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    Is it possible to create "virtual" WAN interfaces? (not VLANs)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Routing and Multi WAN
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    • V
      vizi0n
      last edited by vizi0n

      Hello everyone!

      I am currently running pfSense as an VM inside ESXi and I would like to move it outside of the box, as a standalone machine with a 4x 1Gbps ports card.

      Here's my setup to help understand what I am trying to achieve

      • I have a symmetrical 10gig EPON connection provisioned at 1.15gbps and my ONT (modem) has 4x 1 gbps ethernet ports

      • I have multiple LAN VLANs entering my router through 2 physical ports (my main LAN VLAN is alone on port #1, all other LAN VLANs are on trunk port#2)

      • I have 4 DHCP WAN currently setup on 2 physical ports (my main WAN associated to the main LAN is alone on port #3, all 3 other WANs are on port #4).

      • Physical ports #1-2-3 are passthrough from ESXi so 100% managed by pfSense.

      • Physical port #4 is the uplink port of my WAN vSwitch from ESXi, on which I have 3 virtual interfaces assigned to pfSense acting as WAN2-3-4.


      Actual question : Is there a way to create virtual interfaces for my WAN2-3-4 so that I can use only 1 physical uplink to my modem for these WANs, just like it is right now in ESXi?

      I know that I could create VLANs on the WAN2 physical interface and trunk them to my switch and setup 3 ports in access mode for these 3 VLANs to link to the modem. This will take up 4 ports on my 3560X switch which I would prefer not to.

      I would like all for my WAN to link directly to the modem as it is right now. I don't plan on using the onboard port of the new machine as it is a Realtek NIC and I prefer my Intel quad gig card.

      Someone mentionned Open vSwitch to me but I can't seem to find much information regarding what I want to do.

      Virtual IPs feature is out of the question because I am using DHCP.

      No my provider will not provide me a /29 IP block as I am a residential customer, and anyways the price would be outrageous if I were a business customer.

      Thanks for your input!

      bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • bingo600B
        bingo600 @vizi0n
        last edited by bingo600

        @vizi0n

        How would you transport Multi Lan ethernet frames (down the same wire), without encapsulating them with vlan tags ?

        A little Ie. D-Link DGS-1100-08 (8-port Vlan capable) costs less than 50$ , is fanless & power effective.
        Use such a solution if you want to save on your 3560 ports.

        Ps: Don't even Consider a TP-Link (VLAN leaking)

        PPs: A simple drawing would not be bad here.
        /Bingo

        If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

        pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

        QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
        CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
        LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

        V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • V
          vizi0n @bingo600
          last edited by

          @bingo600 I dont need them to be tagged, I just need a virtual switch with virtual interfaces, exactly like ESXi is providing

          bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • bingo600B
            bingo600 @vizi0n
            last edited by

            @vizi0n

            I'm not sure i even understand your setup.
            You want to transport 4 interfaces down one wire wo. tagging ?

            Look into Firewall -> Virtual IP's , where you can make aliases.
            If all you need is multi-ip's on the same IF.

            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

            QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
            CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
            LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

            chpalmerC V 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • chpalmerC
              chpalmer @bingo600
              last edited by

              @bingo600 said in Is it possible to create "virtual" WAN interfaces? (not VLANs):

              Look into Firewall -> Virtual IP's

              https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/firewall/virtual-ip-addresses.html?highlight=virtual

              Triggering snowflakes one by one..
              Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • V
                vizi0n @bingo600
                last edited by vizi0n

                @bingo600 Unfortunately this is not going to work because it's only for static IP addresses, and my provider is forcing me to use DHCP.

                My current setup is :

                ESXi host

                • pfSense VM
                • ethernet ports 1,2,3 : passthrough directly to the pfSense VM
                • ethernet port 4 : managed by ESXi as a vSwitch uplink port
                • virtual ethernet ports 1-2-3 : created by ESXi on the same vSwitch as ethernet port 4, assigned to the pfSense VM and used as "WAN2" "WAN3" "WAN4"

                I would like to retain this type of setup, without using ESXi

                And yes, I want to transport 4 interfaces on 1 wire, just like any uplink from a switch to another

                bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • bingo600B
                  bingo600 @vizi0n
                  last edited by bingo600

                  @vizi0n said in Is it possible to create "virtual" WAN interfaces? (not VLANs):

                  @bingo600 Unfortunately this is not going to work because it's only for static IP addresses, and my provider is forcing me to use DHCP.

                  My current setup is :

                  This is where the drawing would come in handy.

                  I would like to retain this type of setup, without using ESXi

                  Understandable.

                  And yes, I want to transport 4 interfaces on 1 wire, just like any uplink from a switch to another

                  How would that be possible wo. vlan tagging ?
                  You even mentions switch & uplink (implies tagging).

                  Edit:
                  I hear ... : I want to go from 1 physical IF, and "fan out" to 4 physical IF's

                  Doable with a switch & tagging

                  If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                  pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                  QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                  CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                  LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                  V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • V
                    vizi0n @bingo600
                    last edited by

                    @bingo600 said in Is it possible to create "virtual" WAN interfaces? (not VLANs):

                    How would that be possible wo. vlan tagging ?
                    You even mentions switch & uplink (implies tagging).

                    Well, switching and uplink don't necessarily mean trunk/tagging. By saying "uplink" I simply mean a connection to a cascading switch further up the tree (in this case, to the ethernet switch inside the modem).

                    If you directly connect a basic switch (no VLAN support, just plain access ports) to a modem, and connect 3 different routers to your switch, they will all obtain IP addresses from the ISP, without any VLAN tagging. It's exactly what I want to achieve, by creating 3 virtual interfaces in pfSense that I could then bridge together with my physical port #4, which would act as an uplink to my modem. Basically, I want pfsense to act a a switch by using a bridge of interfaces that would combine 1 physical IF and 3 virtual IF.

                    Maybe it's clearer explained this way?

                    I don't have time for a drawing right now because I'm already in bed but maybe tomorrow if I have some spare time

                    bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • bingo600B
                      bingo600 @vizi0n
                      last edited by

                      @vizi0n

                      Ahh ... Now i see.
                      But i doubt you can do that w. pfSense.

                      I think you have either physical interfaces , or vlan tagged interfaces.

                      If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                      pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                      QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                      CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                      LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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