Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Netgate 2100 PPPoE Throughput

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Official Netgate® Hardware
    12 Posts 4 Posters 825 Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      Try setting 'net.isr.dispatch' to deferred.
      See: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/hardware/tune.html#pppoe-with-multi-queue-nics

      The mvneta NICs in the 2100 are not multi-queue but that can make a significant difference.

      L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • L
        Lugie @stephenw10
        last edited by

        @stephenw10 Thanks, I didn't realize those settings would apply to the 2100.

        After setting it to "deferred", I'm getting around 300mbps down and over 500mbps up. Those could be daytime congestion figures, however. I'll keep an eye on it.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          Hmm, interesting. Let us know if that varies.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • L
            Lugie
            last edited by

            Ok -

            I'm seeing consistently in the 350 down / 410 up range. I had to re-activate a codel limiter (set to 500/500) because watchdog services would drop once my upload went up to around 500 (and seemed to overwhelm the SoC of 2100).

            If there's anything else you want me to try, please advise. This is not bad and it sounds like there are PPPoE enhancements coming down the road.

            S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Hmm, and with that you are back to 430/450Mbps?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S
                SteveITS Galactic Empire @Lugie
                last edited by

                @Lugie said in Netgate 2100 PPPoE Throughput:

                re-activate a codel limiter (set to 500/500)

                Drifting on past...did you by chance use FQ_CODEL? I tried that once and it did notably cut my bandwidth on a 2100, as opposed to other shaping. As I recall it wasn't maxed out of CPU so I thought it odd, but I did not dig into it much, just reverted.

                More recently, on a 2100 with Suricata running it seemed to max out around 430 Mbps (at 100% CPU), whereas without Suricata 550 is not a problem.

                Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • L
                  Lugie @SteveITS
                  last edited by

                  @SteveITS Yes - FQ_CODEL with Tail Drop. That's what I was using for VDSL 25/6 and didn't think was necessary anymore (now set to 500/500). But turning it off seemed to stress the 2100 on heavy uploads.

                  I've now turned off the limiter and I'm getting much better results with no Watchdog warnings. Weird. Perhaps I need to fiddle with the queue length? Or something else?

                  Latest Speedtest.net result (no limiter floating rule) is: 529d/486u. I don't have any intensive packages active (no Suricata or PF Blocker). Speedtest caused the CPU to spike to 88% (with the web interface open).

                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • S
                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @Lugie
                    last edited by

                    @Lugie So turning FQ_CODEL off was an improvement? That's what I was seeing. But PRIQ for instance doesn't seem to have the same issue. I was just prioritizing voice/UDP. Like I said I didn't really investigate as I was just experimenting. I just kinda assumed something weird between FQ_CODEL and 2100/ARM and went back to PRIQ. Vaguely I think it was around 100 Mbps less with FQ_CODEL.

                    My eero's periodic speed tests are around 540-556 Mbps download.

                    The dashboard will use CPU if it's updating widgets.

                    Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                    L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • L
                      Lugie @SteveITS
                      last edited by

                      @SteveITS Yes, turning it off got me better download numbers, especially (100mb+). I didn't think that the NICs on this device supported anything other than limiters? I remember reading that somewhere when I was shopping for it. I was using some other traffic-based optimization when I had an intel-based pfSense installation.

                      My use of limiters was mainly for reducing buffer-bloat and preventing any particular device on the LAN from saturating the connection (this was on 25/6 VDSL). Perhaps I don't need any traffic management any more. My buffer-bloat testing gives me an "A"-rating now, just as-is. That wouldn't have been possible without the limiter on VDSL/cable in the past.

                      I'll have to investigate CODEL parameters a bit when used with a higher speed connection like this.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • L
                        Lugie
                        last edited by

                        In the end, I couldn't get consistently good latency without setting the limiter to 400 down and 350 up with a queue length of 2500. Obviously this cuts into my throughput significantly. I'm going to leave it off until I see evidence that buffer bloat is a real problem on my network. From what I see on other forums, people with fibre connections just don't use limiters anymore.

                        bmeeksB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • bmeeksB
                          bmeeks @Lugie
                          last edited by bmeeks

                          @Lugie said in Netgate 2100 PPPoE Throughput:

                          From what I see on other forums, people with fibre connections just don't use limiters anymore.

                          If you have a symmetrical (or very close to symmetrical) connection, then IMHO "buffer bloat" is kind of a solution searching for a problem. It was much more of an actual issue with highly asymmetrical connections such as the early DSL technology. It can also still be an issue with cable ISPs that offer say Gig download speeds but maybe only a few tens of megabits/sec upload speeds. For example, before my symmetrical Gigabit fiber connection I had 1 Gig down and 50 megabits/sec up from a local cable ISP. The actual speed tests wound up averaging about 800 or so down and 49-51 up. That was an asymmetrical connection.

                          Not saying Limiters don't have their place in certain specialized applications, but for most home users with a symmetrical connection (where download and upload speeds are the same), they are not needed.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • First post
                            Last post
                          Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.