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

    gigabit wan download speed much lower than upload

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    27 Posts 6 Posters 4.0k 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.
    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      Um, yeah that looks.... sub-optimal!

      Seems like an upstream issue.

      Steve

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JKnottJ
        JKnott @lasermole
        last edited by

        @lasermole said in gigabit wan download speed much lower than upload:

        Then with a new cable and laptop, verified I got 1 Gbps Full Duplex link up.

        Was that with the computer by itself? Or through pfSense? Try the computer connected directly, to see if the problem is with pfSense or the ISP. It's best to keep things simple while testing.

        PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
        i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
        UniFi AC-Lite access point

        I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • L
          lasermole
          last edited by

          Yes the tests were with the laptop directly connected to the ONT with new cable and I got those results...

          JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • JKnottJ
            JKnott @lasermole
            last edited by

            @lasermole said in gigabit wan download speed much lower than upload:

            Yes the tests were with the laptop directly connected to the ONT with new cable and I got those results...

            Then it's not a pfSense issue. Call your ISP.

            PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
            i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
            UniFi AC-Lite access point

            I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • L
              lasermole
              last edited by

              Yup, good times with ol Verizon....

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • L
                lasermole
                last edited by

                Just curious what you guys think, but do you think Verizon has reason to dismiss a speed test done directly to their equipment? Dismissing your results, pointing blame at your device. Hence why I'm sure verizon's own speed test is the only one they officially recognize, as it separates "Device" and "Router" in its test. FYI, I don't expect to get 1000/1000, even 800/800 would be fine by me to device.

                T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • T
                  tman222 @lasermole
                  last edited by

                  @lasermole - do you still have Verizon router/gateway? If yes, it might be worth plugging it in temporarily and run the Verizon speed test to the router. Given what you have described so far, I doubt that even that test will actually see full speed. If it doesn't, I expect them to help your further since the issue is then more clearly somewhere with their equipment.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • L
                    lasermole
                    last edited by

                    Yes I do still have the router/gateway device. I could hook it up again and try through that to see what speeds I get. I'll let you know what comes of that test.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • L
                      lasermole
                      last edited by

                      Tried the speed tests again with the Verizon router in place between the laptop and the ONT.

                      Laptop > Verizon router > ONT
                      Speedtest.net
                      PING ms
                      7
                      DOWNLOAD Mbps
                      256.93
                      UPLOAD Mbps
                      207.28

                      Verizon speed test
                      "Device"
                      DOWNLOAD
                      568
                      Mbps

                      UPLOAD
                      382
                      Mbps

                      "Router"
                      DOWNLOAD
                      949
                      Mbps

                      UPLOAD
                      912
                      Mbps

                      I really feel that "router" test is bull. I mean I don't pay Verizon each month to read how fast their devices are, to their network, on a screen...
                      That is not end user usable bandwidth. And I'm sure they will use that result to silence my complaints and shift the blame to me any way they see fit.

                      T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • T
                        tman222 @lasermole
                        last edited by

                        @lasermole - do you have any other device (besides the laptop) you can test with? What are the specs of the device (laptop) you are testing with? Any third party firewall / AV etc. software running in the background which may be slowing things down?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • L
                          lasermole
                          last edited by

                          I've tested with two laptops, a Lenovo T520 i5 with 16GB of RAM, and 120GB SSD and onboard intel gigabit nic.
                          And a Dell Precision 5530 with an i7 8850H 6 Core with hyper threading. Used a USB 3 Gigabit nic, as it doesn't have onboard.
                          Both of which I went through thorough checking to kill anything running that would use CPU power, or bandwidth.
                          The T520 had no firewall, or AV running during the test.
                          The Dell has Carbon Black AV/Firewall on, its my work laptop.
                          And each test the laptop was the only thing connected to the ONT, or the Verizon router.
                          And to note I disabled the Wi-Fi on the laptops, and on the Verizon router from day 1. And I don't ever use the Verizon router. I only brought it in to test everything after i setup pfSense.

                          Both laptops tested poorly in speed tests. as shown above.
                          I have contacted Verzion, and will add another post with those results.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • L
                            lasermole
                            last edited by

                            So I got Verizon on the phone yesterday morning.
                            I explained I was experiencing poor speeds on my Gigabit service.

                            The tech immediately asked if I was using my own router, and explained they can't guarantee speeds to any device but theirs. I continue appeasing them and attach the Verizon router to the ONT, then my Dell laptop wired to the router directly, and we proceed to verizon.net/speedtest to do their speed test and get:

                            Device (check)
                            DOWNLOAD
                            642
                            Mbps

                            UPLOAD
                            767
                            Mbps

                            Router
                            DOWNLOAD
                            947
                            Mbps

                            UPLOAD
                            911
                            Mbps

                            This still seemed kinda crappy, but I realized since they only care about the "router" speeds, and that absolves them of all wrongdoing with network on their side I accepted it and said "you can't help me any further thank you"

                            Now I plugged my pfSense box back up as I normally have it direct to the ONT.
                            And I did another speed test with the Dell laptop again...and mysteriously I got the best speed test I've got yet from Verizon's site with normal network hookup for me:

                            Device (good)
                            Download
                            866

                            Upload
                            766

                            So now I'm leaving things as they are. To note I do have pfsense WAN interface cloning the Verizon router MAC, but I already had that before. So I wonder if something just "clicked" into place now, or if Verizon changed anything silently? I made no new configuration changes to pfsense during this process.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              Would not be the first time a connection mysteriously started working after the ISP claimed to have found no fault. 🙄

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • L
                                lasermole
                                last edited by

                                Funny now my speeds are crap on download again.
                                And I'm sure nothing is eating all the bandwidth during my test.
                                (tested through pfsense router )

                                Is there anything that could "degrade" speeds over time in pfsense? anything that builds up or needs cleaning? buffers?

                                Verizon speed test shows:
                                DOWNLOAD
                                18
                                Mbps

                                UPLOAD
                                816
                                Mbps

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

                                  @lasermole said in gigabit wan download speed much lower than upload:

                                  Is there anything that could "degrade" speeds over time in pfsense? anything that builds up or needs cleaning? buffers?

                                  Nope.

                                  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
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    And still bad when putting the Verizon router back in line? Or testing directly with a single client?

                                    Steve

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