Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    PfSense and Shaping Facebook – The Definitive Guide.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Traffic Shaping
    27 Posts 7 Posters 9.9k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • G Offline
      gratis.obake
      last edited by

      if I'm understanding it correctly, and implement this on my pfsense box. that any individual using facebook (per device) will only get the speed provided in the limiter field?

      side question: if they click a vid in facebook, will it still retain the 300k limit? (assuming limit is 300k from limiter field?)

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • cyber7C Offline
        cyber7
        last edited by

        You are 100% correct in your understanding.  Although 300Kbit/s is a bit slow, all traffic through this limiter will be affected :)

        As a side-note: I have set this to 1500Kbit/s and it works like a charm!

        cyber7-out

        When you pause to think, do you start again?

        2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
        built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
        FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
        and
        pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • H Offline
          Harvy66
          last edited by

          There are cases where traffic shaping won't help, but I assume it's not an issue because your targeting a lowly 300Kb/s.

          You're taking about FB, which tends to use a lot of CDNs, akamai being one of them. I have a 1ms ping to my ISP's akamai CDN. This puts a lower limit on how slow TCP will go.

          Current TCP implementations have a minimum window size of two segments. That is 3000 bytes for most cases. With a 1ms RTT, 3000 bytes will roughly be transferred every 1ms. That's 24Mb/s. That means TCP will refuse to transfer data slower than 24Mb/s per TCP connection, assuming the ping stays constant. A traffic policer drops data when it comes in too quickly, which means the data comes in, but the data will be getting dropped a lot.

          As long as the limiter/policer has a large enough buffer, it will delay the packets but will cause buffer bloat to do so. If the buffer is too small, it will drop the packets, resulting in high packet loss.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • G Offline
            gratis.obake
            last edited by

            @cyber7
            thanks for this, I'll implement this one in the near future as I also need this.

            @Harvy66
            honestly ^_^, I only got almost half of it I guess.
            if we where to example the 300kb/s one (this tread is doing), then with the one you mentioned with the 23Mb/s (assuming its akamai/facebook which is near the isp), it will result to either "bufferbloat and/or dropped packets" due to it being capped/limited right?

            sorry for this

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • H Offline
              Harvy66
              last edited by

              Correct, but only for connections that have low latency relative to the bandwidth. This applies in my case because I have a 1Gb link, but it's rate limited to much less.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • DerelictD Offline
                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                last edited by

                I don't see any reason that can't go on LAN with more sanity.

                You are masking on destination address in both In and Out.  That will mean your users will get a limiter pipe for each facebook destination IP address, not for each LAN host.

                You can't match LAN hosts on WAN out floating rules because it's post-NAT (the source address will be the NAT address).

                Name: FBupPRI
                Bandwidth: 300 Kbit/s
                Mask: Source Address

                Name: FBdownPRI
                Bandwidth: 300 Kbit/s
                Mask: Destination address

                Interface LAN
                Action: Pass
                Protocol: any
                Source: LAN net
                Destination Type: Single host or Alias
                Destination Address: Facebook
                Advanced Features:
                In/Out: FBupPRI/FBdownPRI

                Result: 300kbit/sec up/down for each LAN host for all connections to Facebook addresses.

                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)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • cyber7C Offline
                  cyber7
                  last edited by

                  @Derelict:

                  I don't see any reason that can't go on LAN with more sanity.

                  You are masking on destination address in both In and Out.  That will mean your users will get a limiter pipe for each facebook destination IP address, not for each LAN host.

                  You can't match LAN hosts on WAN out floating rules because it's post-NAT (the source address will be the NAT address).

                  Name: FBupPRI
                  Bandwidth: 300 Kbit/s
                  Mask: Source Address

                  Name: FBdownPRI
                  Bandwidth: 300 Kbit/s
                  Mask: Destination address

                  Interface LAN
                  Action: Pass
                  Protocol: any
                  Source: LAN net
                  Destination Type: Single host or Alias
                  Destination Address: Facebook
                  Advanced Features:
                  In/Out: FBupPRI/FBdownPRI

                  Result: 300kbit/sec up/down for each LAN host for all connections to Facebook addresses.

                  Hi Derelict
                  Definitely going to try this!

                  Thanx
                  cyber7

                  When you pause to think, do you start again?

                  2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                  built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                  FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                  and
                  pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • G Offline
                    gratis.obake
                    last edited by

                    @Derelict:

                    Result: 300kbit/sec up/down for each LAN host for all connections to Facebook addresses.

                    some dumb question on this:
                    each will have 300kbit up/down for every computer on LAN?, lets say I have 3 computers with this implemented and all of them are doing facebook simultaneously, total is 900kb up/down right?

                    how about something 1,000kbit for them to share? like if only 1 user is accessing facebook, then he will have the whole 1,000kbits, but if others joins, then they'll share the 1,000kbits allocation

                    is this possible perhaps?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DerelictD Offline
                      Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                      last edited by

                      @gratis.obake:

                      @Derelict:

                      Result: 300kbit/sec up/down for each LAN host for all connections to Facebook addresses.

                      some dumb question on this:
                      each will have 300kbit up/down for every computer on LAN?, lets say I have 3 computers with this implemented and all of them are doing facebook simultaneously, total is 900kb up/down right?

                      how about something 1,000kbit for them to share? like if only 1 user is accessing facebook, then he will have the whole 1,000kbits, but if others joins, then they'll share the 1,000kbits allocation

                      is this possible perhaps?

                      New top-level limiter:

                      Name: FBupPRIPool
                      Bandwidth: 1000 Kbit/s
                      Mask: None

                      While viewing FBupPRIPool click Add new queue

                      Name: FBupPRIByHost
                      Mask: Source address

                      New top-level limiter:

                      Name: FBdownPRIPool
                      Bandwidth: 1000 Kbit/s
                      Mask: None

                      While viewing FBdownPRIPool click Add new queue

                      Name: FBdownPRIByHost
                      Mask: Destination address

                      Interface LAN
                      Action: Pass
                      Protocol: any
                      Source: LAN net
                      Destination Type: Single host or Alias
                      Destination Address: Facebook
                      Advanced Features:
                      In/Out: FBupPRIByHost/FBdownPRIByHost

                      Result: 1000kbit/sec up/down Pool split among all LAN hosts for all connections to Facebook addresses. If only one host, it gets the full 1000kbit.

                      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)

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • G Offline
                        gratis.obake
                        last edited by

                        thanks sir, I'll try this one

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • S Offline
                          strike101
                          last edited by

                          Thanks it works  ;D

                          btw… what if i want to exclude a single pc/ip from the rule ?

                          thanks again

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • DerelictD Offline
                            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                            last edited by

                            If it doesn't match the rule, or if it matches another rule above it it won't be put through the limiter.

                            So put a rule above it that matches only that IP address but doesn't set the limiter.

                            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)

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • cyber7C Offline
                              cyber7
                              last edited by

                              @Derelict:

                              If it doesn't match the rule, or if it matches another rule above it it won't be put through the limiter.

                              So put a rule above it that matches only that IP address but doesn't set the limiter.

                              You can see my limiter works and works 100%  - I did, however make it 1MB/s because the experience at 300kb/s is just not on :)

                              Here you can see it in working (all the FB ip's and then my one single GW IP)

                              limiter.png
                              limiter.png_thumb

                              When you pause to think, do you start again?

                              2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                              built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                              FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                              and
                              pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • DerelictD Offline
                                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                last edited by

                                Your point?

                                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)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • cyber7C Offline
                                  cyber7
                                  last edited by

                                  @Derelict:

                                  Your point?

                                  Did you read the entire topic?  My point being the original limiting works 100% and does not create multiple 1MB pipes, but a single pipe.  ALL FB traffic goes through the pipe and the 1MB pipe gets shared by all the FB ip's.

                                  YOUR point? ;)

                                  cyber7

                                  When you pause to think, do you start again?

                                  2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                                  built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                                  FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                                  and
                                  pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • DerelictD Offline
                                    Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                    last edited by

                                    Except it doesn't.  If what you're doing works for you, good on you.

                                    It goes through a single pipe because it is post-NAT on WAN out, meaning a single source address, meaning a single pipe.

                                    You are missing the ability for the limiter to try to share the available pipe among LAN users (the users you should care about) by using the child limiters.

                                    But, again, if what you're doing works for you, have at it.

                                    The user I was responding to asked how to exclude a single source IP.

                                    Tell me how you are going to do that post-NAT on WAN out?

                                    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)

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • cyber7C Offline
                                      cyber7
                                      last edited by

                                      Hi Derelict
                                      Thanks for the extensive explanation!  Please could I pick your brain a bit?  (It will also help other users to understand when reading the topic)

                                      Are you saying that the big difference between my original writing and yours is that with yours you can manage the LAN IP's you want to limit, but with mine, you do it for the entire LAN?

                                      I suppose if it is true, it is actually ok in my environment where I want to limit ALL FB traffic, not just for some users…  BUT, the application of a 'child' limiter (in your example) has such potential for other technologies running away with your bandwidth.  For example, Dropbox and any other "clouded" services.

                                      My other headache is YOUTUBE (googlevideo) and limiting that traffic...  I found a solution using squid, but that is beyond this subject matter.

                                      kind regards
                                      cyber7 (aka Aubrey Kloppers)

                                      When you pause to think, do you start again?

                                      2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                                      built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                                      FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                                      and
                                      pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • DerelictD Offline
                                        Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                        last edited by

                                        @cyber7:

                                        Hi Derelict
                                        Thanks for the extensive explanation!  Please could I pick your brain a bit?  (It will also help other users to understand when reading the topic)

                                        Are you saying that the big difference between my original writing and yours is that with yours you can manage the LAN IP's you want to limit, but with mine, you do it for the entire LAN?

                                        It all depends on what your goals are.  Post-NAT WAN out rules cannot see what the source IP is.  That is quite a limiting factor in most cases.

                                        I suppose if it is true, it is actually ok in my environment where I want to limit ALL FB traffic, not just for some users…  BUT, the application of a 'child' limiter (in your example) has such potential for other technologies running away with your bandwidth.  For example, Dropbox and any other "clouded" services.

                                        Your stated goal is to limit facebook.  The hardest part about that is identifying facebook traffic.  Your rules won't do anything to limit dropbox either, since it's all on destination Facebook.

                                        Limiters and child limiters work.  The outlier is usually bittorrent.  And that is usually because people put a WAN pass rule for their torrent port and don't set the limiter there too.

                                        My other headache is YOUTUBE (googlevideo) and limiting that traffic…  I found a solution using squid, but that is beyond this subject matter.

                                        The hard part is identifying the traffic.  Limiting identified traffic is pretty easy.  I think most people who go down this rabbit hole are overthinking things. (Facebook bad, google, ok, googlevideo bad, cnn ok).  Fuck it.  Just limit/shape them all and make the internet work.

                                        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)

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • cyber7C Offline
                                          cyber7
                                          last edited by

                                          @Derelict:

                                          The hard part is identifying the traffic.  Limiting identified traffic is pretty easy.  I think most people who go down this rabbit hole are overthinking things. (Facebook bad, google, ok, googlevideo bad, cnn ok).  Fuck it.  Just limit/shape them all and make the internet work.

                                          HAHAHA!  I like your attitude!  I am starting to really think in this direction as well!  I have set up limiters (1/2/3Mb/s).  It works, but after I implemented your solution, I am looking at making this more "smove" :)

                                          cyber7

                                          When you pause to think, do you start again?

                                          2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                                          built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                                          FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                                          and
                                          pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • cyber7C Offline
                                            cyber7
                                            last edited by

                                            @Derelict:

                                            The hard part is identifying the traffic.  Limiting identified traffic is pretty easy.  I think most people who go down this rabbit hole are overthinking things. (Facebook bad, google, ok, googlevideo bad, cnn ok).  Fuck it.  Just limit/shape them all and make the internet work.

                                            HAHAHA!  I like your attitude!  I am starting to really think in this direction as well!  I have set up limiters (1/2/3Mb/s).  It works, but after I implemented your solution, I am looking at making this more "smove" :)

                                            cyber7

                                            And you, Derelict, my dear sir ARE A GENIUS!  Re-Wrote all my Limiters with your specs and WOW, soooo smove!

                                            cyber7-out

                                            When you pause to think, do you start again?

                                            2.2.4-RELEASE (amd64)
                                            built on Sat Jul 25 19:57:37 CDT 2015
                                            FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE-p15
                                            and
                                            pfSense 2.3.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64 full-install) on pfSense

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.