Host Internet Through HyperV Pfsense

[Superfly127]

Hi

I'm new to pfsense (and network management in general) and I'm struggling to finish my Pfsense HyperV setup as I am unable to connect my host PC to the internet through Pfsense, or at least not while I have a physical LAN port.

My goal for this build is to have a Pfsense virtual machine using HyperV running on a Windows 10 desktop which has access to 3 NICs. It will be the firewall and DHCP server for my home network (1 Gig speeds).

Current setup is as follows:
Modem -> NIC 1 (WAN, External Switch in HyperV) -> Pfsense (2.7) -> NIC 2 (LAN, DHCP Server, External Switch in HyperV) -> Switch (rest of home network, APs) -> Clients

I am able to get this to work correctly and connecting an AP directly to that LAN port allows for deceives to get IP addresses and then connect to the internet. However, I cannot figure out how to also connect my windows 10 host pc to the LAN output. (I have tried physically attaching an Ethernet cable from the leftover NIC to then LAN port, and that works, I just don't like that approach). I can manually set the IP and gateway of the host PC to match the LAN gateway, but this only allows me to access the Pfsense web GUI for configuration, no access to the internet. This also only works when something is physically connected to the LAN port, otherwise windows thinks the adapter is unplugged and won't use the IP settings.

I have also tried the following set up and was able to get internet to the host
Modem -> NIC 1 (WAN, External Switch in HyperV) -> Pfsense -> NIC 2 (LAN, DHCP Server, Internal Switch in HyperV) -> Host PC

From there I am able to automatically get an IP address through that internal network adapter with DHCP, but of course then I have no physical LAN port for my home network.

I've also seen that network adapters can be bridged within pfsense, but I've only had mild success with bridging 2 physical NICs, not one external (the LAN port) and one internal (that can be used with the host PC).

I'm unsure where I'm going wrong , but to start with, what is the correct way to go about putting the host behind the firewall? Using 1 external LAN switch for both the host and the home network, or some sort of bridge between that LAN port and an internal adapter only used by the host? Something else that I don't understand?

Any help or suggestions are appreciated,
Thanks

[Bob.Dig]

@Superfly127 said in Host Internet Through HyperV Pfsense:

Current setup is as follows:
Modem -> NIC 1 (WAN, External Switch in HyperV) -> Pfsense (2.7) -> NIC 2 (LAN, DHCP Server, External Switch in HyperV) -> Switch (rest of home network, APs) -> Clients

That should work if you have checked "allow management operating system to share this network adapter" for that vSwitch.

[Superfly127]

@Bob-Dig I do have that checked, otherwise the virtual switch doesn't show up in the "network adapter" panel of the control panel. And that at least allows me to access the gateway, but should it also be getting an IP automatically? Or does it require a static IP assigned from the windows side AND within the DHCP server settings? In this case, I don't see any devices on the DHCP client list in pfsense.

[Bob.Dig]

@Superfly127 As long as you have a physical switch attached to that port, you should get your IP and everything else from the DHCP server in pfSense.

[Superfly127]

@Bob-Dig I got it to work! I think it was a conflict with trying to force a static IP on that LAN adapter. Allowing it to automatically get IP fixed it. I knew I was over complicating something. Much appreciated!