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USB to Ethernet Adapter

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  • M
    mystycs
    last edited by Aug 21, 2013, 10:29 PM

    Its a small ARM computer with one ethernet, but my pfsense will only be delivering 128kbit to these users at all times.

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    • M
      mystycs
      last edited by Aug 21, 2013, 10:30 PM

      @jimp:

      It looks like that should work on 2.1 using the axe(4) driver. Not 2.0.x though.

      Okay awesome! I got one, 2.1 is stable at the moment or still in rc?

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      • M
        mystycs
        last edited by Aug 21, 2013, 10:35 PM

        So is VLAN the use of one ethernet switch to make a LAN and WAN on it? I dont unerstand

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        • D
          doktornotor Banned
          last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 2:32 AM

          @mystycs:

          Its a small ARM computer with one ethernet, but my pfsense will only be delivering 128kbit to these users at all times.

          Good luck porting pfSense for ARM…  ;D ;D ;D

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          • K
            kejianshi
            last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 2:44 AM

            Hmmmm.  This is sounding more and more like a bad idea…

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            • S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 8:23 AM

              I don't think you mean ARM since we've seen evidence of this booting.

              You seem reluctant to tell us what this mystery board is though. Perhaps it's some top secret government project!  ;)

              Steve

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              • K
                kejianshi
                last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 8:33 AM

                The box in the background certainly looks like typical high tech government filing system stuff  ;)
                But, usually, no cameras allowed.  I gotta say no to that one.

                If its not an ARM processor, what are the specs of the mystery board?

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                • M
                  mystycs
                  last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 2:45 PM

                  lmfao im just trying to mess around learn more about pfsense. The box contains top secret things i cannot reveal.

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                  • G
                    GruensFroeschli
                    last edited by Aug 22, 2013, 3:35 PM

                    @mystycs:

                    So is VLAN the use of one ethernet switch to make a LAN and WAN on it? I dont unerstand

                    VLAN's allow you to use a single physical ethernet interface to provide lots of virtual interfaces.
                    From a users point of view there is not really a difference between a vlan-interface and a physical interface.

                    The result would look something like this:
                    WAN -> vlan100
                    LAN -> vlan200
                    OPT1 -> vlan300
                    OPT2 -> vlan400
                    etc.

                    On the (vlan capable) switch you assign VLANs to the various ports.

                    In the end you have a single physical ethernet card in your router, a single cable going from it to the switch, and all the interfaces you are using on the pfSense are different ports on the switch.
                    eg.
                    vlan100 –> port1
                    vlan200 --> port5
                    vlan300 --> port9
                    etc.

                    We do what we must, because we can.

                    Asking questions the smart way: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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                    • D
                      doktornotor Banned
                      last edited by Aug 25, 2013, 9:40 PM

                      In case you still feel like experimenting with top-secret chipsets… Got my hands on this one, it works… Of course not anywhere near gbit speeds (and only tested for like an hour or so.) Still would prefer the VLAN route.

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                      • P
                        Paul47
                        last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 5:59 PM

                        I had not realized VLANS could be used this way, putting WAN and LAN on the same switch and needing only a single ethernet port on the pfsense box.

                        However there is one obvious drawback: the cable between pfsense and switch is handling both incoming and all outgoing traffic. Maybe OK if that link is gigabit or if the traffic generally is low, but otherwise that may be an issue.

                        I'd rather use the ports on the pfsense box as the switch; that way the traffic is not all concentrated on one port. If most of the ports are USB rather than ethernet, why should we care with good usb-to-ethernet adapters? I have been using the Belkin F4U047 with complete satisfaction. It sells for $16 on Amazon, and with a little research cheaper alternatives may be found. Then, use the native ethernet port on the box for the WAN connection, where the traffic will be heaviest. It doesn't matter that each adapter is only USB 2.0 and 10/100 ethernet since each one only handles a subset of the traffic.

                        Unfortunately manufacturers play fast-and-loose with chipsets on such devices.

                        Mine is using the axe driver. I don't know otherwise how to identify the chip; maybe someone can suggest a way.

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                        • S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 8:24 PM

                          @Paul47:

                          If most of the ports are USB rather than ethernet, why should we care with good usb-to-ethernet adapters? I have been using the Belkin F4U047 with complete satisfaction.

                          I'd say you have been lucky. There are many stories on the forum of trouble with USB ethernet. Yes it may be cheaper for one extra device but you can get, say, a 5 port gigabit ethernet switch that supports VLANs for not much:
                          http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122342

                          Yes using VLANs means all your traffic uses one cable so it effectively halves your bandwidth. Most USB ethernet adapters are restricted to a similar level though.

                          Overall I'd much rather use VLANs but I guess it's just my opinion.

                          Steve

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                          • P
                            Paul47
                            last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 10:25 PM Dec 10, 2013, 10:23 PM

                            The other thing that makes me nervous is having LAN and WAN (wild and wooly Internet) on the same physical switch. Now you are depending on the firmware of a particular switch vendor to have no leakage between the two - to have no exploits. And the vlan software in pfsense had better be right.  :)

                            I have that exact switch. But I only have my LAN on it!

                            Adapters from one bus to another should not be all that difficult to design. We just need to find the ones that work, heh.

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                            • S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 10:40 PM

                              Yep, I agree you are at the mercy of some switch firmware bug.
                              I would always choose real NICs but if forced to choose between USB or VLAN interfaces I'd still go VLAN. At least until I read about a VLAN exploit in the wild.

                              Steve

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