Preliminary results for the Sonnet SoloG Presto 10GbE adapter ($99):
So, I just got and plugged it in. The first thing I did was disable all patches and any Ethernet kexts I could find were deleted.
And yes!!, it indeed does work without a kext or a patch or
any flashing! (as long as you have macOS 10.13.4 or greater)
The performance is roughly equivalent to the Aquantia (which wasn't bad) and the Intel X540-T1. And not as fast as a Intel 550.
I have the modded Intel, two Aquantias (that I'm going to sell), and the new Sonnet. If I had to do over again, I would purchase the Sonnet. In the attachment below, you can see that the Sonnet is actually smaller than the Aquantia, with a smaller heatsink. This is relevant because in testing it, I did see it drop a bit over time and I think that's because it was throttling. It started out faster than the Aquantia, then after a few minutes dropped to about the same level as the Aquantia.
Issues and caveats:
- you really want this card in a x8 slot, but I think that's true of all of them: the Aquantia, the Intel and the Sonnet all perform better in a x8 capable slot (which means most probably an unused x16 slot as manufacturers don't usually make motherboards with x8 slots anymore - there might be some, but none I have seen lately).
- Make sure you set any 10G card for Jumbo frames in the macOS. If you leave it at automatic, it will always choose 1500 mtu and your throughput will be affected.
- Always use only Cat 6e or higher cables! It's true Cat 5e or Cat 6 might work (depending on the length), but why take a chance?
- Optionally, you can adjust your SMB settings by doing the following (got this from somewhere, can't remember where......):
Outgoing:
smbutil statshares -a
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server SigningRequired 0
Incoming
sudo -s
echo "[default]" >> /etc/nsmb.conf
echo "signing_required=no" >> /etc/nsmb.conf
exit
But this is the first 10G adapter that I know of that will work in a Mac or Hack with no flashing modifications required, no kexts required, no patches either! And remember, you get it from a good company with a decent reputation, with a warranty and some support. You get none of that with the Intel mod card or the modded Aquantia.
If you have 10.13.4 or greater, this adapter is literally plug and play.
View attachment 344965
