Realtek network card packet loss
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I built my Pfsense box using a mini PC with 2 network ports. They are Realtek NIC's. I have excessive packet loss.
Example: Alarm latency 9181us stddev 4837us loss 21%
I updated the drivers for the NIC's per https://forum.netgate.com/topic/123180/realtek-device-driver-update?_=1634345079936
I'm still having the issue. I'm not sure what to do now. I have to use the hardware I have. I've had multiple installations of Pfsense on this box and most seemed fine and didn't have packet loss. It's pretty much a default install except for what I needed to change for IP's. Not sure why this is happening now. I replaced my modem just in case and still have the issue. If someone could please help that would be great.
Thanks
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21% seems more like a bad cable or bad port.
Assuming your gateway monitoring IP is actually responding, which it may not be.
Have you set the monitoring IP to something external, like 8.8.8.8?Try connecting it to some local dhcp server and see if you still have loss.
Steve
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@stephenw10 It isn't a bad cable . I replaced the cable. I don't have an internal DHCP server I can use. I suppose I can switch re0 to WAN and re1 to LAN and see if I have the same problem. By the way the loss is intermittent. I noticed all over the internet that people have issues with Realtek cards and extreme packet loss. Also, what do you mean by set the monitoring IP to 8.8.8.8?
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By default the gateway monitoring uses the gateway IP itself to check the link but often that's n ot a good choice. The gateway is under no obligation to respond to pings at all, it may just be dropping the requests when it's under load. Also monitoring the gateway directly doesn't give you good data for actual upstream connectivity so you won't see it if the ISP has a fault beyond the gateway for example.
Try setting the monitoring to something external in Sys > Routing > Gateways > Edit gateway.https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/routing/gateway-configure.html
Steve
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Hi Steve,
Is there anyway to make it respond without adding an external source? I will try 8.8.8.8 and give it a try. So these packet losses after the driver update last night may not have been true and the WAN may have been working fine? I guess the real test is to see if I get another internet outage of that's the case.
I appreciate the input.
James
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Indeed, that could just be the gateway getting loaded heavily.
Try just running a ping from a client behind pfSense to something external and if the same loss is reported there.
Steve
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@stephenw10 No loss there. As I said it was intermittent. Some l it won't go down at all. Some days it goes out sporadically throughout the day. Some days it's down for hours at a time. Rebooting the modem doesn't fix it. Rebooting the pfsense doesn't fix it usually. I even replaced the modem and cable just to narrow it down to the pf box.
The load isn't even heavy. It's just random.
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@stephenw10 Also, why isn't this a good choice?
"By default the gateway monitoring uses the gateway IP itself to check the link but often that's n ot a good choice."
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Because it only monitors the link between the pfSense WAN and the gateway. Which means if the ISP has an outage beyond that you don't log that.
But also the gateway IP might not respond to ping at all. Or might be configured to drop pings when it's loaded, which could be what you're seeing.If you test pinging to something external from a client behind pfSense when the gateway is showing a loss that would confirm it.
Steve
