StarTech PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD Dual-Port 2.5GbE PCIe Network Adapter

Overview

The StarTech PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD is a dual-port 2.5GBASE-T PCIe network adapter built around the Intel I225-V chipset — a controller with a strong track record in commercial workstations, NVR hosts, and edge servers where reliable throughput matters more than headline specs. Two independent RJ45 ports let you bond uplinks, segregate networks, or offload camera traffic onto a dedicated NIC without adding a second card or consuming additional PCIe slots. If your existing Gigabit infrastructure is becoming a bottleneck under the weight of high-resolution camera streams or high-density data workloads, this card slots into a standard PCIe x2 lane and delivers up to 2.5 Gbps per port — 2.5× the throughput of a standard 1GbE adapter — over existing Cat5e or better cabling. PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD (often searched as PR22GI NETWORK CARD) is a compact low-profile-friendly card that fits where full-height dual-NIC solutions simply cannot.

Key Features

• Intel I225-V Chipset: Intel's I225-V controller is well-supported across Windows, Linux, and VMware hypervisors, which means driver availability is rarely a concern on commercial NVR appliances, edge compute nodes, or workstation-class servers. Stability under sustained traffic is a known strength of this silicon — important when the card is handling continuous camera ingest rather than bursty desktop traffic.
• 2.5 Gbps Per Port, Auto-Negotiating Down to 10 Mbps: Each port auto-negotiates across 2.5G / 1G / 100M / 10 Mbps, so the card adapts to whatever switch or device is on the other end without manual configuration. Running 32+ cameras at 8MP/H.265? A single 2.5G port can carry roughly 200–250 Mbps of sustained camera traffic with headroom to spare — well within the 2.5 Gbps ceiling.
• Dual Independent RJ45 Ports: Two ports on one card means you can run separate network segments simultaneously — for example, a camera VLAN on port one and a management LAN on port two — without adding a second PCIe card or relying on VLAN tagging through a single NIC. Useful in NVR deployments where camera and management traffic need physical separation.
• PCIe 2.0 x2 Interface: The x2 electrical lane width provides roughly 1 GB/s of bidirectional PCIe bandwidth — comfortably above the combined 5 Gbps theoretical maximum of both ports operating simultaneously. You will not hit a PCIe bottleneck under normal dual-port full-throughput loads.
• 9K Jumbo Frame Support: Jumbo frames reduce CPU overhead on high-throughput transfers by sending larger payloads per frame. In a storage-heavy environment — NAS-attached NVR, iSCSI targets, or bulk forensic exports — enabling 9K MTU on both ends of the link measurably reduces processor load compared to standard 1500-byte frames.
• Compact Physical Footprint: At 4.7 × 4.4 × 0.7 in and just 2.1 oz (60 g), this card fits in space-constrained chassis and mini-ITX NVR builds where full-length dual-port cards are not an option. The low weight also means minimal stress on the PCIe slot in vibration-prone rack or edge environments.
• Operating Temperature 0°C to 55°C: The 0–55°C operating range covers standard conditioned server rooms and commercial equipment closets without issue. This is not rated for industrial or outdoor enclosures — plan accordingly if the host machine is in an unconditioned space.
• 2-Year Manufacturer Warranty: StarTech provides a 2-year warranty on this card, which is standard for commercial NIC hardware and gives you a defined support window for enterprise procurement and asset management documentation.

Integration and Compatibility

The PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD connects to any standard network switch supporting 2.5GBASE-T (802.3bz) or 1000BASE-T — no proprietary switching hardware required. For surveillance deployments, pair it with a network video recorder running a high-channel count to aggregate camera streams over the 2.5G uplinks rather than saturating a single 1G port. The Intel I225-V chipset is natively supported in modern Windows Server, Windows 10/11, and major Linux distributions, reducing integration friction in both bare-metal and virtualized environments. For teams evaluating IP camera deployments that are scaling past 1GbE throughput limits, this card is a direct drop-in upgrade path without any cabling changes if Cat5e or Cat6 is already in place. Review your PoE network planning if you are also sourcing PoE switches in the same project — the NIC handles host-side throughput, but switch selection determines per-port power and bandwidth on the camera side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD require a PCIe x4 or x16 slot?

A: No. It uses a PCIe x2 interface (PCIe 2.0). It will also fit physically in x4, x8, or x16 slots — PCIe is backward compatible in slot size — but the card only uses x2 electrical lanes regardless of which slot it occupies.

Q: Can I use both ports simultaneously at 2.5 Gbps?

A: Yes. Both ports operate independently and simultaneously. The PCIe 2.0 x2 interface provides enough bandwidth to support both ports under full load without creating a PCIe bottleneck.

Q: What is the maximum frame size supported?

A: The PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD supports jumbo frames up to 9K (9000 bytes MTU), which reduces CPU overhead on high-throughput transfers when configured on both ends of the link.

Q: What operating systems are supported?

A: The Intel I225-V chipset has broad driver support across Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server editions, and major Linux distributions. Confirm specific version support against Intel's current driver release notes for your OS version.

Q: Will this card work with my existing Cat5e cabling for 2.5GbE?

A: 2.5GBASE-T (the standard this card uses) is designed to run over Cat5e cabling up to 100 meters — one of the key reasons 2.5G was introduced as a cost-effective upgrade from 1GbE without requiring a full Cat6A recabling project.

Q: What is the warranty on this card?

A: StarTech covers the PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD with a 2-year manufacturer warranty.

Eden Phillips

The PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD earns a place in my NVR build toolkit specifically because of the Intel I225-V chipset combined with the dual-port layout on a PCIe x2 footprint. When I'm speccing a 32-channel NVR running 4K/H.265 cameras, a single 1GbE NIC becomes the constraint — not the CPU, not storage. Bumping to 2.5G per port on this card resolves that without a switch infrastructure overhaul, since 2.5GBASE-T runs clean on existing Cat5e runs up to 100m.

Technical Highlights:

• Auto-Negotiation Across Four Speeds: 2.5G / 1G / 100M / 10 Mbps auto-negotiation means the card won't hard-fail if plugged into a legacy 1G switch during a phased upgrade — it drops to 1G gracefully and upgrades to 2.5G when the switch supports it. No reconfiguration needed.
• 9K Jumbo Frame Support: On an NVR writing to NAS over iSCSI, enabling 9K MTU on both the card and the storage target measurably reduces CPU interrupt load during bulk writes — relevant when you're pulling forensic exports from a 64TB array at 2.5G line rate.
• PCIe 2.0 x2 Bandwidth Ceiling: PCIe 2.0 x2 delivers approximately 1 GB/s bidirectional — that's comfortably above the ~625 MB/s theoretical maximum of both 2.5G ports combined. The bus won't be your bottleneck.

Deployment Considerations:

• Operating temperature tops out at 55°C — fine for a conditioned server room or equipment closet, but if the NVR host is in an unconditioned IDF or edge cabinet that runs hot in summer, verify ambient temp before deploying.
• Jumbo frames require matching MTU configuration on the switch and the far-end device. If you enable 9K on the NIC but your switch or NAS is still at 1500, you'll see fragmentation or dropped frames — confirm both ends before going live.

For a mid-size physical security deployment — 16 to 48 cameras feeding a Windows-based NVR with NAS-attached storage — the PR22GI-NETWORK-CARD is the most practical path from 1G to 2.5G throughput without touching the cabling plant or replacing the switch fabric wholesale.