When connecting by network cable to our router, we can use different types of Ethernet network cards. Generally, most of us use the ones that are built into the motherboards of our laptops or PCs. However, in case you don’t know, there are other alternatives. One of them would be the internal PCI-e cards that we can install in a slot of this type on the motherboard of our PC. The other alternative is the USB network adapters that, through this USB port, allow us to connect an Ethernet network cable. Today in this article we are going to talk about the three types of Ethernet network cards that we can find today, and in which situations we should choose one or the other.
Now we are going to start talking about what a network card is and how they have evolved to the current situation.
What is an Ethernet network card
We can say that the Ethernet network card is a hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network, and that allows us to share resources. Thus, within our local network or LAN we can share files, hard drives, printers and also have access to the Internet. Other names it receives are network card, network adapter, LAN adapter, and even physical network interface.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that each network card has a unique identification number assigned by hardware manufacturers called a MAC address, which is also known as a physical address. The MAC is used to identify a specific device on a network and can be used to automate the validation process on a network connection. In that sense, perhaps you have ever used the MAC filtering of your router, inserting this address allows these computers to connect or not to the network. Those on the white list would be those who could connect to the network and the Internet and those on the black list those who could not.
Then on the other hand, the network cards are assigned an IP address which is a number that identifies them in a logical and hierarchical way to that device within the network, and also uses the TCP / IP protocol.
Evolution of Ethernet network cards
The cards have been changing over time. The first ones were in ISA format, much larger than the current one and were connected to a slot with the same name on the motherboard. Next came the PCIe cards that downsized and also plugged into the motherboard. From the year 2000, manufacturers began to integrate network cards into PC motherboards and internal cards of this type gradually reduced their presence.
If we were to define the types of network cards that we can currently find to connect by Ethernet network cable, we could say that they are of three types:
- Those integrated into the motherboards of PCs, laptops or other equipment such as a Smart TV, Android TV etc.
- Internal ones for PC : here we refer exclusively to those that are connected to a slot on the motherboard. As we mentioned before, the ISAs were first, then the PCIs came and currently we use the PCI Express, whose initials are PCI-E.
- We would also have the USB , which connected to a port of this type would allow us to connect, for example, to the router by network cable.
Each of them has a function, and depending on what we are going to use them for, it will be convenient for us to use one or the other. Currently, the on-board network card is generally the most used, although there may be situations, as we will see later, that it is convenient for us to use one of the other two. In terms of speed in the domestic sphere, we have gone from the 10/100 Mbit cards that we used with ADSL connections to the Gigabit Ethernet that we use in fiber connections of up to 1 Gigabit. However, it should be noted that we have them with higher speed as we will see later, and that is that the Multigigabit Ethernet network cards 2.5G, 5G and even the 10G cards are here to stay.
The network cable to make the most of our network card
The category of an Ethernet network cable and its length will determine the maximum speed that that cable can reach. Here is a table with the most used categories currently:
Currently the minimum recommended is to use a category 5e cable. However, due to the small price difference, it is best to start with a Cat 6 category. With these two we have enough for fiber connections of up to 1 Gigabit. On the other hand, when we go above that speed and we have a 2.5, 5 or 10 Gbps Multigigabit router, the best thing is a category 6A or 7 cable. It is an example of a CAT 5E cable. cable screen printing:
What type of Ethernet network card should I choose?
Depending on the needs you have, you will have to opt for one type of Ethernet network card or another. On-board Ethernet network cards are always built into desktop computers, and sometimes in notebook computers, but not always. In recent times, laptops have reduced their thickness, and because of this, an Ethernet network card can no longer be incorporated because the RJ-45 connector does not physically fit in the chassis.
If you have a desktop computer and the motherboard incorporates a Gigabit Ethernet port, our recommendation is to buy a PCIe card that is Multigigabit to achieve the best possible speed, if the Ethernet network card on the motherboard has simply broken because it does not work, and you want one of the same features, you can also buy a PCIe card that is Gigabit Ethernet. In this case, the computers also have USB 3.0 ports so we can install a network card with a USB adapter, but taking advantage of the fact that we have a PCIe port on our PC, it is best to buy a PCIe Ethernet network card.
If you have a laptop, the only way to incorporate another Ethernet network card, or the only card, is through its USB 3.0 ports, either type A or type C, because today there are Ethernet network cards with both connectors, ideal to adapt to the different needs of users. Older laptops all incorporate an Ethernet network card included, but in recent times laptops are getting thinner, and this is not possible, therefore, using one of these cards with a USB type A or type C connector is the only thing we can do.
Ethernet network card integrated into the motherboard of our PC
The network card integrated on the board of our desktop PCs has the peculiarity that it will occupy less space than an internal one, and that it does not require installation, because it is already integrated into the motherboard itself.
Currently, Ethernet network cards of this type are Gigabit Ethernet, so if it is a modern PC it could take advantage of Internet connections of up to 1 Gigabit. Therefore, in most cases with this type of card we could operate at the maximum of our router in most cases. This is the network card integrated in the board of a desktop PC:
On the other hand, laptops have a network card integrated on the board. But in this case there may be quite a few laptops with 100BASE-TX cards, that is, up to 100 Mbit / s. The reason is that manufacturers have given greater importance to the Wi-Fi section. In that sense, it would be important to look in the Windows device manager for the speed supported by your on-board network card. You can look at Windows 10 in Start , Control Panel , System and Security , System and Device Manager:
In this case we find a network card integrated into the Gigabit Ethernet board whose speed limit is 1 Gigabit. In recent years, high-end motherboards already incorporate Multigigabit connectivity, therefore, we can achieve speeds of 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps and even 10Gbps, depending on the model.
Internal Ethernet network cards via PCIe for PC
One of the things to have when buying an internal PC network card is that it requires installation. It is not complicated to do so, but you have to open the PC, insert it in the appropriate slot and fix it to the chassis of the case with a screw. In this case, the slot currently used is PCI Express. As for the reasons for wanting to install one are:
- The network card on the motherboard is faulty.
- We have a router with higher speed Ethernet ports than the one on the motherboard, and we want to take advantage of the Multigigabit or 10G speeds of the network.
These types of cards are usually very interesting in times of transition. Right now, we find ourselves in this situation due to the emergence of 2.5, 5 or 10 Gigabit multigigabit routers and switches. As currently most of the motherboard cards of our computers are Gigabit Ethernet, it would be necessary to add an expansion card of this type. With the arrival of Internet connections greater than 1 Gbps, we will see a greater demand for these cards to be able to take advantage of all the bandwidth. An example of this type 10GBASE-T Multigigabit would be the ASUS XG-C100C:
If we want something more professional, we can always buy the D-Link DXE-820T card that has two 10G network ports (it does not allow Multigigabit), this model is ideal for servers and high-performance computers, since we will have 20Gbps Full-Duplex .
As you have seen, these cards will allow us to achieve up to 10 times faster than typical on-board network cards.
USB Ethernet network cards
This type is also known as USB Ethernet network adapters . In some situations it may be more convenient to use them. One of them is when we do not want to do an installation and open the PC case as in the previous case. Another because our laptop has a 10/100 Mbits network card and we want to connect at a higher speed. However, we must take into account the USB standard of the motherboard of our PC or laptop. If the PC or laptop has versions prior to 3.0, the bandwidth could be compromised. In addition, we need to verify that the network adapter also uses the USB 3.0 standard.
If you are interested in buying this type of cheap Ethernet to USB network adapters, with a Gigabit Ethernet port, we recommend these two models:
You could also buy an 8-in-1 hub with a Gigabit Ethernet port, ideal for extracting more ports of different types:
If you want to have a higher speed, then you will have to resort to Multigigabit network adapters, this D-Link DUB-E250 is one of the best value for money that currently exists:
And if you want something better, the QNAP QNA-UC5G1T is a very good option, the negative part of this device is that it gets quite hot and we will not get more than real 3Gbps of speed.
As you have seen, we have different Ethernet network cards, depending on our needs, we can choose one card or another.