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    Slow routing speeds

    General pfSense Questions
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @A Former User
      last edited by

      @hngaminguk prob need someone like @stephenw10 to chime in here.. He is the hardware guru and good with this sort of stuff to figure out if say a hardware issue not able to do more than this.

      I have no issues with with my sg4860 doing full speed routing between interfaces.

      So this pfsense box - it has more than 1 physical interface.. You have 1 for wan and one for lan, and only on this lan interface do you have multiple vlans?

      When I test between a pc on 1 network 192.168.2/24 to my nas on 192.168.9.10 I see pretty freaking close to full wire speed.

      in both directions..

      $ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.9.10 -B 192.168.2.110
      Connecting to host 192.168.9.10, port 5201
      [  5] local 192.168.2.110 port 1048 connected to 192.168.9.10 port 5201
      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
      [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   102 MBytes   856 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   113 MBytes   947 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   113 MBytes   946 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   113 MBytes   948 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   112 MBytes   940 Mbits/sec
      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
      [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.09 GBytes   937 Mbits/sec                  sender
      [  5]   0.00-10.02  sec  1.09 GBytes   936 Mbits/sec                  receiver
      
      iperf Done.
      
      $ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.9.10 -B 192.168.2.110 -R
      Connecting to host 192.168.9.10, port 5201
      Reverse mode, remote host 192.168.9.10 is sending
      [  5] local 192.168.2.110 port 1070 connected to 192.168.9.10 port 5201
      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
      [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   105 MBytes   884 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   111 MBytes   935 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   108 MBytes   903 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   108 MBytes   908 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   113 MBytes   947 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   106 MBytes   892 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   111 MBytes   932 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   109 MBytes   912 Mbits/sec
      [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   106 MBytes   891 Mbits/sec
      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
      [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.07 GBytes   917 Mbits/sec  320             sender
      [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.07 GBytes   915 Mbits/sec                  receiver
      
      iperf Done.
      

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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      • ?
        A Former User @johnpoz
        last edited by A Former User

        @johnpoz said in Slow routing speeds:

        @hngaminguk prob need someone like @stephenw10 to chime in here.. He is the hardware guru and good with this sort of stuff to figure out if say a hardware issue not able to do more than this.

        I have no issues with with my sg4860 doing full speed routing between interfaces.

        So this pfsense box - it has more than 1 physical interface.. You have 1 for wan and one for lan, and only on this lan interface do you have multiple vlans?

        When I test between a pc on 1 network 192.168.2/24 to my nas on 192.168.9.10 I see pretty freaking close to full wire speed.

        in both directions..

        $ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.9.10 -B 192.168.2.110
        Connecting to host 192.168.9.10, port 5201
        [  5] local 192.168.2.110 port 1048 connected to 192.168.9.10 port 5201
        [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
        [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   102 MBytes   856 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   113 MBytes   947 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   113 MBytes   946 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   113 MBytes   948 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   113 MBytes   949 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   112 MBytes   940 Mbits/sec
        - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
        [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
        [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.09 GBytes   937 Mbits/sec                  sender
        [  5]   0.00-10.02  sec  1.09 GBytes   936 Mbits/sec                  receiver
        
        iperf Done.
        
        $ iperf3.exe -c 192.168.9.10 -B 192.168.2.110 -R
        Connecting to host 192.168.9.10, port 5201
        Reverse mode, remote host 192.168.9.10 is sending
        [  5] local 192.168.2.110 port 1070 connected to 192.168.9.10 port 5201
        [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
        [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec   105 MBytes   884 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec   111 MBytes   935 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec   108 MBytes   903 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   3.00-4.00   sec   108 MBytes   908 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec   113 MBytes   947 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec   106 MBytes   892 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   6.00-7.00   sec   113 MBytes   945 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec   111 MBytes   932 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec   109 MBytes   912 Mbits/sec
        [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec   106 MBytes   891 Mbits/sec
        - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
        [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
        [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.07 GBytes   917 Mbits/sec  320             sender
        [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  1.07 GBytes   915 Mbits/sec                  receiver
        
        iperf Done.
        

        Thanks for the diagnostic help so far! Yes I have 2 physical ports on an intel based network card. One is WAN one is LAN and 3 networks currently using the LAN side, 10.0.0.0/24 direct on LAN, 10.0.10.0/24 on LAN.10 and 10.0.11.0/24 on LAN.11

        As mentioned previously the only actual device right now on the lab side is my NAS so the 10.0.11.0/24 network has no devices at all.

        As mentioned in my original post when just doing switching I can get ~950Mbps (at that speed I'm calling it gigabit)

        johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @A Former User
          last edited by

          @hngaminguk Im not doing switching there - that is routed through my sg4860

          @stephenw10 is the hardware guru around here..

          You didn't setup any sort of limiting or shaping did you..

          When I just switch I see a bit higher, I see a small slight hit routing it through pfsense.. But its minor and I really have no idea what else my nas is doing at the moment.. Someone could be streaming a movie off my plex ;)

          While routing and firewalling normally will see a small hit, it sure shouldn't 250 from gig..

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

          ? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ?
            A Former User @johnpoz
            last edited by

            @johnpoz said in Slow routing speeds:

            @hngaminguk Im not doing switching there - that is routed through my sg4860

            @stephenw10 is the hardware guru around here..

            You didn't setup any sort of limiting or shaping did you..

            When I just switch I see a bit higher, I see a small slight hit routing it through pfsense.. But its minor and I really have no idea what else my nas is doing at the moment.. Someone could be streaming a movie off my plex ;)

            While routing and firewalling normally will see a small hit, it sure shouldn't 250 from gig..

            Okay thanks for the confirm, hopefully @stephenw10 will have some ideas.

            Traffic shaping is completely off currently, I made doubly sure as it was one thing suggested on posts on reddit and here. d4c765da-b9ea-45dd-b388-5b9ebd95ad22-image.png

            I agree it makes no sense as to why I am seeing that much of a performance degradation, other than the low spec of my pf device I am not sure as to another cause.

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

              The original APU, that we sold as the VK-T40E, has a G-T40E CPU and Realtek NICs. That is good for ~350Mbps between two ports, or was last time I tested it.
              The G-T40N appears to differ from this only in the intergrated GPU so I would expect it to perform almost identically.
              Is this using a Realtek NIC? Is it single queue? (check the boot logs)

              If so ~300Mbps is probably not much lower than expected with a router on a stick config.

              Steve

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              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @A Former User
                last edited by

                @hngaminguk said in Slow routing speeds:

                hopefully @stephenw10 will have some ideas.

                Told you he would ;)

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • ?
                  A Former User @stephenw10
                  last edited by A Former User

                  @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                  The original APU, that we sold as the VK-T40E, has a G-T40E CPU and Realtek NICs. That is good for ~350Mbps between two ports, or was last time I tested it.
                  The G-T40N appears to differ from this only in the intergrated GPU so I would expect it to perform almost identically.
                  Is this using a Realtek NIC? Is it single queue? (check the boot logs)

                  If so ~300Mbps is probably not much lower than expected with a router on a stick config.

                  Steve

                  Thanks for the information Steve, when I ordered this device (eBay) it claimed to have an Intel card (I never opened the unit to confirm). But I have just done so now and I can confirm it has a PCI card (NC7170).

                  Looking at the card, the processor is an Intel one and looking on google it also confirms it's an Intel based card. So not sure if there is a different limitation in play here?

                  In relation to the boot logs I looked in the "OS Boot" section of the logs but not sure if that's the location you are referring to? Secondly I don't know what exactly I need to look for if that is the correct log section.

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                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    What are the NICs assigned as? em0, em1, igb0?

                    ? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • ?
                      A Former User @stephenw10
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                      What are the NICs assigned as? em0, em1, igb0?

                      WAN is em0
                      LAN is em1

                      Hope that helps.

                      stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @A Former User
                        last edited by

                        It does yes. OK so the router-on-a-stick part here is that you're testing between two VLANs both on the LAN NIC?

                        em is also single queue though so, whilst a lot better than re, you will still be limited.
                        The later APU2 devices had quad core CPUs and igb NICs and with that and some heavy tweaking it was possible to get close to 1Gbps. Here you are using effectively quarter of that in any one direction. It is interesting looking at your top output that almost all the use is on one of the queues, probably the receive queue.

                        That NIC looks like is actually PCI-X. I haven't seen one of those is a very long time! If you can use a igb based NIC there you probably would see more throughput as it can use both CPU cores for transmit and receive. Not sure there are any PCI/PCI-X igb NICs though.

                        Ultimately you're unlikely to see more tan 500Mbps with that CPU.

                        Steve

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                        • johnpozJ
                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @stephenw10
                          last edited by johnpoz

                          @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                          you're testing between two VLANs both on the LAN NIC?

                          I think he was testing through wan and lan (router on a stick on the lan).. So if I understand what he was testing he did end up testing through the 2 different nics, or alteast different ports on the same nic. If that makes any difference?

                          So what your saying in a nutshell - is not some setting he turn off to see a boost, and if he wants to see full wirespeed he needs better hardware.

                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                          • ?
                            A Former User @stephenw10
                            last edited by

                            @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                            It does yes. OK so the router-on-a-stick part here is that you're testing between two VLANs both on the LAN NIC?

                            em is also single queue though so, whilst a lot better than re, you will still be limited.
                            The later APU2 devices had quad core CPUs and igb NICs and with that and some heavy tweaking it was possible to get close to 1Gbps. Here you are using effectively quarter of that in any one direction. It is interesting looking at your top output that almost all the use is on one of the queues, probably the receive queue.

                            That NIC looks like is actually PCI-X. I haven't seen one of those is a very long time! If you can use a igb based NIC there you probably would see more throughput as it can use both CPU cores for transmit and receive. Not sure there are any PCI/PCI-X igb NICs though.

                            Ultimately you're unlikely to see more tan 500Mbps with that CPU.

                            Steve

                            Originally I was testing throughput from the UDM/home system to the pf/lab system which was also only getting ~250 - 300Mbps.

                            So even with an igb NIC (if I can get one) I am unlikely to see over 500Mbps routing through the WAN side and out the LAN as my original network diagram shows?

                            If that is the case to get full 1Gbps (or more) routing what CPU spec would be the minimum? Also out of the current netgate devices which one would be the best option? I may in the future want to do 10Gbps but if it costs more than £500 I would rather go for a lower option and upgrade down the line when 10Gbps is cheaper.

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Mmm, I would expect to see at least 350Mbps there as the APU could do that even with Realtek NICs.
                              IIRC there were some determined users who fitted mPCIe igb NICs to it and got closer to 500Mbps. You will never see Gigabit 'wire speed' through that though.

                              I used to have a test box with a Core2Duo E4500 and that could just do gigabit with em NICs. If you look at a synthetic benchmark you can see why the G-T40 won't:
                              https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-G-T40E-vs-Intel-Core2-Duo-E4500-vs-Intel-Atom-C3558/264vs936vs3129
                              That doesn't give the full story but as a basic guide it's useful.

                              The C3558 is what we have in the 5100/6100/7100/.

                              Steve

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                              • ?
                                A Former User @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                                Mmm, I would expect to see at least 350Mbps there as the APU could do that even with Realtek NICs.
                                IIRC there were some determined users who fitted mPCIe igb NICs to it and got closer to 500Mbps. You will never see Gigabit 'wire speed' through that though.

                                I used to have a test box with a Core2Duo E4500 and that could just do gigabit with em NICs. If you look at a synthetic benchmark you can see why the G-T40 won't:
                                https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-G-T40E-vs-Intel-Core2-Duo-E4500-vs-Intel-Atom-C3558/264vs936vs3129
                                That doesn't give the full story but as a basic guide it's useful.

                                The C3558 is what we have in the 5100/6100/7100/.

                                Steve

                                Okay great thanks for the confirmation and the quick replies!

                                Looking at the CPU Mark scores alone I am not surprised it is only able to do ~300Mbps.

                                I will look into upgrading my router at some point then.

                                I will mark this as solved! Thanks @johnpoz & @stephenw10

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                                • ?
                                  A Former User @A Former User
                                  last edited by

                                  Marking this as solved, basically the processor in use is not enough processing power to handle full gigabit routing. My solution options are either a) Upgrade the network card to an igb NIC and complete some tweaking to maybe get 500Mbps or b) Upgrade the router as a whole to a better CPU.

                                  Myself I am likely going for option 2, just need to decide if I am going for a netgate device or custom built.

                                  johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • johnpozJ
                                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @A Former User
                                    last edited by

                                    @hngaminguk I may be a bit biased, but I love my sg4860.. And when its time to retire it I will most certainly be sticking with netgate box.

                                    If mine blew up today - I would prob go with the 6100 base.. It would allow for 10 in the future and I could leverage the 2.5ge ports today.. I am not a fan of switch ports on a router..

                                    And like my 4860 its overkill for my current internet speeds.. But never no what tomorrow might bring, etc.

                                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                                    • ?
                                      A Former User @johnpoz
                                      last edited by

                                      @johnpoz said in Slow routing speeds:

                                      @hngaminguk I may be a bit biased, but I love my sg4860.. And when its time to retire it I will most certainly be sticking with netgate box.

                                      If mine blew up today - I would prob go with the 6100 base.. It would allow for 10 in the future and I could leverage the 2.5ge ports today.. I am not a fan of switch ports on a router..

                                      And like my 4860 its overkill for my current internet speeds.. But never no what tomorrow might bring, etc.

                                      Thanks for your input 😄

                                      With a max budget of £500 ($650 approx) I think the highest option I could go with is the 2100 since the 3100 is EOS.

                                      Only annoyance being that the 2100 states a max of 881Mbps for Firewall (10k ACLs) I am not well versed into knowing how many ACLs I am using but I assume my setup currently has less? So I could likely hit 1Gbps?

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                                      • johnpozJ
                                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @A Former User
                                        last edited by

                                        @hngaminguk well to be honest, there was some threads recently about actual speeds not meeting those numbers via testing.. I don't recall exactly what model that was - might of been related to 10g, not sure..

                                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                                        • stephenw10S
                                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @A Former User
                                          last edited by

                                          @hngaminguk said in Slow routing speeds:

                                          Only annoyance being that the 2100 states a max of 881Mbps for Firewall (10k ACLs) I am not well versed into knowing how many ACLs I am using but I assume my setup currently has less? So I could likely hit 1Gbps?

                                          No, using fewer firewall rules will not allow it to hit 1Gbps between two subnets. Enabling pf to set any number of rules will introduce that overhead.

                                          Steve

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                                          • ?
                                            A Former User @stephenw10
                                            last edited by

                                            @stephenw10 said in Slow routing speeds:

                                            @hngaminguk said in Slow routing speeds:

                                            Only annoyance being that the 2100 states a max of 881Mbps for Firewall (10k ACLs) I am not well versed into knowing how many ACLs I am using but I assume my setup currently has less? So I could likely hit 1Gbps?

                                            No, using fewer firewall rules will not allow it to hit 1Gbps between two subnets. Enabling pf to set any number of rules will introduce that overhead.

                                            Steve

                                            Okay thanks for the confirmation, in that case I will have to go for a 3rd party option such as https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Atom-E3845-4-LAN-3G-4G-4G-RAM-64G-SSD-Fanless-pfSense-Firewall-AES-NI-/114644549859?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

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