Question Which LAN Network Card for my MB?

[Metallo]

Hi folks,

My house was hit by lightning, and among the many damaged electronic devices, there is also the built-in network card of my MB:

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI LGA 1150 Z97 2-Way SLI UEFI DualBIOS

I purchased the above MB in 2014, and since I now use this PC mainly for internet browsing and movies, this board works well for my needs.

As a result, I want to buy a 1 port LAN card to fix the problem.

Now, I realized that there are multiple PCI-E slots, one of them is called: Intel GbE LAN and looks a PCIe x4 slot.

I do not want to spend more than 30-40 $, but I am not sure which card to buy, and for which slot.

Would something like this work?

If not, can you point me in the right direction?

Thank you!
Alex

 

[Aeacus]

This should do, amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Syba-Gigabit-Ethernet-Express-Network/dp/B01HH6WETO
Cheaper option, amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Port-Gigabit-Network-Express-Ethernet/dp/B09D3JL14S

 

[Misgar]

I've been there (two lightning strikes in 10 years).

https://www.truecable.com/blogs/cab...able-and-lightning-protection#page_comments=1

I've still got a few of these Ethernet lightning arrestors scattered around the house in the vain hope they'll do some good.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32879822707.html

I now have Fibre-To-The-Premises broadband, so there's far less chance of conducted EMI up the optical fibre, compared to the old coaxial cable and ADSL connections.

 

[Aeacus]

I've still got a few of these Ethernet lightning arrestors scattered around the house in the vain hope they'll do some good.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32879822707.html

This little thing is only for your own peace of mind. It won't protect against lightning strike, since one strike has easy 300+ million V and 30.000 A, blowing past it like it wasn't there.

 

[Misgar]

Agreed. It all depends how many hundred metres/yards away from your house the lightning bolt strikes. The closer it hits, the less you can do to protect anything. A direct strike to the roof will probably result in major constructional damage. A quarter of a mile away and a lightning arrestor might do some good. Spend a few tens of thousands of dollars and you could survive unscathed.

 

[Metallo]

This should do, amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Syba-Gigabit-Ethernet-Express-Network/dp/B01HH6WETO
Cheaper option, amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Port-Gigabit-Network-Express-Ethernet/dp/B09D3JL14S

Aeacus,

thank you for the links.

Anything 1 port, I do not need more really, and maybe I can get better quality with 1 port for the same price of two.

Any reason why this one wouldn't work?

Amazon.ca

Actually, I see it is a low profile, but this one could do the trick too, I guess?

Amazon.ca

Thank you!
Alessandro

 

[Metallo]

Agreed. It all depends how many hundred metres/yards away from your house the lightning bolt strikes. The closer it hits, the less you can do to protect anything. A direct strike to the roof will probably result in major constructional damage. A quarter of a mile away and a lightning arrestor might do some good. Spend a few tens of thousands of dollars and you could survive unscathed.

In my case, it stroke my house as per image.



It did not affect the camera, but where it stroke, there is an old electrical box, disconnected, so I have no clou why it chose that specific point. Most of my power adapters are dead, including an office printer and the two garage door motors 🙁

My neighbor, got two electrical devices fried, as a result of the lightning that hit my house.

Alessandro

 

[Aeacus]

Anything 1 port, I do not need more really, and maybe I can get better quality with 1 port for the same price of two.

Both would do.

Though, with more ports, you can have redundancy, in case one of the ports should die. But if you ever have 1 port card, you need to buy whole new card if port goes bad.

In my case, it stroke my house as per image.

Here, i wonder, do you not have lightning rod installed? If not, then why not?

 

[Metallo]

No , I do not have a lightning rod, I bought one years back, but I was new to my current place and discovered that if I dig 10", I get rocks everywhere, so I'd need someone to drill it down.

Like many other people, you always hope it never happens to you.
I am 60, and either I was lucky or not, but this was the first time my home was struck by a lightning.
When there is bad weather, I disconnect the 'expensive' electronics, but I never thought the Ethernet could have been such a good way to conduct, probably because you always think to the power lines first. 🙄

In addition, the area I live has never been prone to thunderstorms, but the weather has changed everywhere, and maybe it is now the time to consider a protection.

The funny thing is that I have a two storey home, and on top of my roof there is a Digital TV antenna.
Well, I have always thought that if one day lightning were to strike the house, the antenna would be the first thing it would hit, but lightning has its mysterious ways to hit 🤔

 

[Aeacus]

Like many other people, you always hope it never happens to you.
I am 60, and either I was lucky or not, but this was the first time my home was struck by a lightning.

Hope doesn't protect against nature. Also, it only takes 1 strike to burn down your entire home and/or kill you and your entire family. So, is installing lightning rod really that much to be asked for? 🤔

In addition, the area I live has never been prone to thunderstorms, but the weather has changed everywhere, and maybe it is now the time to consider a protection.

Lightning can strike anywhere. Heck you can even get lightning strikes in the middle of desert, where there hasn't been rainfall for decades.
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_thunderstorm

 

[Misgar]

Regarding the purchase of a NIC (LAN card), be cautious if you're thinking if buying a 2.5GbE card. A lot of the cheaper Intel and Realtek chipsets installed on motherboards are giving trouble. Just check the web for tales of woe. This may also apply to discrete NICs.

I've used various network cards, but the best 1GbE cards I've encountered are ex-server Intel cards, purchased second hand on eBay. These could have cost $100 new and are very reliable in my networks.

Startech are a good brand but a bit expensive for my tastes. Their cards don't look much different from cheap and cheerful cards on eBay costing one quarter the price. I do use Startech USB3 leads though for their quality.

I used to have problems with my Asus XG-C100C 10 Gigabit cards back in 2019, but Windows driver updates and firmware updates to the cards have fixed things.

I did install an earth spike in the ground outside my computer room and ran a length of 10mm2 earth cable up to an earth point, where I grounded the old broadband coaxial cable braided screen. This no longer applies with my new Fibre to the Premises broadband, where an optical fibre terminates inside my house.

 

[bill001g]

Not sure why you are looking at such expensive cards. You can normally find a tplink one for $15-$20. You can find them as low as $10 if you get those strange brands from china.