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    Em0 connects to gigabit switch at 100mbps only - hahlp!

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    • X
      xourque
      last edited by

      Hello!

      I've searched various FreeBSD forums as well as this one to find a solution to this. Either the solutions are "oh, I tried a different cable and it worked" or forcing the connection rate to be 1gbps - both of which aren't solutions for me from what I've tried.

      I have an Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI card in my pfSense box. This is a fresh install of pfSense 2.2.2. The em driver appears to load without error. It simply won't connect to my gigabit switch faster than 1gbps. It's currently on autoselect. If I try setting it to 1000mbps full duplex, the interface won't connect to the switch at all.

      Now…that same computer has a Realtek onboard gigabit controller - and its RE driver connects to the same switch with the same cable at 1gbps.

      I'm using 3ft Cat6 patch cables. I've tried a few of them. The switch in question is a Trendnet TEG-S80g.

      Please - if anyone can suggest a fix, please pass it along!!

      Oh - and why am I insisting on a gigabit over 100mbps? Well, my 150/150mbps fiber connection I use for an IPSEC between home and work would benefit from it.

      Thanks,
      Tony

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      • D
        divsys
        last edited by

        I have an Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI card in my pfSense box. This is a fresh install of pfSense 2.2.2. The em driver appears to load without error. It simply won't connect to my gigabit switch faster than 1gbps. It's currently on autoselect. If I try setting it to 1000mbps full duplex, the interface won't connect to the switch at all.

        Now…that same computer has a Realtek onboard gigabit controller - and its RE driver connects to the same switch with the same cable at 1gbps.

        Er, perhaps I'm misunderstanding something here, but exactly what speed are you expecting the "Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI card" to connect at?

        Last I looked, 1000Mbps=1Gbps which for a Gigabit switch would be the expected speed of the fastest connection.

        What is the problem?

        (note Gbps is NOT the same as gbps, nor is Mbps = mbps, I've assumed you meant Gbps =>Giga Bits per Second and Mbps=> Mega Bits per Second)

        -jfp

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        • X
          xourque
          last edited by

          @divsys:

          I have an Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI card in my pfSense box. This is a fresh install of pfSense 2.2.2. The em driver appears to load without error. It simply won't connect to my gigabit switch faster than 1gbps. It's currently on autoselect. If I try setting it to 1000mbps full duplex, the interface won't connect to the switch at all.

          Now…that same computer has a Realtek onboard gigabit controller - and its RE driver connects to the same switch with the same cable at 1gbps.

          Er, perhaps I'm misunderstanding something here, but exactly what speed are you expecting the "Intel Pro/1000 GT PCI card" to connect at?

          Last I looked, 1000Mbps=1Gbps which for a Gigabit switch would be the expected speed of the fastest connection.

          What is the problem?

          (note Gbps is NOT the same as gbps, nor is Mbps = mbps, I've assumed you meant Gbps =>Giga Bits per Second and Mbps=> Mega Bits per Second)

          Hello! Thank you for your reply! The subject of the post is my NIC will only connect at 100mbps. I am expecting it to connect at 1000mbps (1gpbs) to the gigabit switch - the same one/port the Realtek controller in the same computer can connect to at 1gbps. I hope that clarifies!

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          • DerelictD
            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
            last edited by

            You have an 8-conductor Cat5e or better cable right?  Some cheap-ass gear has been shipped with cables with conductors on only 1,2,3,6.

            ETA I see you've tried multiples.

            Trendnet

            cough trendnet cough.

            Amazing gear, trendnet.

            Have another switch to try?  Or even another device with a gig port?

            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
            A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
            DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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            • X
              xourque
              last edited by

              @Derelict:

              You have an 8-conductor Cat5e or better cable right?  Some cheap-ass gear has been shipped with cables with conductors on only 1,2,3,6.

              ETA I see you've tried multiples.

              Trendnet

              cough trendnet cough.

              Amazing gear, trendnet.

              Have another switch to try?  Or even another device with a gig port?

              Hello!

              I am using 3ft Cat6 cables. I've tried a few different brands of them, some from monoprice.com and some from my local cable store pchcables.com. It's totally not a cable thing.

              I have a gigabit Dell switch I'm going to try next. I'll post the results here.

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              • DerelictD
                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                last edited by

                It's currently on autoselect. If I try setting it to 1000mbps full duplex, the interface won't connect to the switch at all.

                Yeah.  I don't know why those selections are there.  You can hard-set 100-half, 100-full, 10-half or 10-full.  There is no such thing as hard-setting 1000BaseT.  It's always auto-negotiate.  Maybe with those settings the interface will just not come up if auto-negotiate decides on 10 or 100.

                You've verified with another device that the switch port in question will negotiate 1000 right?

                I have a gigabit Dell switch I'm going to try next. I'll post the results here.

                Please let us know what you find.

                Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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                • E
                  Escorpiom
                  last edited by

                  Don't know if it helps, but my pfsense box had the same behavior when first installed.
                  I have a Supermicro Rangeley board with an additional PCI-e 2 ports gigabit ethernet card.

                  Although my cables were working perfectly fine with another (ubuntu server) setup, I couldn't get my pfsense box to sync
                  at base1000.
                  I tried two different brands and no dice, until a third brand worked flawlessly.
                  So in my case it was a cable issue, although I refused to believe that at first.

                  If you are using crossover cables, no need for that. Ports are auto MDI/MDX.
                  Try yet another cable brand, if possible look at the advertised amount of copper. Higher is better.
                  I agree with a previous poster, you wouldn't believe the shitty quality of UTP cable these days.

                  Cheers.

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                  • X
                    xourque
                    last edited by

                    Alright this is a fun one.

                    Same computer with Windows 7: The Pro 1000/GT connects to the Trendnet switch at 1gbps
                    Same computer with pfSense 2.2.2: The Pro 1000/GT connects to the Trendnet switch at 100mbps

                    Same computer with pfsense 2.2.2: The Pro 1000/GT connects to my Dell PowerConnect 5324 at 1gbps

                    So - with the FreeBSD Intel NIC driver, it would only connect to the Trendnet switch at 100mbps. It's completely happy with the Dell switch.

                    Solution: I'm going to use this PowerConnect 5324 and just try to ignore why the FreeBSD Intel NIC driver doesn't like Trendnet :)

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                    • R
                      robi
                      last edited by

                      Check out some power management settings in BIOS and pfSense, maybe your FreeBSD power management instructs your NIC to switch to low-power mode because it detects the same from the switch (aka "Green Ethernet"). While Windows doesn't care about it. Also check the swicth, can you disable green ethernet features on it.

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