Frying Network Cards on PfSense Router

[Jay80]

Not sure I'm posting this is the right place, but here it goes.

I'm trying to run PfSense as a virtual machine in ProxMox on my home server. Twice now I've wound up with no internet due to the network card I use for WAN (the one I plug into the Starling power brick) no longer working. It works for about a month and quits. The first time I thought I had a bad card. After the second time I'm starting to think it's the Starlink power brick providing POE. I'm using the original hardware from the Bata testing. Most POE hardware is smart enough to know when to and when not to provide power. Does the Starlink hardware operate like this, or does it constantly provide power? Also, is anyone else doing something similar with success?

Thanks in advanced for any help.

[Jay80]

Bump.

Anyone?

[RicochetStarlink]

@Jay80

I am not familiar with how the Starlink power brick handles PoE. It's my understanding that the PoE voltage is provided on otherwise unused pins that are dedicated to PoE on the Ethernet connection. If your card does NOT require PoE, it should not be using these pins. If it is and this is damaging the board, I wonder if this is a "bug" in the board design.

Note that I am grabbing at straws here as this is outside my experience with Starlink and PoE, both of which I've used successfully.

[Jay80]

Well I managed to find out that the lights on the side of the power brick only come on when there is power provided. So no power is being supplied unless requested. I guess I just had two bad network cards on two different systems. Hell of a coincidence, but I guess crazier things have happened.

[RicochetStarlink]

Thanks for reporting back, @Jay80. Certainly there are both service and technology challenges for some Starlink Customers. It's nice to know that this one was not a Starlink issue. As a many-times-frustrated customer, in the end, I love my Starlink service. It beats the heck out of the alternatives... at least for me. And to give Starlink some credit, Mr. Musk's team at SpaceX have engineered, built, and deployed some pretty amazing technology in a relatively short period of time. I daresay that Mr. Musk's commitment to his vision is uniquely responsible for continued progress at Starlink, despite the challenges which have been greatly magnified by the overwhelming demand for the service. A lesser leader and/or organization might have thrown in the towel long ago.