I had always been taught that you do not want to place 2 ethernet adapters in one machine on the same subnet unless you have some sort of NIC teaming software because this would cause conflicts.
However, I was testing something completely different (I'll spare you the long story), and on a Mini PC with 2 Realtek gigabit Ethernet adapters, I plugged them both into the same network. I should note that most machines on my network are 2.5 Gb, so I am able to see speed increases over normal gigabit Ethernet by transferring files to / from a machine with a 2.5 Gb adapter.
Completely unexpectedly, not only did networking work just fine with the adapters connected, but my speed actually doubled. When I copy files from a machine with a 2.5 Gb Ethernet connection, I jump from transferring about 113 MB/s to about 225 MB/s. When I look at the individual adapters, I see that each has its own IP address. So, this clearly indicates that there is some sort of load balancing operation going on here.
Documentation I am finding still suggests NOT connecting 2 adapters to the same network but I don't know if this is simply old info or something my Realtek drivers work around.
With this in mind, here are my questions:
1) Is this capability something new in Windows or is this capability provided by the Realtek drivers?
2) If this is a Windows capability without the need for special drivers, does it depend upon having 2 identical adapters or could you use a mix of adapters, for example, 1 Intel and 1 Realtek?
3) I know that newer versions of Windows 10 (2004+) and Windows 11 introduced a new driver model for Network adapters, known as "CX" drivers. Is this at all responsible for this?
Side note: This is an ultra-cheap Intel N95 based Mini PC. I was a bit surprised to be able to get this kind of performance out of it.
However, I was testing something completely different (I'll spare you the long story), and on a Mini PC with 2 Realtek gigabit Ethernet adapters, I plugged them both into the same network. I should note that most machines on my network are 2.5 Gb, so I am able to see speed increases over normal gigabit Ethernet by transferring files to / from a machine with a 2.5 Gb adapter.
Completely unexpectedly, not only did networking work just fine with the adapters connected, but my speed actually doubled. When I copy files from a machine with a 2.5 Gb Ethernet connection, I jump from transferring about 113 MB/s to about 225 MB/s. When I look at the individual adapters, I see that each has its own IP address. So, this clearly indicates that there is some sort of load balancing operation going on here.
Documentation I am finding still suggests NOT connecting 2 adapters to the same network but I don't know if this is simply old info or something my Realtek drivers work around.
With this in mind, here are my questions:
1) Is this capability something new in Windows or is this capability provided by the Realtek drivers?
2) If this is a Windows capability without the need for special drivers, does it depend upon having 2 identical adapters or could you use a mix of adapters, for example, 1 Intel and 1 Realtek?
3) I know that newer versions of Windows 10 (2004+) and Windows 11 introduced a new driver model for Network adapters, known as "CX" drivers. Is this at all responsible for this?
Side note: This is an ultra-cheap Intel N95 based Mini PC. I was a bit surprised to be able to get this kind of performance out of it.
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- OS
- Win11 Pro 23H2
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Home Built
- CPU
- Intel i7-11700K
- Motherboard
- ASUS Prime Z590-A
- Memory
- 128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
- Graphics Card(s)
- No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
- Sound Card
- Realtek (on motherboard)
- Monitor(s) Displays
- HP Envy 32
- Screen Resolution
- 2560 x 1440
- Hard Drives
- 1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
2 x 8TB HD
- PSU
- Corsair HX850i
- Case
- Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
- Cooling
- Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
- Keyboard
- CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
- Mouse
- Logitech MX Master 3
- Internet Speed
- 1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
- Browser
- Edge
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- Additional options installed:
WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
-
- Operating System
- Win11 Pro 23H2
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
- CPU
- Intel i7-1255U
- Memory
- 16 GB
- Graphics card(s)
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- Sound Card
- Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 13.3-inch IPS Display
- Screen Resolution
- WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
- Hard Drives
- 2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
- PSU
- USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
- Mouse
- Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
- Keyboard
- Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
- Internet Speed
- 1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
- Browser
- Edge
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor