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    One interface loses internet access and I could get it back only after reboot the pfsense

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • A
      ady2
      last edited by

      Hi,
      I have a weird issue, one of my interfaces is loses internet access time to time (some time once in a week, sometimes twice a day) and the only way to restore the internet is to reboot the pfsense (after reboot everything is working fine for some time). Need to mention that majority of devices on this interface are forced through firewall rules to use a VPN gateway (Private internet access).
      What I did:

      1. The firewall logs doesn't show any blocked addresses;
      2. Tried to restart the DNS Resolver - nothing changed;
      3. run ping yahoo.com from my laptop - request timeout;
      4. run ping 209.222.18.222 (Open DNS ip) - OK , ping was fine)
      5. run ping yahoo.com from pfsense - 100% lost;
      6. run DNS Lookup for yahoo.com - getting a list of ip addresses, but ping returns timeout;
      7. switched to the interface that is going out through WAN, - internet is OK;
        8( the dashboard is displaying the VPN client used for gateway as online and latency small < 50ms.

      How to debug such issue?
      What to verify to figure out what is the root of this issue? Is the VPN or DNS?
      It's quite annoying when all other family members are complaining the internet is down again.

      Any help is welcome and appreciated.
      Thanks

      note:
      pfsense is running on separate T20 machine, 2.4.4.3 version (but the issue was reproducible on previous versions too)

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • R
        rbuckland
        last edited by

        Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you - I have a very similar looking issue
        https://forum.netgate.com/topic/143715/upgraded-from-2-4-3-to-2-4-4p2-now-p3-sporadic-loss-of-network-wan

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        • M
          mokey_fraggle
          last edited by

          The next time it happens, can you screencap what mtr shows going to the impacted IP addresses. It will at least show what route the packets are taking. Where does the tunnel teminate? a provider? have you tried setting a static /32 route to push that traffic through the VPN tunnel?

          Regards,
          --Mokey

          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A
            ady2 @mokey_fraggle
            last edited by

            @mokey_fraggle
            It happened again and it looks like all my interfaces have loose the internet connection.

            here are the results for ping yahoo.com from LAN
            Screen Shot 2019-07-09 at 6.46.28 PM.png

            and here is the results for ping yahoo.com from WAN
            Screen Shot 2019-07-09 at 6.46.46 PM.png

            Running ping yahoo.com from my mac:
            Screen Shot 2019-07-09 at 7.25.17 PM.png

            Looks like DNS resolver is working as DNS Lookup was given results for yahoo.com

            Restarted the DNS Resolver without any change.

            Finally reset all states and internet is back.

            In mean time (previous week) I modified my settings trying to eliminate other possible dependences. I added a new Intel network card with 2 ports to addition to existing Intel 4 port card.
            Stopped all other services like pfBlockerNG, snort, paused firewall rules to direct clients through VPN.
            Now I have minimum services running:
            Screen Shot 2019-07-09 at 7.32.57 PM.png

            Any suggestion will be very appreciated

            Thanks

            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • N
              netblues @ady2
              last edited by

              @ady2 It is clear its not a dns issue.
              And since pf can ping, certainly not a connectivity issue too.
              We do need a traceroute (or mtr) to see where the packets are going.
              So clearing states solves the issue.
              I suspect that clearing states forces vpn to reestablish.
              Try restarting the vpn next time, it will confirm it.
              Look at vpn logs when it happens

              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • A
                ady2 @netblues
                last edited by

                @netblues
                In this specific case only my laptop has a firewall rule to go through VPN client on one of the interfaces, everything else and all other interfaces use the WAN gateway.
                But now I have stopped all VPN clients and paused the firewall VPN rule for my laptop, now only the VPN server is on to allow me to connect remotely.

                Do you mean to run Diagnostics/Traceroute on specific interface for a yahoo.com, right?

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                • N
                  netblues
                  last edited by

                  I mean try a traceroute from a pc/laptop etch and not from pf..

                  A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    ady2 @netblues
                    last edited by

                    @netblues
                    Thanks a lot for your help
                    Will try traceroute next time.

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                    • A
                      ady2
                      last edited by

                      Today it happened again and affected at least 2 interfaces. I was on one of it but on my work vpn and have internet till disconnected from work vpn.
                      The trace-route from my mac show that it reach the pfsense and nothing else. Please see the trace-route screenshot:Screen Shot 2019-07-19 at 9.48.24 AM.png
                      ping was timeout.
                      Verified OpenVPN and found that my clients are on, so disabled them one by one and suddenly the internet was back.
                      Based on this I'm thinking that my issue is related with one or all vpn client(s).
                      Going to keep them off and see if the internet will not disappear for a week or two, to confirm that.

                      Interesting why internet is blocked even on interfaces that never had VPN gateway assigned or any firewall rules for vpn. I have created a brand new interface for kids devices and today's internet outage affected that too.

                      One of the reason to switch to pfsense was to keep majority of devices connected to internet through vpn and that is giving me troubles now. It could be that my settings have a wrong setup, but then why everything is working fine till broke the whole home internet (only the WAN interface has internet when it happens).

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                      • A
                        ady2
                        last edited by

                        Again same issue this evening (no internet on all interfaces.
                        Same symptoms, no trace-route after pfsense, ping timeout.
                        At this time no vpn clients on, only openVPN seerver was on.
                        Restarting the DNSResolver and internet is back. What the ... ?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • kiokomanK
                          kiokoman LAYER 8
                          last edited by

                          do you have any package installed? like suricata / snort? do you have anything in dmesg ?

                          ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                          Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                          we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                          Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • A
                            ady2 @kiokoman
                            last edited by

                            @kiokoman
                            I have next services active:
                            Screen Shot 2019-07-20 at 10.59.42 PM.png

                            I have run "dmesg" on pfsense console, but don't know what to look for (I could see that lines a repeating 4 times) dmseg_07_21.txt.
                            Any help Welcome

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • kiokomanK
                              kiokoman LAYER 8
                              last edited by

                              do the dmesg when the problem present itself

                              ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                              Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                              we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                              Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • A
                                Asamat Global Moderator
                                last edited by

                                Can you

                                • check Status/Gateways menu
                                • run 'ifconfig -a'
                                • run 'netstat -rn'
                                • run Packet Capture on WAN with promiscuous mode enabled (Diagnostics/Packet Capture) to check if there is any in/out traffic
                                  when it happens again?
                                A 4 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • A
                                  ady2
                                  last edited by ady2

                                  After 29 days of working without any issue my problem was back, no internet on a few interfaces that I have checked (same symptoms, no internet, ping timeout from interface as source). It was late night and needed internet to finish something so just restarted the pfsense and everything was back and working. Sorry, didn't have time to troubleshoot. Will hope that next time will have more to report.
                                  Thanks to everybody for their help @Asamat, @kiokoman, @netblues, @mokey_fraggle

                                  p.s. No vpn clients active on any interface, only vpn server was on. Nothing was changed during that time except the BandwithD packet was added to monitor the internet stats on ~ 08/18 and the problem occurred on 08/26.

                                  Raul RamosR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Raul RamosR
                                    Raul Ramos @ady2
                                    last edited by Raul Ramos

                                    @ady2 I have to renew the interface manually after WAN interface (DHCP mode) lose connection, just power cycle the ONT and interface tourn red and 100% packet loss.

                                    pfSense:
                                    ASRock -> Wolfdale1333-D667 (2GB TeamElite Ram)
                                    Marvell 88SA8040 Sata to CF(Sandisk 4GB) Controller
                                    NIC's: RTL8100E (Internal ) and Intel® PRO/1000 PT Dual (Intel 82571GB)

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                                    • A
                                      ady2
                                      last edited by

                                      Happened today again (no internet on all interfaces). ping timeout, traceroute only till pfsense ip address. Verified and I have no vpn clients active, only the vpn server so I restarted it and my internet is back.
                                      How that is possible that vpn server is blocking internet access on all interfaces?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • GertjanG
                                        Gertjan
                                        last edited by Gertjan

                                        The VPN server is just listening on a port like 1194 on an interface like WAN.
                                        If there are no incoming connections, then it 's doing close to nothing.

                                        Mine is listing on WAN for month now, never had any issues.
                                        You have quit a few interfaces : swap the WAN with some other NIC, and see if the problems moves.

                                        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
                                        • kiokomanK
                                          kiokoman LAYER 8
                                          last edited by

                                          sorry i didn't see the link to your dmesg
                                          there.. apart from UP and DOWN
                                          nothing useful

                                          my bet.. or your network card go overload/overheat for some reason and stop working or driver are not working well anymore, especially if the network card is some chinese clone. they suddenly stop working reliable and this can happen. maybe it's time to change it.

                                          if I were you I would reset / format pfsense after making a configuration backup. restore everything and see if the problem persist.
                                          if it persist i would change the network card

                                          ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                                          Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                                          we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                                          Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                                          A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • A
                                            ady2 @kiokoman
                                            last edited by

                                            @kiokoman said in One interface loses internet access and I could get it back only after reboot the pfsense:

                                            sorry i didn't see the link to your dmesg
                                            there.. apart from UP and DOWN
                                            nothing useful

                                            my bet.. or your network card go overload/overheat for some reason and stop working or driver are not working well anymore, especially if the network card is some chinese clone. they suddenly stop working reliable and this can happen. maybe it's time to change it.

                                            if I were you I would reset / format pfsense after making a configuration backup. restore everything and see if the problem persist.
                                            if it persist i would change the network card

                                            @kiokoman
                                            I was thinking that it could be the nic card that is causing those issues, so I have for some time (around 3-4 months) a second NIC card with 2 ports in addition to 4 port Chinese clone (bought as new for ~ $45 on ebay). When Installed the second nic with 2 ports, I switch a few interfaces to that card to check if there was the 4 ports card fault, and found same issue again and again. It will be quite strange that both NIC cards are overloaded at the same time or they both stop working at the same time. Could try to switch the WAN port to one of the nic cards port (my WAN is using my motherboard network port now) to check if this will block the WAN connection completely as it's happening now with my LAN interfaces.

                                            BTW, my pfsense was dead with the "PHP Startup: Unable to load Dynamic Library." problem after 2 days I have upgraded to 2.4.4p3 version. So I have to install everything and restore from backup and even after that the problem still happens time to time, same as before that.

                                            Is there any way to check if the NIC is the root cause ?

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