DHCP lease expiring/devices loosing connection

Techsanity

Setup is cable modem connected to the wan port
Then 5 ports bridged for lan/switch. I have a freenas server in one port a Roku ultra in one port and a unifi ap-ac-lr in one port.
The problem I’m having is devices are getting disconnected and the can’t reconnect. DHCP status says offline and lease expired.
On my iPhone or iMac it says I’m connected to Wi-Fi but there is no internet. On the iMac I think it says self assigned IP address and has an IP completely different from my range and on my iPhone it doesn’t say self assigned but again has an IP completely different. And it not just my iMac and iPhone. It’s everything losing connection. Sonos speakers, nest thermostat, nest protect smoke alarms, roku tv’s

This is my first time using both pfsense and a unifi access point. Didn’t look like this much trouble. Need to get this fixed before my family kills me.

I’m sure you’ll need more information, so just let me know and I’ll provide the information need to help troubleshoot.

Gertjan

Hi,

@techsanity said in DHCP lease expiring/devices loosing connection:

Setup is cable modem connected to the wan port
I have a freenas server in one port a Roku ultra in one port and a unifi ap-ac-lr in one port.
The problem I’m having is devices are getting disconnected and the can’t reconnect. DHCP status says offline and lease expired.
On my iPhone or iMac it says I’m connected to Wi-Fi but there is no internet. On the iMac I think it says self assigned IP address and has an IP completely different from my range and on my iPhone it doesn’t say self assigned but again has an IP completely different. And it not just my iMac and iPhone. It’s everything losing connection. Sonos speakers, nest thermostat, nest protect smoke alarms, roku tv’s

Your troubles start here :

@techsanity said in DHCP lease expiring/devices loosing connection:

5 ports bridged for lan/switch.

Change it, and you'll be happy. ( do what this guy said https://forum.netgate.com/topic/133247/multiple-lan-interfaces-ports/4 )
Next bet : LAN port on pfSense device is dead.
In any case : non a pfSense issue .

Techsanity

The strange thing is the access point is connected to opt1 and in the ARP table there are device that are connected to the access point that are listed as connected to LAN and some say OPT1.

That other thing is on my iMac if I try to use just Wi-Fi, like I said it won’t get an IP, but if I plug a cable in it gets an IP on the LAN and Wi-Fi as soon as I plug it in

Also just order a switch

Techsanity

So, I did order a switch this morning but I’m not really understanding how this will fix the problem. Because it seems like it’s only affecting my access point and of course everything connected to it.
My freenas server (connected via opt2) and my roku ultra(connected via opt3) are both part of the bridge and are still connected and accessible.
Only the unifi AP-AC-LR (connected via opt1) gets disconnected and then everything on Wi-Fi.
Is there a “proper” way the setup the access point with pfSense?
I simple connected it and then setup the SSID and the password using the unifi controller software and pfSense gives the access point an IP via DHCP.

johnpoz

Pfsense has zero clue to what device it is.. Did you order a vlan capable switch? So you can put different ssids on different networks via vlans?

There is NOTHING special to do on pfsense to connect an AP.. Unless your going to be running multiple vlans on this interface.

Techsanity

@johnpoz said in DHCP lease expiring/devices loosing connection:

Pfsense has zero clue to what device it is.. Did you order a vlan capable switch? So you can put different ssids on different networks via vlans?

There is NOTHING special to do on pfsense to connect an AP.. Unless your going to be running multiple vlans on this interface.

Yes I got a unifi us-24

I didn’t think there was anything that needed to be done. But I figured id ask. Kinda learning as I go here.

So I’m assuming the optimal setup here it cable modem connected to wan port and a single lan port connected to a switch and then the AP connected to the switch along with other wired devices

johnpoz

Yeah or if you have multiple networks on pfsense, then you could use multiple uplinks from your switch to pfsense for those networks/vlans.

Lets say you have

lan 192.168.1/24 em1 on your pfsense
vlan 192.168.2/24 (vlan id 200) on em1 on pfsense.

That would be 1 connection from em1 to your switch say port 1 and it would carry lan untagged and vlan tagged.

But lets say you now connect em2 on pfsense to
Opt2 192.168.3/24

You could connect that to your switch say port 2 to em2 on pfsense.

So you could have more than 1 physical connection from your switch to pfsense for different networks or if you setup a lagg, etc.

Techsanity

So last night I shut everything down, changed the AP’s cable from opt1 to LAN restarted everything in sequential order and then assign the AP a static IP.
Now everything is functioning as it should. But since I changed two things I don’t really know what fixed it.
Just glad it’s currently working until the switch is delivered