Issue with WAN speed negotiation after upgrading from 2.7 to 2.8 or 2.8.1

C80SGEEK

Hello,

I have been using pfSense for over a decade, so I have some experience with this fantastic product, but today I am facing an issue for which I need your help.

I am encountering a problem with the latest version of pfSense CE.
Since upgrading to version 2.8.0, the speed of our WAN port has been reduced to half-duplex, which greatly impacts the upload speed, stagnating at 1.2 MB/s, whereas normally we have an upload speed of 90 MB/s.

I downgraded to version 2.7.2 on the same hardware, and the WAN port negotiates full-duplex again, reaching the expected upload/download speed of 90 MB/s.

I also tried upgrading directly from version 2.7.2 to the recently released version 2.8.1, but the issue persists: the WAN port is still negotiated in half-duplex, and the upload speeds remain reduced.

My research on the internet mostly led me to issues related to Realtek cards, where this phenomenon can occur.

However, the WAN network card in our hardware is an Intel NIC I210.

To be thorough, I tested replacing the cables, but the problem persists.
On some forums, it is suggested to disable IPv6, but this did not help.
Another option discussed was to disable hardware checksum offload, but even after a reboot, the link remains half-duplex.

Since these problems are usually related to Realtek drivers, I don’t know where to look regarding my Intel cards.

Thank you in advance for any help, which I would greatly appreciate.

C80SGEEK

Here is a little up,

As the big difference between pfsense 2.7.2 and 2.8.0 is FreeBSD 15. i checked the hardware compatibility :

My Intel NIC I210 is listed as compatible :

https://www.freebsd.org/releases/15.0R/hardware/#ethernet

The em driver supports Gigabit Ethernet adapters based on the Intel 82540, 82541ER, 82541PI, 82542, 82543, 82544, 82545, 82546, 82546EB, 82546GB, 82547, 82571, 82572, 82573, 82574, 82575, 82576, and 82580 controller chips:

Intel Gigabit ET Dual Port Server Adapter (82576)

Intel Gigabit VT Quad Port Server Adapter (82575)

Intel Single, Dual and Quad Gigabit Ethernet Controller (82580)

Intel i210 and i211 Gigabit Ethernet Controller

checking hardware info i have the same result on both devices:

sysctl -a | grep -E 'dev.(igb|ix|em).*.%desc:'

dev.igb.7.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.6.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.5.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.4.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.3.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.2.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.1.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.igb.0.%desc: Intel(R) I210 (Copper)
dev.ix.1.%desc: Intel(R) X552 (SFP+)
dev.ix.0.%desc: Intel(R) X552 (SFP+)

I connected a switch between the firewall wan and the router.
Port negociation becomes 100MB FullDuplex, but speed test still having bad results. like 1,2 MB/s Upload where on pfsens 2.7.2 i have all working as expected on 90 MB/S.

I really dont know where to search for this issue, all help will be most apreciated.

Kind regards