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

    XG-7100 IX0 fiber to Unifi Switch as LAN connection

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Official Netgate® Hardware
    11 Posts 4 Posters 2.1k 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.
    • U
      user57
      last edited by

      Howdy folks. I'm wondering if anyone has any advise how to configure IX0 with a fiber module to be used as the main LAN connection to a Unifi switch. RJ45 ports on my switch are limited, so I wanted to use the SFP port to connect the gateway to the main switch network instead of from XG-7100 ETH2 to the switch. And I rather need all of the Unifi POE RJ45 ports ATM.

      The fiber module I have for the XG-7100 is what I got from the original order of the gateway so I'm assuming its compatible. The modules for the Unifi i've confirm can link 2 Unifi switches.

      I think i'm not understanding how to configure the XG-7100 to establish the link from IX0... and I have to admit when it comes to this i'm a bit of noob so I'd appreciate some advise/help.

      My goal though is to use IX0 as the main LAN connection from the gateway to my network. I'd settle for now at least to just verify that the fiber module in the Netgate can communicate with the fiber module in the Unifi switch though.

      Anyone have any knowledge they can drop on the subject, would be much appreciated.

      Thanks,

      --jason

      U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • U
        user57 @user57
        last edited by

        I'm wondering if this maybe related:

        https://forum.netgate.com/topic/131725/xg-7100-sfp-module-1gbps/6

        ... as the switch I'm trying to connect to IIUC only supports 1gbps, and this article hints that it can't negotiate 10 down to 1?

        --jason

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

          What is the output of ifconfig -v ix0 with the module inserted and patched to the switch?

          That is safe to run either in Diagnostics > Command prompt or on the ssh/console after entering the shell using menu option 8 (enter exit to get back to the menu).

          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
          • U
            user57
            last edited by

            Unfortunately my reply is marked as spam "post content was flagged as spam by Akismet.com".

            But I've saved it here:

            https://gist.github.com/jdillon/23967319d60bedf859cace4a50a41179

            I did something as well, unsure what, that required me to reset everything to establish a connection to the netgate gateway.

            Its does appear that the 10g direct-connect can't auto-negotiate down to 1g to the switch; The fiber module if I tell it to use 1g seems to make a connection though, so that is some progress.

            I was hoping to use the direct connect adapters, but since I have to fiber stuff already, as I wasn't sure what would work, its not a big deal.

            But the switch configuration for XG-7100 still confuses me a lot.

            I have for now for additional testing setup ix0 as a separate sub-net for testing

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • U
              user57
              last edited by

              FTR I eventually got this working; google helped and I found:

              https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-pfsense-configure-network-interface-as-a-bridge-network-switch/

              and once I following this, I was able to get LAN and OPT1 to work as desired.

              The only other wrinkle was I had to force the speed on the Unifi side on the SFP port to 1g else it would drop the connection every few seconds.

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

                Zero idea why you would need anything to do with a bridge to connect to a switch. LACP lagg maybe, but a bridge makes no sense.

                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
                • U
                  user57
                  last edited by

                  Well, its not 100% happy, now none of my vlans work to flow traffic from pfsense to the swtich, so It may still not be the correct solution.

                  I really just want to have ETH2-8 + OPT1 as "LAN"; where OPT1 is the main connection to my switch network via fiber module. Though I have 4 other vlans which also need to flow across the switch network; and I had that working with ETH2 connection to the switch.

                  :-\

                  --jason

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • U
                    user57
                    last edited by

                    @Derelict any suggestions for what I'm trying to do? Much appreciated if you can. Thx.

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

                      Just forget about OPT1 being a member of the switch VLAN.

                      That XG-7100 unit has a built-in switch. Bridging that with OPT1 will only slow things down as you will no longer be using switch hardware but will be using a software/CPU bridge.

                      If you need OPT1 connected to a switch, connect it to a switch.

                      If you absolutely need those XG-7100 ports to be on the same broadcast domain as OPT1, I would disable the trunk links back to pfSense (no 9t,10t tagged ports on the built-in switch on that VLAN) and patch it to your external switch.

                      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
                      • R
                        raboud
                        last edited by

                        Did you ever get this working??? I am in the same boat

                        DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • DaddyGoD
                          DaddyGo @raboud
                          last edited by DaddyGo

                          @raboud

                          do you think this is enough for your part ?!
                          begin to describe your problem accurately, etiquette is very important

                          just so you write in a nearly 1 year old thread.....
                          -What would you like to know?
                          -since there have been a lot of updates in 1 year, it may no longer be up to date what you would like to know

                          ++++++
                          @Derelict
                          Just forget about OPT1 being a member of the switch VLAN.

                          That XG-7100 unit has a built-in switch. Bridging that with OPT1 will only slow things down as you will no longer be using switch hardware but will be using a software/CPU bridge.

                          If you need OPT1 connected to a switch, connect it to a switch.

                          If you absolutely need those XG-7100 ports to be on the same broadcast domain as OPT1, I would disable the trunk links back to pfSense (no 9t,10t tagged ports on the built-in switch on that VLAN) and patch it to your external switch.

                          Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                          (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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