Not sure if this is the spot for it my apologies. I want to use an M.2 to PCIe adapter to connect a 4 port multigigabit network card so I can install Pfsense on a USB-C drive and repurpose an Intel 11gen motherboard. The idea seems good in my head but I have been crawling the site and haven’t seen any posts of anyone attempting this. I’ll probably figure out a way to 3D print some sort of small case to make this work. Has anyone tried something similar to this?
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This is a smart idea!
I just put here some resources to inspire you:
o https://router7.org/
o My upgrade to 25 Gbit/s Fiber To The Home (2022) - Michael Stapelberg
o 25 Gbit/s at home, part 1. First part of a story on how I’ve built… | by Vladimir Smirnov | Sep, 2023 | Medium
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Very cool, what parts did you end up going with?
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I know it’s a mess right now but it works and I love it. Once I figure out some sort of enclosure it’ll look better I promise.
What parts did I got with?
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11th Gen Intel Framework Mainboard
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ADT-LINK Riser PCIe X4 3.0 PCI-E 4X to M.2 NGFF NVMe M Key 2280 Riser Card Gen3.0 Cable M2 Key-M PCI-Express Extension Cord 32G/BPS (R42SF,15CM) - Note that you need an external PSU able to supply the 12V to it. I used a random HDD PSU able to supply 12V 2A.
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NIC: HP NC364T - I thought I had a multigigabit card but I’m ok with this for now.
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RAM: x2 Samsung 16GB PC4-2666 - 32GB is overkill but it was collecting dust.
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Storage: ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure - Samsung 512GB SSD
Software:
For now I’m testing a “To Go Windows” installation and may end up using Hyper-V for a pfSense VM.
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Wow great results there. This form factor is begging for a cool 3d-printed case. Personally I’d go with a scaled Linksys WRT-54g mockup - can’t go wrong with the classics 
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Did you find any adapters that would fit the m.2 e key slot and give you a PCI slot?
I am looking at this after I ordered my 11th Gen just last night 3AM impulse buy but I cannot find anything better than the 1185 with two ethernet, one will be used for WAN The other for trunk. I will post a youtube video on how to utilize the trunk using a switch that would support VLAN’s (A little teeny advance bit of networking). I am really excited to get my first framework. I do like how you added the 4 port RJ45 card there, if there was a casing to accommodate both I might have considered it, but then again a dedicated switch would perform much much efficiently.
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Just got around to looking at this. I haven’t looked for one to be honest.
I’m using the quad card because I had it laying around collecting dust and in the end it will make the software side of things a bit more simple I won’t need to setup 802.1Q. I just need 1 port for WAN, one for my “main” network and the last port for IoT. I have a manage L3 switch already setup so there’s in the end the framework mobo will only handle NAT, DNS and other firewall stuff.
