H!Fiber Gigabit PCIe NIC with Intel 82574L Chip, 1Gb Network Card Compare to Intel EXPI9301CT/ EXPI9301CTBLK NIC, Single RJ45 Port, PCI Express X1, Ethernet Card for Windows/Windows Server/Linux

This is a review of four related products purchased here on Amazon. 1. Klein Tools VDV826-703 Pass-Thru™ Modular Data Plug, CAT6, 50-Pack (ASIN B076PRM7W8) 2. Klein Tools VDV226-005 Compact Pass-Thru™ Modular Crimper (ASIN B07R3GK9FQ) 3. Soft Plastic Ethernet RJ45 Cable Connector Boots by Copapa (ASIN B07219KGC4) 4. H!Fiber 1Gbe Ethernet Network Adapter (ASIN B074PPRQQK) I’m using CAT 6 UTP (23 AWG) that I bought from a local home center. 1. I found the Klein Tools VDV826-703 Pass-Thru™ Modular Data Plug, (CAT6, 50-Pack) to be easy to use. This is my first-time using pass-thru connectors, and I have mixed feelings, but that’s not what this is about. The 23 AWG wires fit in snuggly but did require a bit of convincing to pass thru. They are more expensive than some others that are available, but I know these will work perfectly, especially with a same brand crimper. 2. The Klein Tools VDV226-005 Compact Pass-Thru™ Modular Crimper did its job flawlessly. The insulation is held tightly in place, the crimp felt secure, and the pass-thru wires were cut perfectly flush. I still need to try this with cheap plugs, to see if they are cut just as flush, but these work great with their own. 3. While I don’t usually use boots, I decided to give them a shot as they make the wires look more “finished”. I purchased the blue Soft Plastic Ethernet RJ45 Cable Connector Boots by Copapa. While they didn’t cost much, they were very soft and fit okay. I wish they were a little tighter around the wire, but that can vary from brand to brand. Overall, I’m happy with them. 4. Once the cables were completed, I plugged them into a H!Fiber NIC (Intel I350-T4 chipset). They all fit nicely together, even with the boots. That network card is not the V2, and that was expected. The V2s are harder to find and there are no performance differences. The revision was made to fix a slight power surge during power-on. The network card performed flawlessly with pfSense and I was able to configure two LAGGs with LACP support. One to a Cisco managed switch, and the other to my cable modem (SB8200) but I’ll save those for a different review. This card is working perfectly.

This NIC has been running rock solid 24/7 in our pfSense CE router for over a month now.

I purchase several things on Amazon and was giving pretty in-depth reviews. From this point on, here's the new agenda…. if it works as advertised, is well made, meets or exceeds the description, is a value, and arrives in a fair amount of time, it will get a "star rating" equal to what my expectations were/are. If it doesn't meet these criteria, then I will most definitely and descriptively tell the short comings of the products and you as a consumer will not have to go through the trouble of buying the product without some background knowledge. If the sell pulls that item and relists under another description, I will put the exact same review on the seller's feedback page. Sellers have done this a couple of times in the past, and I was true to my word then as well as now. DR

I've had no issues; works great. The low-profile bracket attaches easily, and fits low-profile cases, and i do get close to the full 1 Gbps speed during a large file copy. Not bad for $60. The last one got fried in a lightning strike that happened nearby; even behind a UPS. I guess the EMP on the network cables was too much for it.

1 Gbe is pretty slow these days but being an intel NIC it has wide compatibility so you don't run into some of the issues you can run into with other brands like realtek on FreeBSD. Great replacement for a SuperMicro server whose NIC died on me recently.

Worked as intended

I was trying to install VMware ESXi 7 on an old Dell XPS desktop system, but ESXi would not recognize the built-in NIC, and thererfore wouldn't complete the installation. After multiple failed attmpts to follow online and YouTube instructions on how to "inject" NIC drivers into the ESXi ISO, I gave up and decided to try a new card. I purchased the "Gigabit PCIe NIC with Intel 82574L Chip" since this chipset is actually listed in the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide, and the Amazon description claimed it to be ESXi 7 compatible. I was pleasantly surprised that the card was identified by ESXi, and the installation completed without any problems. I can't speak about whether the other NICs on this Amazon page would work with ESXi 7, mainly because the descriptions for some of the cards do not explicitly mention being ESXi compatible. But I can definitely recommend the one with the 82574L chipset based on my success... plus the price is right!

Exelent performance for the price

Works great in my ESX 8.0.3 server

happy to get this network card i recommend this

only one port work at a time , never buy , waste of money

does not work in my application - Dell 7070 and VMware

I am using this in my pfsense box, they work out of the box. I replaced the stock thermal glue with a drop of MX4. It does get little hot without a fan so I added an 80mm fan facing directly on the nic and it is much cooler now even under heavy load.