Speed issues PPPoE

Lieven

Is it actually linked to the modem correctly? What does ifconfig -a show about the PPPoE parent interface when it's connected?

re1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8209b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC,LINKSTATE>
	ether 00:30:18:xx:xx:xx
	hwaddr 00:30:18:xx:xx:xx
	inet6 fe80::230:18xx:xxxx:xxxx%re1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
	nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
	media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
	status: active

It could still be a bad link 16Mbps is about what you might get if the modem is linked at 100Mb half duplex.

So it looks like the connection is OK? There is full-duplex on the interface.

It could be something simple like a bad cable.

I tried with the same cable from the laptop test. No change.

Try putting a switch in between the modem and pfSense as a test if you can.

something for this evening

@kiokoman

but again in other discussions I recall that something similar was caused if the correct vlan was not used

I already tried to use vlan10 on the pfSense WAN, but then the connection failed. (Don't know if I set it correctly, never done it before)

stephenw10

If it worked from a laptop directly and got full speed then you can assume the modem is applying any VLAN tags required.
Was that a Windows laptop?

Steve

Lieven

Yes -> Windows 10 Pro v1903

AKEGEC

@Lieven, I think that has to do with manufacturing id, some are whitelisted and others not.
I suggest not to use ISP’s modem/router as they can sniff, remote and manipulate. Even if you bought those modem/router, it is still property of ISP and if something happens, you can not sue them.

JKnott

@AKEGEC said in Speed issues PPPoE:

Even if you bought those modem/router, it is still property of ISP and if something happens, you can not sue them.

On the other hand, they can't blame your equipment if there are problems. I ran into that with my ISP, because I run pfsense. Also, if you bought it, it is not their property, though they may have access to it.

AKEGEC

@JKnott said in Speed issues PPPoE:

On the other hand, they can't blame your equipment if there are problems. I ran into that with my ISP, because I run pfsense. Also, if you bought it, it is not their property, though they may have access to it.

Well you may think like that but the truth is still their property. These corporations want to adapt the government system, you pay for borrowing their property like your passport.

Rob Vercouteren

If you have PPPoE then your MTU is not 1500. It is as said 1492. So then you have to use a fixed MSS (in the WAN config) of 1452.

stephenw10

If the PPPoE session is assigned as an interface it should be MTU 1492 anyway since we can see the parent re1 interface is 1500 (as you'd expect).

You could try assigning re1 and spoofing the MAC address just to see if they have somehow flagged that.

Steve

Lieven

Well guys, thanks for the help!!
But at the moment none of the ideas works.

I found a dirty solution now...
I use re1 as PPPoE Connection. So I can connect to it with everything I want.
And I used re2 as an DHCP connection to the modem for the high speed.

But since I want to know why this is happening I will continue to test the ideas
So here I go:

@Rob-Vercouteren

If you have PPPoE then your MTU is not 1500. It is as said 1492. So then you have to use a fixed MSS (in the WAN config) of 1452.

I set these values, but still slow speed.

@stephenw10

Try putting a switch in between the modem and pfSense as a test if you can.

I tried this, but no effect.

You could try assigning re1 and spoofing the MAC address just to see if they have somehow flagged that.

What MAC address whould I use then? I tried one with the first 6 bytes the same as the one from the modem, but that results in a connectionloss.
When I used the original MAC-address as spoofed address, also no connection... So it looks like spoofing MAC-addresses is detected and not allowed (?).

stephenw10

I would try the MAC from your laptop since you know that worked.

It would be unusual to see the MAC being an issue on a PPPoE connection though.

Steve

Rob Vercouteren

@Lieven i've re read the topic; my statement is not true.
If you have a modem in front of your pfsense box on the WAN side; the MTU is default 1500.
Do you get a public ip on the WAN interface via PPPOE (on your pfsense box)? and to the DHCP interface?

stephenw10

Yes the Ethernet link to the modem should still be 1500B but the assigned PPPoE connection will be 1492B.

Lieven

@Rob-Vercouteren

Do you get a public ip on the WAN interface via PPPOE (on your pfsense box)? and to the DHCP interface?

The WAN interface with PPPoE gets a public IP.
The WAN interface with DHCP gets a local IP address from the modem.

So even with PPPoE connection I set the MTU to 1500? (or as default)

stephenw10

You should leave it as default when you have the WAN set as PPPoE and that should then show as 1492.

If you run ifconfig -a at the command line you should see the pppoe0 connection as 1492 and the interface it is running on, connected to the modem, at 1500 still.

Steve

Lieven

@stephenw10
you are correct !

pppoe0: flags=88d1<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,NOARP,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1492
	inet x.x.x.x --> y.y.y.y netmask 0xffffffff
	inet6 x:x:x:x:x:x%pppoe0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xa
	nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

re2: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	options=8209b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_MAGIC,LINKSTATE>
	ether 00:30:18:xx:xx:xx
	hwaddr 00:30:18:xx:xx:xx
	inet6 x:x:x:x:x:x%re2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
	nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
	media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
	status: active

stephenw10

Mmm, that all looks as expected then.

We are left with the modem doing something else in the PPPoE connection when it handles that. Or some MAC limitation which seems unlikely.

However the Windows PPPoE client also gets full speed so that must be matching it too, whatever 'it' is.

I might be tempted to pcap the PPPoE connection with something to see what it's actually doing.

You might be able to see something in the ppp lohs in pfSense when it connects. The server asking for something the client is not sending.

Steve

AKEGEC

@stephenw10 said in Speed issues PPPoE:

I would try the MAC from your laptop since you know that worked.

It would be unusual to see the MAC being an issue on a PPPoE connection though.

Steve

@Steve, It did work in the past. I used a non whitelisted modem with a random mac address for almost a year and I got a good and stable speed. Then the ISP caught me, they lowered my speed about 10% of the capacity. I think they have some kind of gatekeeper, only the whitelisted manufacturer would get pass.

stephenw10

Urgh, well that sucks. But as I understand it the OP here is still using the ISPs modem so it shouldn't apply.

Steve