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    Ipv6 unusable due lack of love from FreeBSD (prev: Support baby jumbo frames)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • M
      M_Devil
      last edited by

      @stephenw10:

      I realise that the reduced MTU causes fragmentation it's just that I've never really seen that cause a problem. Both my WAN connections are PPPoE.

      And on your both WAN interfaces, did you specify MTU and/or MSS?

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        No they are both set at default values, which is 1492.

        Steve

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        • D
          doktornotor Banned
          last edited by

          @M_Devil:

          In my browser (FF, IE and Chrome) some ipv6 pages did load very slow.

          This ridiculous bug has been ignored by the FreeBSD guys for ages.

          https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/2762
          https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=172648

          IOW, you don't need baby jumbo, you need pf to stop throwing out legitimate traffic.

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          • H
            Harvy66
            last edited by

            @pf3000:

            @Harvy66:

            PPPoE is an artifact left over from the days of dialup. Ethernet is already meant to be line rate, but now you have to add a PPPoE server and suddenly you're centralizing your contention. PPPoE has issues with high speed connections, like 1Gb and soon 10Gb. It can be done if you throw enough money at it, but that can be said of nearly anything.

            Yes you are correct. But that doesn't mean PPPoE is disappearing, or even shrinking.

            I was responding to "In the Netherlands fiber connections are all PPPoE. Don't know for other countries, someone?". On this side of the pond, few people have access to PPPoE, especially the type of people the devs are for PFSense. Without access to PPPoE, it's hard to test, plus it's a bit unglamorous to be working on code to support legacy systems.

            Is the baby jumbo frame thing a PFSense thing or a FreeBSD thing? Maybe asking in the FreeBSD forums would gain more traction. Would be nice to check off another feature.

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            • M
              M_Devil
              last edited by

              I am trying to understand the status quo: Does this mean this bug is preventing normal usage of ipv6 in pfSense and because the dev's have focus on other stuff no solution is expected in near future?

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              • P
                pf3000
                last edited by

                @Harvy66:

                I was responding to "In the Netherlands fiber connections are all PPPoE. Don't know for other countries, someone?". On this side of the pond, few people have access to PPPoE, especially the type of people the devs are for PFSense. Without access to PPPoE, it's hard to test, plus it's a bit unglamorous to be working on code to support legacy systems.

                Is the baby jumbo frame thing a PFSense thing or a FreeBSD thing? Maybe asking in the FreeBSD forums would gain more traction. Would be nice to check off another feature.

                Since when did pppoe become legacy and "unglamorous" to continue support for? Probably from a purely academic and philosophical point of view.
                FWIW the way I see it pfsense supports pppoe over legacy copper dsl & cable, and not up-to-date for pppoe over optical fiber.

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Just to be clear here I have 2x FTTC connections at home which are both PPPoE. I have not applied any special settings to either of them and have never seen any particular issues with fragmented packets.
                  However I don't have an IPv6 tunnel setup, nor do my ISPs offer native IPv6.
                  Looking at Doktornotor's links this appears to be an upstream bug in IPv6 handling in pf. It also looks as though Ermal submitted a patch at one time. I'm not aware of what happened about that though.
                  I can try to find out…

                  Steve

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                  • D
                    doktornotor Banned
                    last edited by

                    @stephenw10:

                    Looking at Doktornotor's links this appears to be an upstream bug in IPv6 handling in pf. It also looks as though Ermal submitted a patch at one time. I'm not aware of what happened about that though.
                    I can try to find out…

                    Yeah that bug is IPv6 specific. Until you lower the MTU/MSS, the experience is extremely annoying. Takes multiple attempts to get some sites loaded (notably, also pfsense.org ones). And then there are sites that just totally fail, like https://www.o2.cz/

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                    • P
                      pf3000
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10:

                      Indeed, I realise that now.
                      What I mean is. How does having fragmented packets cause you a problem?
                      Steve

                      @stephenw10:

                      I realise that the reduced MTU causes fragmentation it's just that I've never really seen that cause a problem. Both my WAN connections are PPPoE.

                      @stephenw10:

                      Just to be clear here I have 2x FTTC connections at home which are both PPPoE. I have not applied any special settings to either of them and have never seen any particular issues with fragmented packets.

                      Bug

                      root: ping -D -s 1472 yahoo.com
                      PING yahoo.com (206.190.36.45): 1472 data bytes
                      36 bytes from localhost (127.0.0.1): frag needed and DF set (MTU 1492)
                      Vr HL TOS  Len   ID Flg  off TTL Pro  cks      Src      Dst
                       4  5  00 05dc 6b46   0 0000  40  01 abcc 2.97.247.19  206.190.36.45
                      

                      Expected result

                      ping -D -s 1472 www.dslreports.com
                      PING www.dslreports.com (64.91.255.98): 1472 data bytes
                      1480 bytes from 64.91.255.98: icmp_seq=0 ttl=47 time=122.827 ms
                      

                      The issue is for those of us who have a maximum MTU of 1500 cannot ping 1472 bytes without it getting fragmented. That itself is the issue; nothing more or less.

                      It seems as though you're putting the burden on us to prove that something is broken because of fragmented packets. Terribly sorry that myself or the OP can't tickle your mind in a purely academic and pedantic fashion.

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                      • D
                        doktornotor Banned
                        last edited by

                        @pf3000:

                        The issue is for those of us who have a maximum MTU of 1500

                        Except that you don't have any such thing:

                        36 bytes from localhost (127.0.0.1): frag needed and DF set (MTU 1492)

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                        • P
                          pf3000
                          last edited by

                          @doktornotor:

                          @pf3000:

                          The issue is for those of us who have a maximum MTU of 1500

                          Except that you don't have any such thing:

                          36 bytes from localhost (127.0.0.1): frag needed and DF set (MTU 1492)

                          Yes I don't, because I'm using pfSense. Here's what it looks like when I'm using IPFire.

                          [root@box ~]# ping -M do -c 2 -s 1473 yahoo.com
                          PING yahoo.com (98.138.253.109) 1473(1501) bytes of data.
                          ping: local error: Message too long, mtu=1500
                          ping: local error: Message too long, mtu=1500

                          –- yahoo.com ping statistics ---
                          2 packets transmitted, 0 received, +2 errors, 100% packet loss, time 1008ms

                          [root@box ~]# ping -M do -c 2 -s 1472 yahoo.com
                          PING yahoo.com (98.139.183.24) 1472(1500) bytes of data.
                          1480 bytes from ir2.fp.vip.bf1.yahoo.com (98.139.183.24): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=230 ms
                          1480 bytes from ir2.fp.vip.bf1.yahoo.com (98.139.183.24): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=232 ms

                          –- yahoo.com ping statistics ---
                          2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1001ms
                          rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 230.180/231.415/232.651/1.325 ms

                          [root@box ~]# ifconfig
                          green0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:7F:27:44
                                    inet addr:192.168.1.1  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
                                    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
                                    RX packets:15078 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
                                    TX packets:12171 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
                                    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
                                    RX bytes:4349698 (4.1 Mb)  TX bytes:3450290 (3.2 Mb)

                          lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
                                    inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
                                    UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
                                    RX packets:112 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
                                    TX packets:112 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
                                    collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
                                    RX bytes:12176 (11.8 Kb)  TX bytes:12176 (11.8 Kb)

                          ppp0      Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
                                    inet addr:2.97.90.54  P-t-P:117.165.190.1  Mask:255.255.255.255
                                    UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP  MTU:1500  Metric:1
                                    RX packets:8070 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
                                    TX packets:9131 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
                                    collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
                                    RX bytes:2842073 (2.7 Mb)  TX bytes:3536328 (3.3 Mb)

                          red0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0C:29:7F:27:3A
                                    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1508  Metric:1
                                    RX packets:8645 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
                                    TX packets:9718 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
                                    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
                                    RX bytes:3300161 (3.1 Mb)  TX bytes:3893666 (3.7 Mb)

                          This is what's like using pfSense

                          vmx0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
                                  options=60079b <rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,tso4,tso6,lro,rxcsum_ipv6,txcsum_ipv6>ether 00:01:0a:21:6b:60
                                  inet6 fe80::201:aff:fe21:6b60%vmx0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
                                  nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: Ethernet autoselect
                                  status: active
                          pppoe0: flags=88d1 <up,pointopoint,running,noarp,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1492
                                  inet6 fe80::201:aff:fe21:6b60%pppoe0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7
                                  inet 2.98.156.223 –> 117.165.190.1 netmask 0xffffffff
                                  nd6 options=21<performnud,auto_linklocal></performnud,auto_linklocal></up,pointopoint,running,noarp,simplex,multicast></performnud,auto_linklocal></rxcsum,txcsum,vlan_mtu,vlan_hwtagging,vlan_hwcsum,tso4,tso6,lro,rxcsum_ipv6,txcsum_ipv6></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>

                          ![2015-06-16 14_31_05-box.lan - Interfaces_ PPPs_ Edit - Internet Explorer.jpg](/public/imported_attachments/1/2015-06-16 14_31_05-box.lan - Interfaces_ PPPs_ Edit - Internet Explorer.jpg)
                          ![2015-06-16 14_31_05-box.lan - Interfaces_ PPPs_ Edit - Internet Explorer.jpg_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/2015-06-16 14_31_05-box.lan - Interfaces_ PPPs_ Edit - Internet Explorer.jpg_thumb)

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                          • D
                            doktornotor Banned
                            last edited by

                            Yes. Those valuable 8 bytes must be incredible loss… Probably slows down your WAN at least by 0.000000000000001%.

                            Now

                            • it's been pretty clearly stated that the mpd version used in pfSense does NOT support any such thing - https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/4542
                            • there's a bounty for whatever needs to be done - https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=93902.0
                            • your 0.000000000000001% is hardly a top priority, plus most certainly not a bug. People generally prioritize things that scratch their own itch, unless they get paid to do something else.
                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P
                              pf3000
                              last edited by

                              @doktornotor:

                              Yes. Those valuable 8 bytes must be incredible loss… Probably slows down your WAN at least by 0.000000000000001%.

                              Now

                              • it's been pretty clearly stated that the mpd version used in pfSense does NOT support any such thing - https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/4542
                              • there's a bounty for whatever needs to be done - https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=93902.0
                              • your 0.000000000000001% is hardly a top priority, plus most certainly not a bug. People generally prioritize things that scratch their own itch, unless they get paid to do something else.

                              No pressure guys. I didn't demand anything and I was only trying to help. The whole thread was spent trying to get at least someone to acknowledge that something is not working as expected.

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Well we can agree that with IPv6 the behaviour is certainly not as expected (or as desired as least).
                                However in IPv4 that's exactly the expected behaviour. There's not a bug there, a missing feature perhaps.

                                Steve

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                                • M
                                  M_Devil
                                  last edited by

                                  Yes, so

                                  • Baby jumbo frames is about missing feature without having a big problem now.

                                  • But as Doktornotor points out, there is a problem with ipv6 (https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=172648) breaking normal ipv6 usage.

                                  As in linked post, there are two workarounds:

                                  • don't use 'scrub reassemble tcp' in PF, or disable PF
                                  • sysctl net.inet.tcp.rfc1323=0

                                  Trying second now and seems (for now) it is working

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Let us know how that goes.
                                    Thanks
                                    Steve

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                                    • M
                                      M_Devil
                                      last edited by

                                      So, running with the sysctl net.inet.tcp.rfc1323=0 workaround for a week now.

                                      The idea is it should (as a workaround) solve the problem of ipv6 websites refusing (or after approx. 10 seconds) loading.
                                      The good news: the workaround is helping a lot, but it does not enable the same browsing experience as with ipv4. A few times a day still an ipv6 site is not loading in first attempt. After an ctrl-F5 is uasually loads the page.

                                      Did I understand correct this problem need to be solved by FreeBSD developers and not by pfSense team?
                                      If so, why does it take so much time to solve, because as far as I can tell, this should effect a lot of people, right?

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                                      • D
                                        doktornotor Banned
                                        last edited by

                                        Sigh. I don't know why IPv6 fragmentation got under this topic. That problem is NOT caused by missing baby jumbo. It's caused by pf discarding legitimate traffic.

                                        As for why does it take so long, when you look at the mailing lists, it took years to get fixed with ipfw, and it's no better with pf. Generally, getting kernel bugs fixed is a completely disastrous experience with FreeBSD. Stuff rotting in bugzilla for years.

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                                        • M
                                          M_Devil
                                          last edited by

                                          You are right. The discussed bug has nothing to do with Jumbo Frames. Did not know that before, as my (wrong) assumption was the bad browsing experience was causes by missing Jumbo Frames support.

                                          I can read your frustration with fixing kernel bugs by FreeBSD *) team. So does that mean you don't expect this bug (dropping ipv6 traffic) to be fixed soon?
                                          If so, that whould be ridiculous, because (in the assumtion I understand it good enough) ipv6 is currently useless and breaking normal Internet traffic.

                                          *) FreeBSD is all about stability?

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                                          • D
                                            doktornotor Banned
                                            last edited by

                                            @M_Devil:

                                            I can read your frustration with fixing kernel bugs by FreeBSD *) team. So does that mean you don't expect this bug (dropping ipv6 traffic) to be fixed soon?

                                            https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=124933 - filed: 2008-06-24

                                            Frustration is an extreme understatement!!!  >:( >:( >:( Expect to be fixed soon? LOL.

                                            The other bug has been sitting there since 2012 and the only response it got was "Hey guys, I cannot reproduce this" after 32 months.

                                            Since the topic got somehow lost anyway - PR 172648 can indeed be mitigated by sysctl net.inet.tcp.rfc1323=0. OTOH, this certainly does not help with PR 124933. That only can be avoided by dropping MTU and MSS values to avoid fragmentation altogether – which is probably the issue you are still seeing:

                                            @M_Devil:

                                            A few times a day still an ipv6 site is not loading in first attempt. After an ctrl-F5 is uasually loads the page.

                                            (even with  sysctl net.inet.tcp.rfc1323=0). There are logs on https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/2762, see if that matches what you see.

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