PfSense VS linksys: cable modem observation
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So I've been using a Linksys WRT54G router for the longest time, finally got tired of it, and switched to pfSense on PC.
When downloading and 'maxing out' my bandwidth:
WRT54G: All lights on the modem are solid on, including the 'send' light
pfSense: All lights, except the send light, on the modem are solid on. The 'send' LED doesn't register at all.What is the WRT54G 'sending' that pfSense is not?
Another observation, my max transfer rate pretty much doubled when I switched: it went from (what I thought was the max offered by my ISP) 8Mb to an easy 16Mb solid. Could the scenario described above explain this?
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send light would be blinking too fast so the modem just doesnt blink as its set not to blink faster than a certain rate?
does everything else work?
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Everything works wonderfully :D, I couldn't be happier. I'm just curious as to why the Linksys router was supposedly sending information (a lot, apparently) while purely downloading, whereas the pfSense router, more expectedly, does not 'send' anything while downloading.
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type 192.168.100.1 into your browser to see some advanced info about your modem.
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I'm guessing the linksys is too slow to keep up, resulting in led activity that is more visible.
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I'm just curious as to why the Linksys router was supposedly sending information (a lot, apparently) while purely downloading, whereas the pfSense router, more expectedly, does not 'send' anything while downloading.
If you are downloading over a TCP connection (e.g. ftp, http) there is no such thing as a "pure download". The TCP protocol requires the transmission of ACKs to acknowledge data, hence there will be an apparent "upload" of "control" information as well as the data download. This is true regardless of the router.
I suspect there isn't any precise specification of what the SEND light means, so it could be misleading to read too much into it.