How to configure proxmox/pfsense with a X550-T2
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Hello community,
I am having a hard time understanding why my X550-T2 only reachs Gigabit speeds when testing with perf3.
I followed youtube guides to install and configure, so that might be the origin of the problems. Here we go...
Hardware is an old PC.
CPU: i7-8700k
MOBO: Asus Maximus Hero X (onboard lan disabled)
NIC: X550-T2
SWITCH: XS550M8 (10Gbe unmanaged switch)
OTHER: managed switches, vlans and all that good stuff not really relevant for the issue at hand.
PFSENSE: latest version: 2.7.2-RELEASE (amd64)I installed first proxmox. Under network I have my 2 network devices enp1s0f0 and enp1s0f1 (X550-T2) that are up. And I created 2 bridges (vmbr0 and vmbr1) for LAN and WAN respectively. They got IPs assigned that match the network, all fine. I can access my proxmox through the network.
Then I installed pfsense on a VM. Under hardware I find both bridges (vmbr0 and vmbr1). They are added with a model name "e1000". But this feels wrong to me, there should be a choice of a matching driver for the controller of my X550-T2. The other option for model are: VirtIO, RTL8139, vmxnet3.
I have configured pfsense further, assigned the interfaces and it all works. The problem I have is under Interfaces. If I go to WAN (connected to 1Gbe modem) it does not give a 10Gbase-T option. The same goes for the LAN (connected to XS550M8 10Gbe unmanaged switch). Lights are green indicating 10Gbe on both sides.
When using a windows PC connected to the same XS550M8 and using perf3 I get 600-700Mbit/s as connection speed.
The same PC is however able to download at 900Mbyte/s speeds from other users also connected to the same X550M8.I tried searching for solutions for many hours and I was not able to find anyone with the same issue. Apparently all have the 10Gbase-T option under interfaces in pfsense.
I also looked at drivers, but as far as my search went pfsense already has the drivers for the X550-T2. I wanted to try and install the drivers manually, but I could find out how.
I also thought about updating the firmware on the NIC, but I don't know how to do that in proxmox or linux for that matter. I couldn't figure out even how to check driver and firware through proxmox.I appreciate any input. Even links to other posts or tutorials.
Thanks!
Bruno
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@br8bruno said in How to configure proxmox/pfsense with a X550-T2:
Then I installed pfsense on a VM. Under hardware I find both bridges (vmbr0 and vmbr1). They are added with a model name "e1000". But this feels wrong to me, there should be a choice of a matching driver for the controller of my X550-T2. The other option for model are: VirtIO, RTL8139, vmxnet3.
So change the NICs to virtIO.
You might have to re-assign the interfaces in pfSense after changing the model. -
@br8bruno said in How to configure proxmox/pfsense with a X550-T2:
XS550M8
I assume you mean Netgear XS508M?
But, yes, e1000 is a 1G NIC type so if you configure proxmox to emulate that it will only pass 1G.
pfSense doesn't see the real NIC hardware at all unless you setup Proxmox to pass it through so it won't use an X550 driver (ix).
Steve
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@viragomann Thanks a lot!
I had to reconfigure the LAN and WAN assignements upon reboot, which was not that hard. Then the vlans had to be redirected to the new LAN. And it is working.
I do have some questions on the outcome.
My LAN interface still does not have an option for 10Gbase-T. It only has autoselect.
Speeds are definetely better, but far away from 10Gbit/s.
Is this normal? Is there any other configuration I have to do to get the right intel driver for the interface in pfsense?
I was looking at CPU usage and it goes to about 9%. Once it hit 30% when running iperf3 -P 10. Which resulted in lower speeds in sum :/I do have a high MTU set on the network adapter of the windows PC I am running as the iperf3 client. And I haven't changed anything regarding that on pfsense. I imagine that could be the reason for not reaching higher speeds. Different MTU settings?!
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