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    Windstream gig fiber and pfsense

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • B
      batrams
      last edited by

      I have new Windstream gigbit fiber. The optical cable comes into my basement and connects to an Adtran 411 they provided, which has a single ethernet port.

      If I connect my Linux destokp to that ethernet port, I get a public IP via DHCP and all is well. Speed tests show around 900M both ways.

      If I instead connect my pfsense WAN port to that ethernet port, I do (usually) get an IP via DHCP, but i get horrible packet loss - like 50% or more.

      If I connect my pfsense WAN port to my good old spectrum cable modem, all is well. I get abot 500M down and 20M up as expected.

      Tried lower MTU but no change. Quite puzzling. Does anyone have suggestions or experience with this?

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      • B
        batrams
        last edited by

        I tried swapping the LAN and WAN interfaces in pfsense but it made no difference :(

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        • bmeeksB
          bmeeks
          last edited by bmeeks

          First suspicion is that the auto-negotiation is failing and your pfSense NIC is defaulting to probably half-duplex operation. What brand of NIC is your pfSense box using as compared to that Linux desktop that works?

          Second obvious thing to check, although perhaps you are using the same cable for both the desktop test and pfSense, is that the network cable is good.

          However, my bet is on the auto-negotiation perhaps not working correctly with the NIC in the pfSense box.

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          • B
            batrams
            last edited by

            Thanks I'll check that when I try again.

            Linux box uses motherboard interface:
            product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller

            pfsense:
            'RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller'

            bmeeksB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bmeeksB
              bmeeks @batrams
              last edited by

              @batrams said in Windstream gig fiber and pfsense:

              Thanks I'll check that when I try again.

              Linux box uses motherboard interface:
              product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller

              pfsense:
              'RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller'

              Realtek NICs have a bad reputation in FreeBSD (which is the underlying OS that pfSense is based upon). If you have another Ethernet card you could try in the pfSense box, I would suggest giving that a go. Intel is probably the best supported, but even there older technology is best supported in FreeBSD. So the most cutting edge Intel NIC may not be supported well, or even at all.

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              • B
                batrams
                last edited by

                I think you were right - I overrode autodetect on my pfsense WAN interface and no more packet loss. Thanks!

                bmeeksB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • bmeeksB
                  bmeeks @batrams
                  last edited by

                  @batrams said in Windstream gig fiber and pfsense:

                  I think you were right - I overrode autodetect on my pfsense WAN interface and no more packet loss. Thanks!

                  Glad it worked in your case, but generally overriding auto-detect on Gig links is not optimal just so you are aware. If possible, you might want to consider finding an Intel NIC to stick in your firewall. There are several dual-port models available that work.

                  JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • B
                    batrams
                    last edited by

                    Yes I will. If you know of any specific models (old school pci slot) please advise. Thanks again.

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                    • bmeeksB
                      bmeeks
                      last edited by

                      The old Intel PRO/1000 dual-port server NIC should work. You would probably have to find one on eBay from a reputable computer recycler/reseller. Watch out for knockoff counterfeits from China, though. If you really must have a PCI interface and can't use PCIe, that's going to narrow the field of choices considerably.

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                      • JKnottJ
                        JKnott @bmeeks
                        last edited by

                        @bmeeks said in Windstream gig fiber and pfsense:

                        Glad it worked in your case, but generally overriding auto-detect on Gig links is not optimal just so you are aware. If possible, you might want to consider finding an Intel NIC to stick in your firewall. There are several dual-port models available that work.

                        If you do override it, you must do so at both ends of the cable.

                        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...

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                        • B
                          batrams
                          last edited by

                          I have no access to the Adtran ONT but what I did has fixed the packet loss. I will replace the interface however.

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                          • M
                            mdsmoker
                            last edited by

                            @batrams - I'm just starting to play around with pfsense and also recently switched to Windstream with the same ONT. Did you have to change any settings on the WAN interface to get it functioning? My WAN interface seems to get an IP address just fine (set to DHCP), but can't get out to the internet. If I connect the pfsense WAN interface back to the Windstream modem/router, reconnect the ONT to the Windstream WAN interface and reboot, I get internet no problem.

                            Thanks!

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                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              How are you testing?

                              First try to connect by IP directly from pfSense itself.

                              So from the command line try to ping 8.8.8.8.

                              If that fails everything else will too. Check pfSense has a valid gateway.

                              Steve

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                              • M
                                mer
                                last edited by

                                Overriding: all depends on how you do it.
                                If you force a speed/duplex on one end, leave the other end at autoneg, it typically gets the speed correct, but mucks up duplex.

                                If instead of forcing you leave autoneg but specifically advertise a speed and duplex, if the other side is autoneg it works correctly.

                                So a 1G NIC can do 10/100/1000 for speed, and full/half for duplex. If you force "1000/full" leaving other side autoneg, you'll wind up with 1000/half.
                                If you advertise "I only do 1000/full" the autoneg works.

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