Add Interface type 10BASE-T to save power #291

New Issue

MrUnknownDE · 2026-04-05T16:24:54+02:00

MrUnknownDE commented

2026-04-05 16:24:54 +02:00

Originally created by @ypid on 2/21/2026

NetBox version

v4.5.3

Feature type

Change to existing functionality

Proposed functionality

Add 10BASE-T 802.3i-1990 (CL14) interface type so that interface speed can be manually set to 10Mbit/s.

Use case

There are many devices that either do not support Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) (IEEE 802.3az) at all or do not support it properly. Almost the same power saving can be achieved by forcing the link to be (negotiated as) 10BASE-T. For many devices that do not require much bandwidth, this has basically no downsides. Think PDU, UPS, management ports, and a lot more.

10-Mbps EEE is achieved using only signal amplitude reduction and does not require any
negotiation with a Link Partner (LP) or require MAC-PHY handshaking. 10BASE-T and
10BASE-Te only send link pulses during IPG, unlike 100-Mbps and 1000-Mbps operation
where there is a constant stream of IDLES between frames.

Ref: https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla328/snla328.pdf

I just confirmed this with a PDU that does not support EEE. Forcing it to 10BASE-T saves 0.4 Watt compared to 100BASE-TX. Keep in mind that it saves additional 0.3 or 0.4 W for the link partner (switch port).

So I would like to be able to set the interface type as 10BASE-T on a "Device" in NetBox. The "Device Type" will stay 100BASE-TX. I need that support to properly model the real world and use NetBox to push this interface config to switches and devices.

In #5318 this was already suggested but without a good reason other than supporting decade old hardware. Please reconsider.

Side note: Ideally, auto negotiation would be limited to 10BASE-T via ethtool -s ens7 advertise 0x003 to avoid duplex mismatch.

Database changes

No.

External dependencies

No.

*Originally created by @ypid on 2/21/2026* ### NetBox version v4.5.3 ### Feature type Change to existing functionality ### Proposed functionality Add 10BASE-T 802.3i-1990 (CL14) interface type so that interface speed can be manually set to 10Mbit/s. ### Use case There are many devices that either do not support [Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) (IEEE 802.3az)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-Efficient_Ethernet) at all or do not support it properly. Almost the same power saving can be achieved by forcing the link to be (negotiated as) 10BASE-T. For many devices that do not require much bandwidth, this has basically no downsides. Think PDU, UPS, management ports, and a lot more. > 10-Mbps EEE is achieved using only signal amplitude reduction and does not require any > negotiation with a Link Partner (LP) or require MAC-PHY handshaking. 10BASE-T and > 10BASE-Te only send link pulses during IPG, unlike 100-Mbps and 1000-Mbps operation > where there is a constant stream of IDLES between frames. Ref: https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla328/snla328.pdf I just confirmed this with a PDU that does not support EEE. Forcing it to 10BASE-T saves 0.4 Watt compared to 100BASE-TX. Keep in mind that it saves additional 0.3 or 0.4 W for the link partner (switch port). So I would like to be able to set the interface type as 10BASE-T on a "Device" in NetBox. The "Device Type" will stay 100BASE-TX. I need that support to properly model the real world and use NetBox to push this interface config to switches and devices. In #5318 this was already suggested but without a good reason other than supporting decade old hardware. Please reconsider. Side note: Ideally, auto negotiation would be limited to 10BASE-T via `ethtool -s ens7 advertise 0x003` to avoid duplex mismatch. ### Database changes No. ### External dependencies No.

MrUnknownDE closed this issue

2026-04-05 16:24:55 +02:00

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Reference: github/netbox#291