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    Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      Mmm, I'm not sure anything in pfSense could produced throttling like that. Do you have any traffic shaping enabled?

      This feels like something upstream.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • federaccoF
        federacco
        last edited by

        @stephenw10 said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

        Do you have any traffic shaping enabled?

        No traffic shaping configured.

        The more time passes, the worse it gets, I even struggle to connect to this forum, everything is very slow... it's absurd... if I didn't know that with any other device everything works perfectly I'd say it's a connection problem, but it's pfSense that causes all this.

        I also thought about some blocking on the provider side, but when I tested with another device I was forced to spoof the Netgate mac address (because my provider only enabled that one). So on the provider side they always see the same device, but this problem only occurs with Netgate.

        I would have liked to buy the Netgate 4200 more suitable for a gigabit connection but if I don't find the solution I'm afraid of having the same problem.

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        • federaccoF
          federacco
          last edited by

          Guys I can't believe it, maybe I found the problem! Or at least the temporary solution....

          I inserted a small unmanaged switch between the Netgate WAN interface and the ZTE F6005 ONT and it seems to magically solve everything.

          But what kind of incompatibility could it be and how does it cause such a particular problem?

          Thinking of a hardware problem in the past I had also tried to disable "Hardware checksum offloading" which I had read caused some problems... but I hadn't solved

          Do you have any ideas if there anything else I can try on the Netgate side?

          johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @federacco
            last edited by johnpoz

            @federacco horrible speeds like 1mbps when should have 100s screams duplex mismatch.. Which could be corrected sometimes with a switch between 2 devices that are having the mismatch..

            But looking at what you posted this jumped out at me.. This sure and the hell doesn't seem right

            2024-06-09_135334.jpg

            A /32 on single interface... This is the mask companies and ISPs get when they get IPv6 from say arin... That sure and the hell shouldn't be the mask on your interface..

            Did you maybe try disable IPv6 and see what you get for speeds to different connections?

            For reference a /32 = 65K /48s, 16Million /56s or 4 Billion /64s.. You think such a mask should be on a single interface? ;)

            There is no possible way your ipv6 is correct that is for sure.. Not with that mask.

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              If it's PPPoE that's pretty standard. But that isn't!

              If it was a duplex mismatch you'd be (very) unlikely to see the 150Mbps value for the local server.

              It could be flow-control mismatch. The switch would also potentially correct that. I don't think I've ever seen that be an issue on a 2100 but there's always a first time!

              It's disabled by default:

              [24.03-RELEASE][admin@2100-3.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.mvneta.0.flow_control
              dev.mvneta.0.flow_control: 0
              
              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • federaccoF
                federacco
                last edited by

                @johnpoz said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

                A /32 on single interface... This is the mask companies and ISPs get when they get IPv6 from say arin... That sure and the hell shouldn't be the mask on your interface..

                I understand your surprise but this is correct... This is an IPv6 configuration via 6RD, my provider only provides me with a /64 via 6RD tunnel. What you see is only the prefix assigned by the ISP.

                This is the 6RD configuration on the WAN interface:
                da531232-df5d-4c1b-a054-950098682b40-Google Chrome 2024-06-10 00.49.56.png

                And this is the real IPv6 on one internal interface,:
                5759a19d-d9ea-4236-8d08-1ae1b6050bfb-image.png

                I have only one /64 assigned so only devices under this interface have IPv6 but I'm fine with that.

                However, in the thousand tests I did I had completely disabled IPv6 and the problem was not resolved.

                @stephenw10 said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

                If it was a duplex mismatch you'd be (very) unlikely to see the 150Mbps value for the local server.

                I agree, on the servers of main Italian ISPs or in any case on my own ISP I even reached 500 Mbit, whereas on the servers of other foreign ISPs always 1-7 Mbit, a duplex mismatch I don't think can cause this.

                @stephenw10 said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

                It could be flow-control mismatch. The switch would also potentially correct that. I don't think I've ever seen that be an issue on a 2100 but there's always a first time!

                If so, how can I solve it? I confirm that it is disabled.

                a7364e2b-69d7-4e1c-846e-5f7f3be316b1-image.png

                Sorry guys, but could the problem be due to the interface on the ONT side which is a 2.5G Ethernet?

                stephenw10S johnpozJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @federacco
                  last edited by

                  @federacco said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

                  Sorry guys, but could the problem be due to the interface on the ONT side which is a 2.5G Ethernet?

                  No. It should still link correctly at 1G.

                  Try running:

                  [24.03-RELEASE][admin@2100-3.stevew.lan]/root: sysctl dev.mvneta.0.flow_control=1
                  dev.mvneta.0.flow_control: 0 -> 1
                  

                  It's more common to have to disable flow-control but I have seen the opposite case be true.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @federacco
                    last edited by johnpoz

                    @federacco said in Netgate 2100 inexplicable slow internet problem:

                    What you see is only the prefix assigned by the ISP.

                    which still makes zero sense.. that is insane to assign a /32 to any interface.. They put all their clients on big giant network? That seems insane..

                    Yet another example of isps not having freaking clue one on how to actually correctly deploy IPv6.. Mapping all of IPv4 space under the /32 is just plain stupid way to deploy ipv6

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                    • federaccoF
                      federacco
                      last edited by

                      I tried turning on flow-control, no difference.

                      I agree that the gigabit WAN interface connected to the 2.5G interface of the ONT should negotiate the speed to 1G without problems but something on the Netgate side is not working as it should, and at this point it is definitely a problem at the connection level.

                      I confirm that with the unmanaged gigabit switch inserted between ONT and Netgate everything works perfectly.
                      Removing the switch the problem returns immediately: speedtest on Italian ISP servers: 200/300 mbit - speedtest on other foreign ISPs: 1/7 mbit 😬
                      I struggle to understand how this situation can be created but the problem is in this ethernet connection.

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        It's a 1G switch? When it was in-line did it show both sides linked at 1G-FD?

                        federaccoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • federaccoF
                          federacco @stephenw10
                          last edited by

                          @stephenw10 yes i'ts a simple Netgear GS105, both interface linked at 1G.

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                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            Does the ONT (LEDs) show as linked at 1G when connected to 2100 directly?

                            federaccoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • federaccoF
                              federacco @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              Now I can't verify by reconnecting the Netgate directly, but this is the state of the ONT and I'm pretty sure it was the same with the Netgate directly connected... I'll check back later to be sure.

                              7f9c895c-6f3a-40d4-b865-8b17908858c4-image.png

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                I would check the LEDs on the port too just to be sure.

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                                • federaccoF
                                  federacco
                                  last edited by

                                  The ONT does not have ethernet status LEDs, however I confirm that from web interface on both Netgate side and ONT side speed is 1000 full duplex.

                                  1f10c34b-b2be-4f71-b6bc-1db908d3180b-IMG_9125.jpeg

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Hmm. That sort of throttling feels like it's latency related. Do you see packet loss too when testing? Like if you run a continuous ping whilst testing?

                                    federaccoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • federaccoF
                                      federacco @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10 yes, I confirm. With Netgate directly connected to the ONT I had a constant packet loss of around 2-5% with periodic higher spikes.

                                      The pfSense gateway monitoring is set to my ISP's public DNS and here too it reports packet loss...
                                      Now with the switch there is no packet loss. 0% constant.

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Hmm. One thing you could try here would be to separate one of the LAN ports as a different interface and then use that as WAN. Since that's connected via the internal switch it may well link correctly.

                                        https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/netgate-2100/configuring-the-switch-ports.html

                                        federaccoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • federaccoF
                                          federacco @stephenw10
                                          last edited by federacco

                                          @stephenw10

                                          I have all interfaces busy, but i was able to swap my backup WAN which was on a interface of the internal switch with that of the fiber WAN on the separate single interface.

                                          Obviously I had to make some changes for VLANs, configuration etc...

                                          I didn't like it much because I preferred to have the main fiber WAN on the single interface for some reason... but it actually works without problems, you were right to recommend this test because at this point the "incompatibility" problem with the ONT is only on the single separate interface of the Netgate. I don't understand what he doesn't like, it really drove me crazy.

                                          At least this way I could remove the workaround with the external switch.

                                          The only thing that consoles me is that in any case I had planned to replace the Netgate with a new appliance with 2.5G interfaces and with adequate performance for the throughput, so I don't think I'll have this problem again.

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Mmm, that's something low level in the link negotiation. Hard to say exactly what. It's not something I've seen on the 2100. 😕

                                            federaccoF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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