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    2 LANs cannot communicate

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
      last edited by johnpoz

      vlan/physical network - its all the same..

      See here
      0_1548119800300_gatewaypolicyroute.png

      How exactly are you suppose to get to your other networks if your forcing traffic out your wan?? Why would you setup that rule?

      Rules are evaluated top down, first rule to trigger wins... That rule that allows lan net to get to airvpn_lan net will never be evaluated because you have a any any rule from lan net that sends everything out your wan.

      Why would you do such a thing?

      This guide told you to do that?? I find that almost impossible to believe - they can not be that stupid?

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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      • P
        perfectdark @johnpoz
        last edited by

        @johnpoz this is the guide I followed from airvpn https://airvpn.org/topic/11245-how-to-set-up-pfsense-21-for-airvpn/

        Second LAN Firewall Rule:

        "ALLOW LAN OUTBOUND"

        1.) Go to: Firewall > Rules
        http://192.168.1.1/firewall_rules.php
        -or-
        https://192.168.1.1/firewall_rules.php
        and select your "LAN" interface.

        2.) Click the [+] on the right to "Add New Rule" and create a rule we will title "ALLOW LAN OUTBOUND" (Note: There may already be a rule titled " Default Allow LAN Outbound" or similar. You certainly can just edit that entry to these settings, or delete and create this.)

        3.) Set as follows:
        Action = [ Pass ▼]
        Interface = [LAN ▼]
        TCP/IP Version = [IPv4 ▼]
        Protocol = [Any ▼]
        Source = [] Not (UNCHECKED)
        Type: [ LAN Subnet ▼]
        Address: [
        ] (BLANK)
        Destination = [
        ] Not (UNCHECKED)
        Type: [ Any ▼]
        Address: [
        __] (BLANK)
        Description = [✎ ALLOW LAN OUTBOUND]
        *****IMPORTANT STEP: [ADVANCED FEATURES] > GATEWAY = [ WAN_DHCP ▼]

        4.) Click [ SAVE ]

        5.) Click [ Apply Changes ]

        .) Go to Firewall > Rules
        http://192.168.1.1/firewall_rules.php
        -or-
        https://192.168.1.1/firewall_rules.php
        and Select your "LAN" interface.

        2.) The order of the rules we just created is important!
        They should appear in this following order when viewed:
        BLOCK DNS LEAKS LAN
        ALLOW LAN OUTBOUND
        BLOCK ALL ELSE LAN

        ENSURE THE RULES ARE IN THIS PRECISE ORDER, IF THEY ARE NOT, ORGANIZE THEM AS NECCESSARY!

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        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
          last edited by johnpoz

          @perfectdark said in 2 LANs cannot communicate:

          *****IMPORTANT STEP: [ADVANCED FEATURES] > GATEWAY = [ WAN_DHCP ▼]

          Just Moronic!!!

          And clearly doesn't take into account or mention if you have other networks.

          How exactly do they expect dns to work even? Your client has to ask some public dns?

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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          • P
            perfectdark @johnpoz
            last edited by

            @johnpoz you are 100% right (thank you) and funny thing is that guide was for 3 NICs (1 WAN, 1 for VPN LAN and 1 for LAN)

            I moved my rule to the top and both subnets can communicate now. Thank you for your assistance in pointing this out.

            0_1548121539170_4.PNG

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            • johnpozJ
              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
              last edited by johnpoz

              How you going to resolve anything locally? Since you can not ask pfsense for dns per those rules.

              What is the point of the last rule? There is a default deny on all interfaces... There is zero reason for that last rule..

              An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
              If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
              Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
              SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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              • P
                perfectdark @johnpoz
                last edited by

                @johnpoz I’m still trying to understand all the rules , I just followed the guide to get things going. Then I can spend some time learning what means what.

                I’ve tested both my subnets and both are working and resolving websites. My airVPN LAN also has no DNS leaks. The LAN subnet uses the Public Open DNS and the AirVPN LAN is using the DNS static provided by airvpn and assigned to each device via the airvpn dhcp server.

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                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                  last edited by johnpoz

                  And how exactly do you resolve a host on on the other network to access it by name?

                  Why would you not just let your resolver resolve through the vpn connection, and have your local devices ask your local resolver?

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                  • P
                    perfectdark @johnpoz
                    last edited by

                    @johnpoz i don’t have the DNS resolver active , I’m using the DNS Forwarder

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                    • johnpozJ
                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                      last edited by

                      Again no reason for that.. Resolve through your vpn connection, that way your not sending all your queries to your VPN dns.. But guess its ok, they don't log anything <rolleyes>

                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                      • P
                        perfectdark @johnpoz
                        last edited by

                        @johnpoz lol “roll eyes” I’ll look into this as I’m not sure what changes I need to make

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                        • M
                          mattlach
                          last edited by mattlach

                          Generally what you are doing is not best practice.

                          Unless you need your two subnets isolated from eachother, its much better to use only one LAN port on your pfSense device, and use a hardware switch to manage multiple devices.

                          pfSense is also a pretty lousy WiFi access point, so I wouldn't do that AirVPN thing at all. Get a dedicated Wireless AP instead.

                          pfSense is just about the best firewall and router setup you can get yourself, but it is essentially an enterprise tool, and not intended to replace the traditional consumer router.

                          In enterprise settings you usually have dedicated routers/firewalls and separate hardware switches and hardware Wireless Access Points.

                          This is how it is designed to work.

                          You CAN bridge ports and have them talk to eachother, but performance will not be good. Its much better to use a switch for this. They are cheap, and that is what they are designed for.

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                            perfectdark @mattlach
                            last edited by

                            @mattlach I think you are misunderstanding my setup
                            I am not using pfsense as an Access Point. I have eero behind my LAN port for that.
                            AirVPN is my VPN provider. The reason for two LANs is one subnet routes directly to ISP and other subnet through VPN for privacy.

                            Example my Xbox and XB6 STBs will go through ISP via LAN and my wifi traffic , Torrents etc will go through VPN for privacy.

                            My switch is located behind the pfsense firewall

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