Killer launches refreshed E3100 2.5Gbps Ethernet controller

[HEXUS]

Arriving first on systems from Acer and MSI.

Read more.

[watercooled]

Hmm, I wonder what the drivers will be like? It's good to see >1Gb network controllers finally appearing in the consumer market but I recall some issues with software and drivers such as memory leaks with past Killer products. Not sure if that's improved recently?

[will19565]

Other than NAS, what other use is there for 2.5Gb Ethernet.

[LSG501]

Until compatible switches/router etc come down to a 'reasonable' price a 2.5Gbps network card seems like an expensive luxury for most people.

[watercooled]

Other than NAS, what other use is there for 2.5Gb Ethernet.

For domestic use that's pretty much it for now, from what I can think of. I pretty much gave up using a NAS because gigabit was becoming more and more of a bottleneck for transfers compared to modern drive transfer speeds, amongst some other reasons.

[Ozaron]

There seem to be a growing number of motherboards featuring this speed of ethernet connection, like my Unify which wasn't bank breaking. Sure, it's more than a lot of people would pay but not exactly expensive.

Still waiting to have a connection which would make use of even 1000Mbit though.

[DanceswithUnix]

Other than NAS, what other use is there for 2.5Gb Ethernet.

We are heading towards gigabit Internet connections. It used to be that the "last mile" from the exchange to the residence was the bottleneck on broadband, but soon it will be the last yard from the router to the PC. Really, we have been stuck on gigabit for a very long time now, it is the slowest interface on a modern PC by a very large margin. Video interfaces are in the 10 to 20Gb/s range for example, USB is 10Gb/s, over short distances even WiFi can peak over a gigabit.

Now I think the average punter just uses WiFi, and then moans about speed and reliability. So I think we are at a tipping point: If one of the faster Ethernet speeds isn't adopted as the expected standard on motherboards then we can expect Ethernet ports to go away.

[3dcandy]

Virgin Broadband here. 4 x 10/1000 ethernet ports yet 1 gig is available in my area....

Face palm central