real advantage of a DUAL lan?

[I-Die-Often]

I see some mobos come with dual LAN ports... is there any real advantage to this? opinions on it?

 

[Gunning]

Not a whole lot of use to the average user. The main benefit for most people will just be have a spare port if one physically fails.

There are some cool things you can do though if you have the capability. It allows you to use your computer as a router/firewall with one port connected to your internet connection and the other to your internal network. Usually when people do this (if anyone still does) the PC should be dedicated to that purpose and not used for anything else due to security reasons.

If you can set something up with your ISP (or more likely 2 separate ISPs) you can hook each port up to a seperate connection and you can increase your bandwidth that way. Or, have one primary connection with it set up to switch over to the other if the primary fails.

But again, these aren't things the average user will (or have a need to) do. Just my opinion.

 

[xKodiakx]

I have Dual Lan on my motherboard, Like Gunning said those options, also depending on the driver/OS you use.

my X48-DS4 has a teaming option, allowing for load balancing, gaming no doesn't make hardly any difference no it won't lower your pings. It does increase the rate I transfer files from 1 comp to the other if the other comp has the same setup.

In Linux you can also set this up with any adapters so for linux users it's possible.

I'm currently at v2.0 of my networking goal... v3.0 will have a computer setup as a router rather then an actual router so it will be useful at that point.

No matter what your board has built in... a PCI/PCIe NIC is still going to perform better....

 

[Dr. Rick Dagless M.D.]

I know one thing that can be done with dual lan is redundant connections if you have no other use for it. You need an application to do it, but you can connect both connections to your router, and the application will keep an eye on dropped packets, so that if one connection loses one, the other will get routed to your application...Whatever it is.

 

[agent86]

For the normal user, there is zero benefit. That's the short answer Don't let it influence your decision on what motherbard to buy.

 

[I-Die-Often]

Thanks for the input... not buying a mobo... was surfing for the wife's computer and saw it as an option that made a mobo ~$50 more.

Is it true that a PCI/E NIC works better?

 

[xKodiakx]

PCI/E NICs do work better because they handle everything themselves, the onboard Lans rely on the Processor for everthing.

This is why they Hyped up the Killer NIC so much, sure a $40 Intel GT1000 can have the exact same effect on your ping, but hey... why not just believe the hype and waste the extra 100+ $$

PCI or PCIe, depending on which slot you have available won't make a difference between each other as long as it's a normal single port NIC... sure they have some that have like 6 ports on them crazy cards... but we are talking the normal user here.


NIC vs. Integrated: (Round 1)

NIC:

Pro -
1. Less CPU Usage
2. Lowers your ping they usually have better lan chips (non Realtek!)
3. Transfer rates between computers tend to be higher ^ Same reason
4. Allows for more complex network options

Cons -
1. Use up a slot
2. Cost $$ most don't see the need to have "another" lan port
3. "Average" users honestly won't notice a difference.


Integrated Lan:

Pro -
1. Technically Free (comes with pretty much any Mobo now)
2. Most don't need more then what they can offer.

Cons -
1. Slower then then NICs
2. Cannot Replace (if you don't have an extra slot for a NIC)
3. Uses Up Processor cycles (most likely very minimal but still true)

 

[Havegooda {A|R}]

NICs use VERY little CPU usage as it is. There's really no reason for anyone to "require" an add-on card. Srsly guise.

I mean, if it bothers you, go ahead. But god help you if you buy a KillerNIC.

~Gooda~

 

[Rogue Sniper]

I had two on my old board, used them as a router two my 360 and friends laptop when he came over.

Now I have one but internet is hooked to a router so dont really need another one, but I miss it

 

[Homie Q]

yea like rouge sniper said you could hook up your xbox 360 to your pc to stream videos and music etc. to your tv by bridging the two connections, if you had dual lan. I did it before and it functions flawlessly, its a neat function if you are planning to watch stuff on your computer thru your tv, but then again you could just hook your computer directly to your tv only if you have vga/dvi/ component adapter haha.