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    USB NIC no State and Media and slow download

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    • S
      sfrederiksen
      last edited by

      Hello
      I have a USB to Ethernet Interface as my WAN interface on my Pfsense. I have a 100/100mbit internet connection, but when tested through pfsense I have only arround 40-50mbit in download speed, and still 100mbit in upload speed. It's tested directly with speedtest-cli on the pfsense shell, so no routing/firewall'ing involved in the test.
      If I connect my laptop directly to my ISP modem i can confirm that the bandwidth is there.

      If i run ifconfig i miss alot of information, like, state, media, output here:
      ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
      ether 00:e0:4c:13:55:e0
      hwaddr 00:e0:4c:13:55:e0
      inet6 fe80::2e0:4cff:fe13:55e0%ue0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6
      inet 89.x.x.x netmask 0xffffffc0 broadcast 255.255.255.255
      nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

      in the pfsense webgui I have no option to change nor see duplex settings on the WAN/USB interface the dropdown box is simply not there. If i choose my onbord NIC /LAN interface, I can see the dropdown box for selecting duplex, also alot more information from ifconfig on onbord/LAN interface:
      re0: 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 b0:83:fe:5a:1f:92
      hwaddr b0:83:fe:5a:1f:92
      inet6 fe80::b283:feff:fe5a:1f92%re0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
      inet 192.168.0.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
      nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
      media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
      status: active

      However I see no interface errors in the pfsense gui for the WAN/USB interface.
      I can confirm that both the USB interface and the ethernet cable is working just fine, as there is no speed issues if i run ubuntu on the same PC.

      How do i troubleshoot this? Is it a driver problem? And if it is, why does it work at all then?
      Brgds

      R NogBadTheBadN 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • KOMK
        KOM
        last edited by

        USB NICs do not get a lot of love around here. It could be the FreeBSD driver for your NIC, but it's hard to know for sure without knowing what NIC it actually is.

        Are you using a laptop as a router? Do you have the option of replacing that USB NIC with something more robust?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • R
          renat_kaa @sfrederiksen
          last edited by

          @sfrederiksen it is better if you use wan switch + vlans. USB nic is not good idea for pfsense.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • S
            sfrederiksen
            last edited by

            Hi Guys
            thanks for quick reply.
            I have also read the USB nics do not get a lot of love by now, I just simply don't understand why it works at all, but missing duplex info and somehow lack of download speed.
            I use a ultra small form factor PC, with no additional PCI slots. However if i install ubuntu 16.04 and just use iptables as router/firewall solution it works just fine.
            Is there anyway to toubleshoot it without not using a USB nic?

            R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • NogBadTheBadN
              NogBadTheBad @sfrederiksen
              last edited by

              @sfrederiksen said in USB NIC no State and Media and slow download:

              ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
              ether 00:e0:4c:13:55:e0
              hwaddr 00:e0:4c:13:55:e0

              re0: 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 b0:83:fe:5a:1f:92
              hwaddr b0:83:fe:5a:1f:92

              Not only USB to Ethernet but also both interfaces use Realtek chips which aren't the best.

              ether 00:e0:4c:13:55:e0 https://www.macmonster.co.uk/macoui=00E04C

              re0: https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?re(4) I'm guessing rebadged by Dell

              Andy

              1 x Netgate SG-4860 - 3 x Linksys LGS308P - 1 x Aruba InstantOn AP22

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • R
                renat_kaa @sfrederiksen
                last edited by

                @sfrederiksen I think good way to troubleshoot is beginning from compatibility page https://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/11-STABLE/hardware/support.html#ethernet

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                • KOMK
                  KOM
                  last edited by

                  @sfrederiksen There isn't really a lot you can about it. It's most likely a driver issue if it's working as expected in Ubuntu but I'm just guessing. I don't think many people here have experience with USB NICs.

                  Depending on how powerful your mini-pc is, you might get better performance and NIC support by virtualizing everything.

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

                    Yup, there's not much can be done here. You might have some driver tweaks available depending on what chip/driver it actually is.
                    Some people report successfully running USB NICs. You might just try a different USB device.

                    Steve

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