Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Slow download speeds

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    15 Posts 2 Posters 1.2k Views 2 Watching
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • stephenw10S Offline
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      The most common cause there is that the link is hard set to 100Mb-full and the pfSense end is set to autoselect. In that situation it can fall back to a default connection, probably 100M-Half in your case, and you see dramatically reduced throughput.
      When it's running as a VM like that it can be much harder to diagnose because the hypervisor hides the link speed and errors from pfSense.

      Steve

      K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • K Offline
        kenttec @stephenw10
        last edited by

        @stephenw10 Hi Stephen, really appreciate your response! Whilst waiting, I asked the data center to replace ethernet cables etc just in case. Is there a way for me to force 100mb full duplex without losing connectivity to esxi/pfsense etc?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • stephenw10S Offline
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          You would probably have to do that in ESXi unless the NIC is passed though to pfSense. Which it isn't since it appears as VMXNET.
          Doing so may break the connection. Whatever it's connected to may fail to link once auto-select negotiation is disabled. It's impossible to say. However if the other end is already set to 100M fixed the NIC in ESXi should also be.

          Steve

          K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • K Offline
            kenttec @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10 NIC_1.PNG Resources.PNG pfsense WAN.PNG

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S Offline
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              I'm not that familiar with ESXi, is that showing it's linked at 100M-FD or it's set to that?

              If it was linked at that I'd expect to see ~100Mbps though it. If it;s set to that and the other end of that link is set to auto-select it's probably fallen back to half-duplex resulting in the speed you see.

              Steve

              K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • K Offline
                kenttec
                last edited by

                Hi Stephen

                Seems as though auto-negotiate is disabled on the esxi and Im unable to select 100Mb in the pfsense gui, only auto select is an option. Maybe I toggle the esxi link speed to 1000Mb????

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • K Offline
                  kenttec @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10 I have it set to that (100Mb, full), the options are:

                  Auto
                  1000Mb, full
                  100Mb, half
                  100Mb, full
                  10Mb, half
                  10Mb, full

                  Shall I try adjusting to auto?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • stephenw10S Offline
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    If whatever the ESXi box is connected to is a 1G link set to auto then that should also be set it ESXi.
                    If the other end of that link is, for some reason, not set as auto then the ESXi NIC should match.
                    I would expect to still see some connection if you set it to auto and the other side is set to 100M but that's not guaranteed.
                    Is there some reason it's set to 100M-FD now?

                    Do you have any out-of-band connectivity to reverse that setting if it fails to link?

                    I expect that to be set as auto unless there's good reason not to though.

                    Steve

                    K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • K Offline
                      kenttec @stephenw10
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10 Hi Steve, this is great advice, thanks! Ill ask the data center guys what the port is set to, Im certain itll be auto but better make sure. The reason it was set to 100Mb is becuase when I was tetsing at my office before it was installed at the DC, 100Mb full was the only way i could get connectivity via my WAN port, this must be because thats the setting on my office WAN port.

                      Thanks for the info!!!

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S Offline
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Yeah, better to be safe. If it fails to link and you have no other access you could be in for a trip to the DC!

                        If you can query the link status in ESXi that would be interesting. I expect to find it's linked at 100-Half Duplex. That would show the other end is set to auto almost certainly.

                        Steve

                        K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • K Offline
                          kenttec @stephenw10
                          last edited by

                          @stephenw10 Ill let you know how i get on, thanks again!

                          K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • K Offline
                            kenttec @kenttec
                            last edited by

                            @kenttec Hi Stephen, just got this response from DC: "It's set to auto/auto but is coming up at 100Mbps Half-duplex "

                            Ill set my esxi WAN port to auto and cross my fingers

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • K Offline
                              kenttec
                              last edited by

                              All sorted, the esxi WAN port is set to auto and Im now seeing 100/100Mb, thank you soooo much for your help, I didnt lose connectivity for long either, no visit to DC required :)

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • stephenw10S Offline
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Aha, nice! 👍

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • First post
                                  Last post
                                Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.