WAN & LAN @ Gigabit but Limited to Sub 100Mbps
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Hi,
I'm running PFsense on an Old HP Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.40GHz with 3.5Gigs of RAM and 2x Intel Gigabit NICs. I recently upgraded my Internet speed to 100Mbps, i have 120 at the modem but getting like 95 at the computer, everything is showing as Gigabit even in PFsense, wondering if it's the old computer that's limiting me while CPU and Memory usage is minimal from what i see..
Any suggestions?
I was thinking of getting a QOTOM Q330G4 Barebone Mini PC - Core i3 but not sure if i really need it, i live alone and do basic surfing.. -
@samyboyz easy, You NCI Is 10/100
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This post is deleted! -
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@samyboyz search for your NCI model on google
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@silence NCI? MY NIC's an Intel Dual Gigabit Lan controller..It's not 10/100 and is connected 1000 as you can see in the picture.
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I would suspect hardware. I used to use an old HP compact desktop computer to run pfsense, until it died. When I replaced it with the computer described in my sig, I got a significant improvement.
Here is a speedtest I did a while ago on my 500/20 connection. I don't always get that fast, but one I did recently was over 870 down. So, pfsense can definitely handle the speed.
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@samyboyz said in WAN & LAN @ Gigabit but Limited to Sub 100Mbps:
MY NIC's an Intel Dual Gigabit Lan controller..It's not 10/100 and is connected 1000 as you can see in the picture.
So, set the negotiation to 1000.
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@samyboyz
I would consider to replace the old PC anyway due to its power consumption. -
@viragomann said in WAN & LAN @ Gigabit but Limited to Sub 100Mbps:
replace the old PC anyway due to its power consumption
Yeah those Pentium Ds were hungry beasts!
Also that's very old, it may fail for numerous reasons at that age.But it should pass 120Mbps easily. Many years ago now I ran a Pentium 4 based device and that could pass ~300Mbps. The Pentium D is significantly more powerful (in both respects!).
95Mbps does feel a lot like something linked at 100M though. Do you have the modem and test client connected directly to those two NICs in the screenshot?
Steve
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@silence
Don't lock it at any one speed, unless you can do both ends. Mixing fixed speed and auto negotiate is a bad idea.
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Yup that^
Also link negotiation is required for Gigabit even if some hardware allows you set 1G fixed.Steve
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@stephenw10 said in WAN & LAN @ Gigabit but Limited to Sub 100Mbps:
Yup that^
what do you mean with that?
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He was referring to my comment where I said to not mix locked and autonegotiate connections. Normally, you use auto, unless you have a need to use a fixed speed. One reason I have experienced is when connecting to fibre media converters.
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Exactly. You should use autodetect for speed and duplex everywhere unless you have a vert good reason not to. Like some other device is already set at a fixed speed and cannot be changed.
Steve
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Does anything use half duplex these days? IIRC, full duplex is mandatory for Gb and above.
If I do an archaeological dig in my junk closet, I may be able to find a 10 Mb hub that's half duplex. It's the only piece of hardware I've owned that was.
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Mmm, been a while since I saw any 10base2.
However 100M-Half-Duplex is a common fall-back link for devices if negotiation fails so you do, relatively, often seen that.
IMO there no good reason to be using a fixed speed anywhere either but some ISPs still supply stuff configured for 100M fixed that cannot be changed.Steve
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I started out with 10base5 and hand wiring¹ Ethernet controllers on prototype boards for Data General Eclipse computers. We also had some DEC VAX 11/780 computers on the network. As I mentioned I've had to use fixed speeds with fibre to copper media converters.
- I'm probably the only one here who has hand wired an Ethernet controller.
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@viragomann Yes, it's costing me lots more in electricity, i just ordered a Qotom i3 for like $319 Canadian Dollers, can't wait to install it :)
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@samyboyz
I think, this was a good decision.I've a Qotom i5 with 4 NICs, bought it 4 years ago. I've installed LInux on it and run pfSense on the top of KVM alongside a cloud VM and an LXC.
Measured its power consumption over a 3 days duration, it took about 7 W average.
So I guess, you will have a cost return after about 2 years. :-)
