Traffic graphs not matching throughput + poor performance

[qctech]

Hi Guys and Girls,

I have a virtualised pfSense box running on a HP server on Ubuntu. multiple vlans bridged to the virtual machines and a lacp with two Nic's to a HP switch (all gig).

I'm seeing fairly consistent data rates of about 10mbps through the pfSense status window but I'm fairly sure something is wrong. I have about 800 people connected to this system so I'd be amazed if we are only pulling 10mbps

So, I started doing some digging and found quite high CPU usage on the pfSense VM. I've been through the "Troubleshooting Low Interface Throughput" bit of the manual with no noticeable change.

So, I have a throughput problem. I've run a few iperf sessions to try and track down exactly where the issue is. This lead me to realise that the interface traffic graphs on the main dashboard do not seem to match my actual traffic, that's the second issue.

.... except, there it is, I just worked this bit out whilst typing away....

the dashboard is showing mega BYTES per second not mega BITS per second, change that up and it matches fine. One issue down, one to go...
(I've left this in just in case anyone else has the same issue)

So, to the throughput. From my laptop to an ubuntu VM I get 800mbps, from ubuntu VM's on the same host and vlan I get 3gbps ish, across vlans that are being routed by pfsense I get 50, laptop to another vlan 50mbps, laptop to machine on WAN is 50mbps, pfsense to internet server is 300mbps (which is the actual wan speed)

So it seems that the max I'm managing through pfSense is about 50 but everywhere else I get expected close to line speed results.

What do people think I should I try to bring the throughput up?