More pfSense woes.
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@aaronouthier said in More pfSense woes.:
I was getting about 300 Mbps over my Wireless N connection prior to switching drivers
Really.. And how were you testing that.. How many streams, best you can do with N with 2 streams and a 40 VHD and 400 ns guard interval is a 300 PHY.. Real world that would be say 150ish.. On a good day 180ish..
Do you have 4 streams going with your N connection, if so could see 300 in real world speed (600 PHY).. But what client would you have with capability of 4 streams.. Pretty much a unicorn client that can do 4 streams.
Your connection my say 300 on your device, but that is not a real world value that is PHY value..
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Hmm. That’s a bit over my head there. I don’t follow you.
Before I changed the driver, I opened my web browser to fast.com, and noted the results.
After I changed to the alternative realtek driver, I again opened my web browser to fast.com, and noted the results.
I’m not trying to find my WAN or even my WLAN throughput so much as compare the performance of the 2 drivers. The “before and after”. My above post reflects the results of those tests.
I am aware that such online speed tests are more a measure of my network hardware’s ability to perform a speed test, and less a test of actual WAN performance.
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@aaronouthier you stated over your wireless N connection.. It would be very very rare for a wifi N client to be able to see 300mbps in real world values..
Maybe your not actually N.. AC can easy do 300mbps in real world.. N not so much - its a limitation of the protocol.. A wifi client that has the hardware to be able to do 300mbps real world over N is pretty freaking rare, a unicorn for sure..
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Ahhhh! Yes. That I can understand!
Now that I consider the logistics, getting a 300 Mbps sustained rate over an n300 router is unlikely. I’d need to check. My router is dual-band, and my client is also. If my client is has 2 radios and is connected via 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz networks simultaneously, I suppose that might help the numbers, however, as you alluded, I’m more likely to have an invisible unicorn grazing in my back yard…
Especially, since I have no grass back there!
Anywho, whether I had 300 megs or whether the “Mandela effect” has struck again, I can’t say.
I do know I’m at less than 30 Megs now, and that’s not optimal. Waiting for that shipping notification, like a little bird on a little twig, watching a little worm…
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There have been some noted differences with the alternative driver but a speed drop like that is not one of them. No body would be using it if that was inherent and there are many who are so I'd look for some other cause.
You can always comment out the load line from /boot/loader.conf.local and reboot to go back to the in kernel driver again and test.Steve
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I am completely certain you are correct. I was already planning to test again in the morning. Nobody else in my home is on the Internet at 6 AM, so it would be an ideal time to test.
That said, I’m not going to worry about it so much. I’ve purchased a Netgate router with known functioning hardware. I’ll be repurposing my ZimaBoard for HomeAssistant, as my current HomeAssistant SBC occasionally gets a bit toasty. The PWM fan add-on I have helps greatly, but it still sometimes peaks up to about 65 degrees celsius onboard sometimes before the Fan can do it’s job (Fan kicks in at about 50 degrees, but by the time it can move enough air, it’s more than that. The SBC normally sticks around 40 degrees, but peaks up sometimes).
I’m pretty sure the temperature spikes are more due to me running MotionEye on the same board than HomeAssistant.
Anywho, catch you on the flip side. G’night y’all.
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@aaronouthier said in More pfSense woes.:
I’ll be repurposing my ZimaBoard for HomeAssistant
So this is a ZimbaBoard? Hmm ::looks over at his still-in-box ZimbaBoard:: good to know
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@rcoleman-netgate
ZimaBoard is my current pfSense box, not my current Home Assistant box. It has the somewhat problematic RealTek Network adapters. I’m sure you’ll find a good use for it at some point. -
@aaronouthier Yep, I was going to test out a PCIe Intel NIC on it later on when I played around with CE on it.
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@rcoleman-netgate
I trust it’ll be a multiport NIC. A single port router is about as useful as a solar-powered flashlight, a screen door for a U-boat, an ejector seat for a helicopter, …On a serious note: It seems a bit overpowered now, at least for my needs. Also, there is no easy way to keep a PCIe device securely connected to the Zimaboard, so put it somewhere it won’t get bumped or jostled. I had hoped to wall-mount mine, but that doesn’t seem feasible.
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@aaronouthier Zipties! ;-)
I actually had it in mind for a very different project... and it would be really well suited for that one, I hope...
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Yup. Ha! Zip ties and duct tape. THE 2 most essential items in any DIY’ers toolbelt. (Where said toolbelt is made of 2 long strips of duct tape, with many ziptie loops to attach items 🤪).
I mean, duct tape is the REAL version of the force from Star Wars - has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together!
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@aaronouthier Don't forget hot snot and CA glue
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@rcoleman-netgate
At the risk of walking into a trap:What is CA glue?
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@aaronouthier in the US called crazy glue or super glue; cyanoacrylate is the chemical/generic name.
Hotsnot is what David Jones (EEV Blog) refers to glue gun glue as.
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@rcoleman-netgate
Aaaand that was my next question. I first thought you were continuing my silliness.I really need to put my tablet down now and get some rest.
G’night.
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@aaronouthier said in More pfSense woes.:
client is has 2 radios and is connected via 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz networks simultaneously,
Nope that isn't a thing either ;)
getting a 300 Mbps sustained rate over an n300 router is unlikely
Wouldn't be rare or unlikely - it would be an impossible thing.. a N600 router, that can support 4 stream it might be possible to see 300 real world if you had again that unicorn client that could do 4 streams ;)
Not talking 2.4 and 5 radio bands.. There is no client that I am aware of or router even that would allow combining those.. Sure they add the numbers up on the box for what the max PHY is on the 2.4 and the PHY on the 5ghz. But no single client can leverage that.. Shoot they add up all 3 on the tri band routers ;) Its marketing nonsense.
Shoot a old N300 router, prob only has fast ethernet connections anyway, 100mbps - how would you even get 150 (half of the phy) on those ;)
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@johnpoz said in More pfSense woes.:
@aaronouthier said in More pfSense woes.:
client is has 2 radios and is connected via 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz networks simultaneously,
Nope that isn't a thing either ;)
Actually, I believe it is, but certain conditions need to be met. For one thing, both bands need to have identical SSIDs - no 2.4g suffix on one, and 5g on the other, etc.It’s uncommon to find this feature on a router. Some Netgear routers support it. It’s next-to-impossible to find on client devices though. My Alfa-AC1900 USB card has this ability in hardware, but it seems the only stable driver is for windows, as it uses the Realtek RTL-8814AU chipset. *nix support is present, but incomplete and buggy.
getting a 300 Mbps sustained rate over an n300 router is unlikely
Wouldn't be rare or unlikely - it would be an impossible thing.. a N600 router, that can support 4 stream it might be possible to see 300 real world if you had again that unicorn client that could do 4 streams ;)
Not talking 2.4 and 5 radio bands.. There is no client that I am aware of or router even that would allow combining those.. Sure they add the numbers up on the box for what the max PHY is on the 2.4 and the PHY on the 5ghz. But no single client can leverage that.. Shoot they add up all 3 on the tri band routers ;) Its marketing nonsense.
Shoot a old N300 router, prob only has fast ethernet connections anyway, 100mbps - how would you even get 150 (half of the phy) on those ;)
Good point! Now that I think of it, my AirPort Extreme N is indeed Fast Ethernet. Clearly I was hallucinating the 300 Mbps. If I can manage to be up in 7 hours, I’ll comment-out the changes to loader.conf.local and retest. It’s now 11 PM. I need to conduct my testing before everyone is up. People get upset when I interrupt their Call of Duty game, or whatever it is that people play now.
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@aaronouthier said in More pfSense woes.:
Some Netgear routers support it.
Name one - link to this feature in the docs.. Same with that usb AC1900 card.. I don't see that mentioned about it, I would think such a feature would be crazy mentioned all over the place..
Dual band routers and cards is very common - joining the connection for a big fat connection is not..
The same SSID on both bands, again very common. But you don't actually connect to both of them at the same time and get additive speed.. This is not a thing..
Just because you have the same ssid on both your 2.4 and 5 doesn't mean the bandwidth is used and shared at the same time by a single client. The client will connect to which one is the better choice.. All of my ssids are common for both 2.4 and 5.. Client actually only using 1 of those.. You can use band steering to try and get a client to pick one vs the other. But again your not using both at the same time.
edit:
My controller is offline currently due to upgrade of my nas disks that is in progress. But I can show you the logs where say my wifes phone as she moves about the house moves from using 5ghz to 2.4.. Or moves from one AP to another..The client is the one that makes a decision on what is the better choice, the 2.4 or the 5.. But if you have a way for a dual band router and dual band client to leverage both bands at the same time for a "fat" connection - your rich man, rich!! This is currently not a thing that is for sure..