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    USB gigabit network adapter - or alternatives

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    usbgigabitrealtek
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    • J
      jontheil
      last edited by

      Thank you so much for the answer.

      I don't know if the NIC should should deliver gigabit throughput. Some are sold as such. I don't know how to check it. I guess the output of usbconfig is not enough:

      usbconfig -d 1.2
      ugen1.2: <Realtek USB 10/100/1000 LAN> at usbus1, cfg=1 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=ON (64mA)
      

      I haven't configured any throttling through Firewall/Traffic Shaper. Should I do that? Or does the firewall somehow do another type of throttling - and if so, how do I measure that?

      Thanks,
      Jon

      Jon Theil Nielsen

      Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
      DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
      Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

      200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
      +30 local users

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        The device can report whatever it wants in the description there. It is USB3 though so that's not a restriction.

        Is it actually linked at 100Mb or just only passes that? What does ifconfig -vv ue0 show?

        Steve

        J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • J
          jontheil @stephenw10
          last edited by jontheil

          The NIC in question is actually connected to an USB-C port.

          As I don't want other people suffer too much, I have restored the old VLAN configuration.
          Right now, I have no network cables attached to the USB NIC. The requested output:

          ifconfig -vv ue0
          ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
                  ether 9c:eb:e8:c5:85:41
                  inet6 fe80::9eeb:e8ff:fec5:8541%ue0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
                  inet 192.168.2.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
                  nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
          

          Regards,
          Jon

          Jon Theil Nielsen

          Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
          DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
          Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

          200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
          +30 local users

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          • J
            jontheil
            last edited by

            BTW,
            My signature is not correct any more. Due to a silly rule, I can't change it.
            The system is
            Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH

            Jon Theil Nielsen

            Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
            DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
            Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

            200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
            +30 local users

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

              Hmm, it doesn't report the media status? Odd. Can you connect a cable to it just so it will link and see if it reports that?

              Steve

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              • T
                tman222
                last edited by

                One other alternative to consider might to try an adapter based on the ASIX axge driver (assuming this works as well as those adapters based on the ASIX axe driver):

                https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=axge&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+11.2-RELEASE+and+Ports&arch=default&format=html

                https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Ethernet-Gigabit-10-100-1000-Compatible/dp/B00AQM8586

                Hope this helps.

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                • J
                  jontheil
                  last edited by

                  Yeah, it's strange with the ifconfig command. Connecting a network cable doesn't change anything. Has it something to do with the driver not being loaded?

                  I think I'll give it a try with one of the ASIX adapters. But I'm a little bit confused: The manual says "Set 1000Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) operation (AX88178 only)". But as I see it, the chipset should be AX88179?

                  Regards,
                  Jon

                  Jon Theil Nielsen

                  Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                  DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                  Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                  200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                  +30 local users

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

                    @jontheil said in USB gigabit network adapter - or alternatives:

                    Yeah, it's strange with the ifconfig command. Connecting a network cable doesn't change anything. Has it something to do with the driver not being loaded?

                    I think I'll give it a try with one of the ASIX adapters. But I'm a little bit confused: The manual says "Set 1000Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) operation (AX88178 only)". But as I see it, the chipset should be AX88179?

                    Regards,
                    Jon

                    Hi @jontheil - I think this might be an accidental mistake / oversight in the manual entry for axge. If you look at the entry for axe, only the ASIX AX88178 has 1000Mbit support among those chipsets listed:

                    https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=axe&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=FreeBSD+11.2-RELEASE+and+Ports&arch=default&format=html

                    It also appears that the 1000Mbit section was a direct copy from the axe manual entry to the axge entry (without removing the reference to the axe supported AX88178 in the process).

                    I think it's fair to assume that both the AX88178A and AX88179 ASIX chipsets will have native support for 1000Mbit using the axge driver.

                    Hope this helps.

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                    • J
                      jontheil
                      last edited by

                      Hi again,

                      Now I have switched to another USB NIC, namely a Startech USB31000S, which should have a AX88179 ASIX chipset.

                      It works–sort of...

                      usbconfig -d 0.3
                      ugen0.3: <ASIX Elec. Corp. AX88179> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=ON (124mA)
                      
                      ifconfig -vv ue0
                      ue0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
                              options=8000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
                              ether 00:24:9b:4f:86:e8
                              hwaddr 00:24:9b:4f:86:e8
                              inet6 fe80::224:9bff:fe4f:86e8%ue0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
                              inet 213.150.58.234 netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast 213.150.58.239
                              inet 213.150.58.236 netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast 213.150.58.239
                              nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
                              media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex,master>)
                              status: activeifconfig -vv ue0
                              ue0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
                                      options=8000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
                                      ether 00:24:9b:4f:86:e8
                                      hwaddr 00:24:9b:4f:86:e8
                                      inet6 fe80::224:9bff:fe4f:86e8%ue0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
                                      inet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy
                                      inet zzz.zzz.zzz.zzz netmask 0xfffffff8 broadcast aaa.aaa.aaa.aaa
                                      nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
                                      media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex,master>)
                                      status: active
                      

                      (IP addresses obfuscated, but correct)

                      I have to problems:

                      When I reboot the firewall from a shell or the web GUI, the USB interface is no longer online. If I shut the system completely down with the power switch, it starts up again correctly. I can't find any descriptions in the forum or elsewhere of anything to put in /boot/loader.conf.local or /conf/config.xml.

                      I know that I should expect challenges regarding the real bandwidth of this type of NIC. And to be honest, I don't really know what to expect from a system connected to a 1,000 Mb/s line upstream. With the actual configuration – WAN assigned to ue0 and LAN to em0.100 – I get a speed of about 100 Mb/s (download) and 300 Mb/s upload. Both measurements are slow which could be related to the hardware challenge. But I don't understand the prominent difference. Could it be related to the setup with VLANs?

                      As usual, all comments and suggestions are very welcome.

                      Regards,
                      Jon

                      Jon Theil Nielsen

                      Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                      DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                      Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                      200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                      +30 local users

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                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        When you warm boot what does the NIC come up as? It is detected correctly and ue0 is present? Just not linked?

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                        • J
                          jontheil
                          last edited by

                          Hmm. Haven't seen this until now, but for some reason the system log is completely empty after the warm reboots. So I can only say that the box seems active (HD activity), but no activity for the NIC (LEDs are off but there and at the connection to the gateway). I can easily post the output after the cold restart, but I guess that wouldn't give any clues.

                          Regards,
                          Jon

                          Jon Theil Nielsen

                          Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                          DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                          Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                          200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                          +30 local users

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

                            Indeed, I would check the boot log and the output from usbconfig after the warm boot for clues/errors.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • J
                              jontheil
                              last edited by

                              It seems that dmesg.log is cleared after each reboot. I don't know if I can configure something to keep dmesg messages between reboots.
                              What I can do is to swap the new firewall with the old one. Then I can connect it to a keyboard and a monitor and examine dmesg.log and usbconfig.
                              If that's the only way, I'll try it outside "office hours" and report back here.

                              Regards,
                              Jon

                              Jon Theil Nielsen

                              Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                              DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                              Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                              200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                              +30 local users

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

                                Hi @jontheil - what does CPU usage look like on the NUC when you run the speed test on your gigabit connection? Is it fully maxed out or still some room left?

                                Hope this helps.

                                J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • J
                                  jontheil
                                  last edited by

                                  I can't figure out what happens after the hot restart. I can't see anything in the boot log (dmesg.log) about Asix or ue0. I can't find any information about the ugen0.3: <vendor 0x8087 product 0x0aaa> at usbus0 entrance in the log though. I have attached the file. dmesg.boot.txt.
                                  usbconfig doesn't show anything about the NIC (I think):

                                  ugen0.1: <0x8086 XHCI root HUB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
                                  ugen0.2: <Logitech USB Keyboard> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=LOW (1.5Mbps) pwr=ON (90mA)
                                  ugen0.3: <vendor 0x8087 product 0x0aaa> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON (100mA)
                                  ugen0.4: <Kingston DataTraveler 3.0> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=ON (224mA)
                                  

                                  Regards,
                                  Jon

                                  Jon Theil Nielsen

                                  Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                                  DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                                  Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                                  200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                                  +30 local users

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • J
                                    jontheil @tman222
                                    last edited by

                                    @tman222, I'll have a look, when it's swapped back again. As I recall it, there are enough of resources. I'll report back.

                                    Thanks,
                                    Jon

                                    Jon Theil Nielsen

                                    Intel NUC DC3217IYE Core i3 1.8 GHz
                                    DDR3, 1600 MHz, CL11, 4 GB, SO-DIMM
                                    Intel 525 SSD, 30 GB, 500/275 MB/sec, mSATA

                                    200 Mb/s symmetrical fiber connection
                                    +30 local users

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • L
                                      LeftCoastGeek @jontheil
                                      last edited by LeftCoastGeek

                                      @jontheil said in USB gigabit network adapter - or alternatives:

                                      It seems that dmesg.log is cleared after each reboot. I don't know if I can configure something to keep dmesg messages between reboots.

                                      dmesg.boot is simply a capture of the output of the command dmesg after the current boot finished. this is done so you can see your current dmesg output before it potentially gets flooded with kernel messages about funky packets or other such things. each time the system reboots, this file is recreated from scratch, probably via...

                                      /sbin/dmesg > /var/log/dmesg.boot

                                      at the very end of the boot sequence.

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Check the bios for any sort of USB power saving features that might be shutting down the NIC at reboot.

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