherboard. A quick google search shows that it supports jumbo frames but the exact value quoted varies from 7.5K up to 8K which further solidifies my opinion that Realtek is garbage. Lastly, my Dell M60 (Precision Workstation) laptop has a Broadcom 5705 chipset which, unfortunately, does not support jumbo frames. Why Dell could not pay an extra 50 cents for an Intel GigE chip in their flagship laptop product is beyond me. Regardless, I’m fairly sure that my network will still get a speed boost from a GigE switch (~4-5 times faster) but as it stands the consumer needs to do their homework to determine jumbo frame and checksum offloading support before forking any cash to any vendor.

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January 4, 2006 | Filed Under Tech/Gadgets 

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