WAN speed to ISP
-
Greetings all, when I run a speedtest from the command line of my 6100, I get about 500mbs, but when I plug the same patch cable directly into a laptop, I get about 1gb. The pfSense does say that the WAN port I'm using is 1000base-t full duplex. Any thoughts? Thanks, Tim
-
@timbaeten Running the test on pfSense uses CPU. What does the test show if the laptop is on the pfSense LAN?
Are you running any packages?
-
@SteveITS thanks for responding. Connecting the laptop to one of the Netgage LAN ports produces the same result, about one-half of the capable speed. I have the default pfSense install from Netgage and nothing more (except speedtest). Tim
-
@timbaeten If you have a spare switch you could try putting that between the 6100 and the ISP router.
-
@SteveITS I can probably dig one up, but I'm concerned about WAN speeds right now, not what the lan can do.
-
@timbaeten Every once in a while there is a post about a strange communication issue between a port and an ISP router. I'm suggesting putting the switch in front of the WAN port.
Testing from LAN to the Internet tests through pfSense. You can test on pfSense itself but per Netgate pfSense is optimized for routing not running programs, and tests take CPU power, so the result is capped. I'd still think you'd get over 500 though...
-
@SteveITS ok, I think I get what you're saying, but let me rephrase. You'd like me to put a switch between the ISP modem and the Netgate box and the only things connected to that switch are the modem and the router. Correct?
-
@timbaeten right.
ISP router -- switch -- 6100 -- laptop
Not guaranteeing it will help but it might.
-
What ports are you using on the 6100?
-
@stephenw10 WAN1 (ethernet) and LAN1 (ethernet).
-
So the default assignments, ix3 (WAN) and igb0 (LAN)?
-
@stephenw10 as far as I know, all I've done so far is run the first setup wizard out of the box. If you want me to check, lmk how please.
And I certainly very much appreciate the help!
-
That should be fine. Do you see any errors on ether interface in Status > Interfaces?
-
@stephenw10 Here is what the status page shows:
WAN (ix3)
Media 1000baseT <full-duplex,rxpause,txpause>
In/out errors 0/0
Collisions 0
Interrupts 34007717 (206/s)Lan (igc0)
Media 1000baseT <full-duplex>
In/out errors 0/0
Collisions 0
Interrupts 48413084 (293/s) -
Is it possible the ISP modem is locked to the laptop MAC and offers only a lower rate to others?
What's the WAN actually connected to?
-
@stephenw10 I don't think so because I have to reboot the ISP's modem every time I switch the device connected to it. The 6100 WAN port, for now, is connecting directly to the ISP (Spectrum) modem. I will try the suggestion from @SteveITS and put a dumb switch in between.
-
Some ISPs will allow other MACs to connect but at a much reduced rate. It's unusual though.
-
@stephenw10 I'll check with the ISP, but at no point did they ask for a MAC address, and I just tried with a completely different laptop, and it also got near a gig speed test that the first laptop did.
Since I just unboxed this 6100, I'm going to return it. It's either defective or we're all missing something.
-
I would try reassigning WAN to one of the other ports and testing that. If it's a hardware issue that will show it.
-
@stephenw10 Well, I switched to WAN2, reconfigured pfSense and rebooted the modem and now I'm getting a couple hundred more bps, 700mbs vs the 500 I was getting on wan1. Curiouser and curiouser.
