USB gigabit network adapter - or alternatives

jontheil

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

stephenw10

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

jontheil

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

stephenw10

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

jontheil

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

tman222

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.

jontheil

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

jontheil

@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

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.

stephenw10

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