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

    Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    46 Posts 7 Posters 6.7k Views 7 Watching
    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.
    • G Offline
      gtimmis07 @JKnott
      last edited by

      @jknott

      Yes I was looking at Intel NICs. I decided to buy a PCIe Ethernet card to see if that works.

      When I plug the ethernet cord into the back I get one steady light and one blinking light, I get an IP address also.

      JKnottJ T 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JKnottJ Offline
        JKnott @gtimmis07
        last edited by

        @gtimmis07

        If you're getting an IP address, then something is working. What makes you think it's not working? Is the address appropriate for the network? Can you ping it's own address? The router? A little testing may reveal something.

        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...

        G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T Offline
          Tzvia @gtimmis07
          last edited by

          @gtimmis07 Unless I missed it or am misreading- you used an old computer (don't know what) and it works with one computer but not another. It sounds like you connected the LAN port on the PFSense box directly to a laptop and it worked. No switch? What type of NICs are in that PFSense box? If they aren't Intel based I would just get a PCI Intel dual nic for the PFSense box because it sounds like it's something going on between the NIC in the PFSense vs the one in the two identical motherboards.
          Could be something like speed/duplex auto-negotiate not working between the two... If you have a switch in there already, I would think that would be less likely, but you didn't mention one.

          Tzvia

          Current build:
          Hunsn/CWWK Pentium Gold 8505, 6x i226v 'micro firewall'
          16 gigs ram
          500gig WD Blue nvme
          Using modded BIOS (enabled CSTATES)
          PFSense 2.72-RELEASE
          Enabled Intel SpeedShift
          Snort
          PFBlockerNG
          LAN and 5 VLANS

          G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • G Offline
            gtimmis07 @JKnott
            last edited by

            @jknott

            What makes me think it's not working is that I'm not getting internet on that computer and sometimes I can't even get pfsense browser setup page to come up. I will do a little testing tonight ( I'm currently at work) to see what I find out with doing a ping test and such.

            JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • G Offline
              gtimmis07 @Tzvia
              last edited by

              @tzvia

              I have no switch connected to the pfsense tower, just NIC-ethernet-computer. I will write out my full specs when I get home and send them out to you guys. I watched a video on YouTube and bought the same NIC as the one the guy was using and saw how "easy" this would be and how great it would be to use some of the features and speed that pf could supply for me. Nothing is ever easy for me though. I should have known better lmao.

              Btw I've been rude by not saying thank you for your time this whole time. Really thank you guys so much for helping a noob out.

              S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • JKnottJ Offline
                JKnott @gtimmis07
                last edited by

                @gtimmis07

                So, you have to take things one step at a time. Can you ping your router by IP address? Can you ping google.com by name? Without more info, it's hard to say where your problem is, as my crystal ball is busted.

                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 1
                • S Offline
                  SteveITS Rebel Alliance @gtimmis07
                  last edited by

                  @gtimmis07 said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                  no switch

                  If you're connecting a PC to the pfSense PC with a cable, the devices need to be able to communicate that way. In years past there was a "crossover" Ethernet cable that would change the pins over and that would work most of the time. It's been increasingly more common over time that NICs will "figure it out" and a special cable isn't needed, but that is up to the NIC I would think.

                  Short version: try a 5 port switch, they are pretty cheap.

                  Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                  When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
                  Upvote ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

                  JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • JKnottJ Offline
                    JKnott @SteveITS
                    last edited by

                    @steveits said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                    In years past there was a "crossover" Ethernet cable

                    Not needed with gigabit NICs and later 100 Mb.

                    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...

                    S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • S Offline
                      SteveITS Rebel Alliance @JKnott
                      last edited by

                      @jknott said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                      Not needed with gigabit NICs and later 100 Mb.

                      Ah. Many years then. :)

                      Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                      When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
                      Upvote ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • T Offline
                        Tzvia
                        last edited by

                        It can work with one computer, but not two other identical to each other (same nic) computers. If that was me, I would watch the NIC link lights on each end- are they blinking, solid, OFF, cycling on and then off, only one lit on one end, but both lit on the other... I keep thinking speed and duplex as the hardware changed on one end and it stopped working.

                        But frankly, this PFS box should be plugged into a switch and tested that way.

                        Tzvia

                        Current build:
                        Hunsn/CWWK Pentium Gold 8505, 6x i226v 'micro firewall'
                        16 gigs ram
                        500gig WD Blue nvme
                        Using modded BIOS (enabled CSTATES)
                        PFSense 2.72-RELEASE
                        Enabled Intel SpeedShift
                        Snort
                        PFBlockerNG
                        LAN and 5 VLANS

                        G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • G Offline
                          gtimmis07 @Tzvia
                          last edited by

                          @tzvia @Tzvia @SteveITS

                          Okay, I'm going to try to answer all the questions in one post lol

                          Hardware info:
                          CPU-Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30GHz
                          Motherboard- 21-b6-e1-e2 ( sadly this is all the info I have on this board.
                          RAM- 8gb not sure the speed though.
                          NIC- Intel Dell E1G44ET2 PRO/1000ET 1GB PCIe 4 Port Ethernet Network Card 0HM9JY

                          No Switch is on the network.

                          The identical motherboards were NOT connected at the same time if that matters, I wanted to see if it was something to do with my internet provider or modem so I choose to go over to his house since he has almost the exact same PC as I do.

                          On the PFsense PC I can ping google, on my computer I can not.

                          I will try the IP ping on my pc next and give you an update on that.

                          Thank you!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • G Offline
                            gtimmis07 @Tzvia
                            last edited by

                            @tzvia @JKnott @SteveITS

                            I can ping my pc but not google.

                            JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JKnottJ Offline
                              JKnott @gtimmis07
                              last edited by

                              @gtimmis07

                              Did you get any error message when you tried to ping google? Can you ping your router?

                              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...

                              G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • G Offline
                                gtimmis07 @JKnott
                                last edited by

                                @jknott

                                Yes I can ping the pfsense tower.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • G Offline
                                  gtimmis07 @JKnott
                                  last edited by

                                  @jknott

                                  Error message for pinging google on my PC is:
                                  Ping request could not find host google . com. Please check the name and try again.

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • S Offline
                                    SteveITS Rebel Alliance @gtimmis07
                                    last edited by

                                    @gtimmis07 ping 8.8.4.4 and if that works itโ€™s likely a DNS issue.

                                    Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to reboot, or more depending on packages, and device or disk speed.
                                    Upvote ๐Ÿ‘ helpful posts!

                                    G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • G Offline
                                      gtimmis07 @SteveITS
                                      last edited by

                                      @steveits

                                      Yes that worked. So it's a DNS issue then?

                                      JKnottJ GertjanG S 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • GertjanG Online
                                        Gertjan @gtimmis07
                                        last edited by Gertjan

                                        @gtimmis07 said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                                        I plug my ethernet cord into my wife's laptop and it gets internet instantly. However, when I plug it into my computer I get "Network: No internet"

                                        If one PC works, and the other doesn't, then the person that owns the PC that doesn't should read this text :

                                        Did you change the network properties - like setting a static IP / mask / DNS / Gateway ?
                                        Didn't someone said somewhere in the past : " you shouldn't ! " (becomes it will fire back on you in the future).

                                        Normally, when you hook up a PC to a network (read : a network that has a device that says it's the gateway, and that PC never 'spoke' to this gateway before, you get a question :
                                        Is this a Private Network - or Public network ?
                                        Chose wisely.
                                        In either case, Internet access would work.
                                        The absence of this question is a "bad sign".

                                        Common question : what is your pfSense LAN setup ? (it should be 192.168.1.1/24 as this is set up by default).
                                        The DHCP server on LAN is activated ?

                                        On your PC, type :

                                        ipconfig /all
                                        

                                        What do you see ?
                                        Does this checks out with the DHCP server settings ?

                                        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                        Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • JKnottJ Offline
                                          JKnott @gtimmis07
                                          last edited by

                                          @gtimmis07 said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                                          So it's a DNS issue then?

                                          Appears so.

                                          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
                                          • GertjanG Online
                                            Gertjan @gtimmis07
                                            last edited by

                                            @gtimmis07 said in Complete noob here sorry if this is an easy question.:

                                            Yes that worked. So it's a DNS issue then?

                                            Do the DNS check.

                                            If windows PC :

                                            nslookup whoami.com
                                            

                                            and the answer will be the answer.

                                            iMAC, Linux, whatever else : do the dig thing.

                                            No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                            Edit : and where are the logs ??

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