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    IPSec is very slow between two pfsense routers

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IPsec
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    • Cool_CoronaC
      Cool_Corona
      last edited by

      SMB is useless over VPN. Incredibly slow....

      Cannot even stream FullHD video without lagging.

      K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • N
        NOCling
        last edited by

        User Intel Quick Assist on 71er Site and SafeXcel on the ARM Site.
        User a good DH Group like 19, 20, 21.
        Use wan optimized Stuff to push Data over VPN, not SMB, it designed is lan ony.

        I run my NAS Backups over the Tunnel, with the Upload limiting around about 50MBit/s.
        This Speed is no problem for the 21er, System Load 8-9%, Interrupt 18%.

        And yes, if you use AES GCM with SafeXcel on ARM, you got stuck after som Time with the entire IPsec Stack.

        Netgate 6100 & Netgate 2100

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • K
          kevingoos @Cool_Corona
          last edited by

          @cool_corona Yes I tested with SMB, but also Plex cannot stream any video over the IPSEC tunnel without buffering every 2 min

          Cool_CoronaC keyserK 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Cool_CoronaC
            Cool_Corona @kevingoos
            last edited by

            @kevingoos And the funny part is, hardware doesnt matter. No matter how much power the FW has, it doesnt matter.

            Its much better on a 2.2.6 version of Pfsense. Then it works quickly and no issues.

            Food for thought.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • keyserK
              keyser Rebel Alliance @kevingoos
              last edited by

              @kevingoos Have you tried the iPerf tests I suggested?
              Until you do, we cannot really say what is what - we need to see if the tunnel can carry the “up to 30mbit” possible in your scenario.

              After that test - if no throughput is possible with iPerf either, look into limiting the fragmentation size as i suggested by using MSS Clamping on the tunnel. I don’t think that is you issue though, so…

              My guess is your tunnel is fine when you do a 3 or 4 streams iPerf test (will pass about 30 mbit).
              The issue is very likely the asyncronous speeds in both ends combined with the latency introduced. That’s a real throughput killer. It can very quickly completely kill single stream interactive protocols like SMB.

              Love the no fuss of using the official appliances :-)

              K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • K
                kevingoos @keyser
                last edited by kevingoos

                @keyser Sorry currently I broke the VPN by updating 7100 to the latest version. But the update for the 2100 is not yet ready...
                I will get back the moment I get this updated.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • K
                  kevingoos
                  last edited by

                  So in the end I took some time off for this problem and today I switched to wireguard site to site.

                  And now I am very happy with the performance (this is with SMB so not yet the full potential)
                  2a8c178b-ecf9-4a15-ae80-8d4723b5a230-image.png

                  So for me this probem is solved

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                  • N
                    NOCling
                    last edited by

                    The ARM GCM Problem is gone. It was in 22.05 and after 23.01 GCM runs again.

                    I run my S2S with AES GCM 128, SHA256, DH19, and Upstream is the Iimit.
                    In Run my NAS Backup over it and if the Docis 3.1 Modem is stable, it run over Days with max Upsteam Speed.

                    Netgate 6100 & Netgate 2100

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • P
                      patrick.pesegodinski
                      last edited by

                      Hello.

                      I have two Pfsense 2.6.0 configured with IPSEC, AES-NI on the hardware. The latency between the two links is 3ms.
                      With IPSEC, the transfer does not exceed 5MB/s, whereas with OpenVPN, the transfer reaches 50MB/s, which is the maximum bandwidth of the internet link.

                      I have already tested all protocols in phase 1 and 2 and the rate does not change.

                      What could be "blocking" IPSEC?

                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                        last edited by

                        @patrick-pesegodinski Could be fragmentation. Try setting MSS to 1350 or 1300 to start and test.
                        How are you performing the speedtest? On a client behind the pfsense?
                        Also please post the specs of your system

                        Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                        Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                        Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                        Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                        JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

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                        • P
                          patrick.pesegodinski @michmoor
                          last edited by

                          @michmoor

                          The test is carried out by transferring files from the server at one end to computers at the other end.

                          Should I reduce the MSS at both ends?

                          Main Pfsense Configuration:

                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
                          Current: 2800MHz, Max: 2801MHz
                          6 CPUs: 1 package(s) x 6 core(s)
                          AES-NI CPU Crypto: Yes (active)
                          QAT Crypto: No

                          Secondary Pfsense Configuration:

                          Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU @ 3.60GHz
                          4 CPUs: 1 package(s) x 4 core(s)
                          AES-NI CPU Crypto: Yes (active)
                          QAT Crypto: No

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                          • M
                            michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                            last edited by

                            @patrick-pesegodinski
                            What NICs are used?
                            Try reducing MSS on both.
                            Are these SMB file transfers?

                            Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                            Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                            Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                            Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                            JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

                            P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P
                              patrick.pesegodinski @michmoor
                              last edited by

                              @michmoor

                              • NICs was TP-LINK TG-3468;
                              • SMB file
                              P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • P
                                patrick.pesegodinski @patrick.pesegodinski
                                last edited by

                                @michmoor Should the IPsec tunnel be restarted after MSS modification?

                                M keyserK 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  michmoor LAYER 8 Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                                  last edited by

                                  @patrick-pesegodinski doesnt have to be i believe.

                                  Firewall: NetGate,Palo Alto-VM,Juniper SRX
                                  Routing: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                                  Switching: Juniper, Arista, Cisco
                                  Wireless: Unifi, Aruba IAP
                                  JNCIP,CCNP Enterprise

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • keyserK
                                    keyser Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                                    last edited by

                                    @patrick-pesegodinski I know this sounds like BS, but you need to try and benchmark the VPN connection with something other than SMB. SMB is NOTORIOUSLY bad on “less than 1500 bytes” MTU links like a VPN. It’s all over the place if any fragmentation is involved.
                                    So try and clamp down your MSS and benchmark it with a iPerf3 TCP test.

                                    Love the no fuss of using the official appliances :-)

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                                    • P
                                      patrick.pesegodinski @keyser
                                      last edited by

                                      @keyser I understand your thinking, but with OpenVPN I get transfer rates 10x higher than IPSEC.

                                      keyserK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • keyserK
                                        keyser Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                                        last edited by

                                        @patrick-pesegodinski i know, and thats likely because OpenVPN knows how to participate in MTU Discovery so the SMB Client knows the proper packet sizes to use.
                                        IPSec VPN on pfsense does not play Nice in this Area - it’s a known bug and has been for years, But unfortunately IPSec VPN sees Very little developer love, so we have to work around it.
                                        Thats why we need MSS clamping and an iPerf3 test - then we really know where the culprit is buried.

                                        Love the no fuss of using the official appliances :-)

                                        P M 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • P
                                          patrick.pesegodinski @keyser
                                          last edited by

                                          @keyser hello friend.

                                          The test iperf

                                          Connecting to host 172.29.0.1, port 5201
                                          [ 5] local 10.0.0.1 port 45903 connected to 172.29.0.1 port 5201
                                          [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd
                                          [ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 26.3 MBytes 221 Mbits/sec 19 64.1 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 27.1 MBytes 227 Mbits/sec 15 61.8 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 26.7 MBytes 224 Mbits/sec 15 82.0 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 27.1 MBytes 228 Mbits/sec 28 57.6 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 26.1 MBytes 219 Mbits/sec 16 71.2 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 26.6 MBytes 224 Mbits/sec 19 67.0 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 27.1 MBytes 227 Mbits/sec 15 27.4 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 26.5 MBytes 223 Mbits/sec 36 68.6 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 26.8 MBytes 225 Mbits/sec 18 81.6 KBytes
                                          [ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 21.0 MBytes 176 Mbits/sec 67 81.7 KBytes


                                          [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
                                          [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 261 MBytes 219 Mbits/sec 248 sender
                                          [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 261 MBytes 219 Mbits/sec receiver

                                          iperf Done.

                                          keyserK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • keyserK
                                            keyser Rebel Alliance @patrick.pesegodinski
                                            last edited by

                                            @patrick-pesegodinski Is this before or after clamping down MSS?
                                            You are seeing 220mbit which is around 25MB/s (Half your OpenVPN throughput). But I cannot see if you tried a single session iPerf or the default with multiple parallel streams.

                                            Love the no fuss of using the official appliances :-)

                                            P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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