Intel states that they skipped version 26.5 for their Ethernet Adapter Driver and went straight ahead with version 26.6. Intel Ethernet Adapter Driver Pack can be used for the following operating systems:
WindowsLinuxFreeBSD
This post highlights the most significant changelog features which include the new support features, fixes, as well as known issues, so you can make an informed decision whether to upgrade your ethernet adapter driver.
Download and Install Intel Ethernet Adapter Driver v26.6
Download
You can download the Ethernet Adapter Driver Pack version 26.6 by clicking on the link below: Download Intel Ethernet Adapter Driver Pack 26.6 [704 MB] Since this is a big file, it can take a moment to download.
Install
Once downloaded, use the guide below to install this driver pack:
Intel Ethernet Driver Pack 26.6 Changelog
New Features
Below is a list of the significant new features in this driver pack:
Support for Microsoft Windows 10 version 21H2.Support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 SP3.Support for Intel PROSet for Windows PowerShell software on Microsoft Azure Stack HCI.
Removed Features
Support for the following products has been removed with this release:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.Canonical Ubuntu 16.04.Microsoft Windows e1q driver.
Fixes and improvements
The following fixes have been made:
The incorrect Virtual Function MAC address has been fixed for Linux machines.The XL710 being unable to receive packets from the switch, causing a bond link down condition, has been fixed for NVM devices.
Known issues
As with every software, this driver pack also has many known issues. There aren’t that many fixes as there are problems with it. The list below only highlights the one we thought would most affect a user:
VXLAN switch creation on Windows Server 2019 Hyper V might fail.There might be connectivity issues with certain modules, cables or switches.In order for an Intel Ethernet 800 Series-based adapter to reach its full potential, users must install it in a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot.Flow control settings have no effect on traffic, and counters do not increment with flow control set to TX=ON and Rx=OFF.When a VM is running heavy traffic loads and is attached to a Virtual Switch with either SR-IOV enabled or VMQ offload enabled, repeatedly enabling and disabling the SR-IOV/VMQ setting on the vNIC in the VM may result in a BSOD.Small performance limitations have been seen for some workloads on Windows when stressing both ports of the E810-2CQDA2 adapter.In order to use guest processor numbers greater than 16 inside a VM, you might need to remove the *RssMaxProcNumber (if present) from the guest registry.The Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter E810 might experience an adapter-wide reset on all ports on Windows RDMA driver.
For the complete list of fixes and known issues, read the release notes.
Verdict
We always suggest that updating to the latest drivers is always better, as it fixes a bunch of issues the users experience each day while improving network security. However, with Intel Ethernet Adapter Driver Pack 26.6, we are not so sure, since it has a bunch of issues that still need to be addressed.
