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    Can't Access Webgui while hooked up to internet

    General pfSense Questions
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    • M
      mercurynormanbates
      last edited by

      When I was installing pfsense, I was only connected to my computer via the LAN connection. I was able to get to the webgui just fine. The problem was that there was no address assigned to my WAN so the automatic NAT rules would not populate. When I hooked the router up to my modem via the WAN port, my computer started receiving internet but I can no longer access the webgui at all. I thought that maybe there was a conflict with IP addresses, so I changed the LAN to 192.168.2.1 to see if that would resolve it. I still have internet, but I still cannot load the webgui.

      Note that I was in the process of installing ProtonVPN on it, following this guide: https://protonvpn.com/support/pfsense-vpn-setup/ but couldn't get passed the NAT rules section.

      Also note that I am a complete noob, so I am gratiously asking for patience in dealing with me. I would appreciate any help.

      KOMK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • KOMK
        KOM @mercurynormanbates
        last edited by

        @mercurynormanbates Depending on how badly you might have borked things, you might want to consider doing a factory reset and getting it back up to a stable config first. You can also restore recent config from console option 15. Once there, create a backup config.xml and then do your VPN creation. If it goes badly again, you can always factory reset again and then restore your config to get back up quickly.

        M 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M
          mercurynormanbates @KOM
          last edited by

          @kom I am going to do a factory reset and see what happens.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • M
            mercurynormanbates @KOM
            last edited by

            @kom Here is what happened:

            Factory reset pfsense
            Connect computer via LAN
            Go to webgui via 192.168.1.1
            Log in with default credentials
            Setup – everything default
            Interface assignments – add ports, enable ports
            Add bridge
            Add firewall rules – protocol any for all
            Reset modem, plug in modem via WAN, reboot pfsense
            Am now connected to internet via computer connected through LAN
            Attempt to access webgui through 192.168.1.1
            Repeatedly get “192.168.1.1 took too long to respond” error
            Turn off windows firewall, still can’t access webgui
            Turn off VPN
            Can now access the webgui but now I lose internet
            Log out of webgui
            Reset modem, reset router
            Now have internet again
            Attempt to access webgui through 192.168.1.1 (no VPN)
            Get “192.168.1.1 took too long to respond” error
            Close ProtonVPN processes in background
            “192.168.1.1 took too long to respond” error
            Disconnect internet
            “192.168.1.1 took too long to respond” error
            Reset router
            Can now log in to webgui

            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • M
              mercurynormanbates @mercurynormanbates
              last edited by

              I still can't figure out what the issue is here.

              KOMK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • KOMK
                KOM @mercurynormanbates
                last edited by

                @mercurynormanbates Whatever you're doing, it's not right. What 'bridge' are you creating and why? You don't normally need a bridge for a VPN connection. You said your WAN can't get an address. Did you manage to resolve this? The Proton VPN directions loo pretty standard.

                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • jimpJ jimp moved this topic from Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software on
                • M
                  mercurynormanbates @KOM
                  last edited by

                  @kom At what point is this a hardware issue? I factory reset again and didn't do anything else. Can connect to the webgui but cannot get internet access. Usually different variations of restarting the modem/router can get some kind of connection, but I can't get one this morning.

                  V KOMK 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • V
                    viragomann @mercurynormanbates
                    last edited by

                    @mercurynormanbates
                    @KOM was asking for the bridge, you've added. So please respond to get a step further.

                    If you bridge the LAN to something else your computer my get an IP from another DHCP which is outside of pfSense LAN network.

                    So what do you bridge here and why?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • KOMK
                      KOM @mercurynormanbates
                      last edited by

                      @mercurynormanbates You didn't answer any of my questions. It's hard to debug without information. Define 'can't get access'... do you mean you can't ping 8.8.8.8, for example? Can you resolve anything? Does your WAN get an IP address from your provider?

                      M 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        mercurynormanbates @KOM
                        last edited by mercurynormanbates

                        @kom I apologize. Regarding the bridge, I was using another privay-oriented guide that instructed to create a bridge. These are the instructions:

                        "If you purchased a 4-port or 6-port option, you can activate these ports at this time by
                        configuring the following changes. If you purchased the 2-port FW2B, skip this page.
                        • Navigate to "Interfaces" then "Assignments".
                        • Click the "Add" option next to each empty port, which will add one port at a time.
                        • Repeat until all ports have been added and "Add" is no longer available.
                        • Save your changes.
                        • Click through each new option (likely Optl, Opt2, etc.).
                        • Enable each port by checking the first box, and saving your changes each time.
                        • When finished with all of them, apply the changes in the upper right.
                        • Navigate to "Interfaces", "Assignments", then select "Bridges" in the upper menu.
                        • Click "Add" to create a new bridge.
                        • Select the LAN option as well as each port that was added with ctrl-click or cmd-click.
                        • Provide a description as "bridge" and click "Save".
                        • Navigate to "Firewall" then "Rules".
                        • Click each port and click the "Add" button (up arrow) for each.
                        • Change the "Protocol" to "Any".
                        • Click "Save" after each port is modified.
                        • Apply changes in upper-right after all ports have been added.
                        • Navigate to "Interfaces" then "Assignments".
                        • Click "Add" next to "BRJDGEO" and click "Save".
                        • Click on the bridge, which may be labeled as "Opt(#)".
                        • Enable the .interface and change the description to "bridge".
                        • Click "Save" and then "Apply Changes".
                        • Navigate to "Firewall" then "Rules".
                        • Click on "Bridge" then click the "Add" button (up arrow).
                        • Change the "Protocol" to "Any" and click "Save".
                        • Apply changes in upper-right."

                        This is why I created the bridge.

                        In terms of WAN, my WAN has an address from my ISP. In PfSense, the WAN interface settings are set to default. I first noticed that there was an issue when the automatic outbound NAT rules would not generate any automatic rules, then I saw this thread: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/167347/nothing-under-automatic-rules-for-outbound-nat so I thought the issue might be related to my WAN not having a gateway address in Pfsense, causing the rules to not generate. I don't know whether the automatic rules problem is somehow related to my internet/webgui problem.

                        As for "get access," I mean that I cannot get the webgui to load under any circumstances if the internet is also active at the same time. As in, if the router is getting internet which leads to my computer connected via the LAN port getting internet, then I cannot load the webgui at all.

                        It also meant that during previous attempts to get the ProtonVPN going (before I factory reset several times), it was not connecting to the VPN server at all.

                        This all makes me think that there is some kind of issue with the internet being connected to the router cutting of access to the webgui and vice versa. The two things (internet and webgui) cannot be active at the same time, and I just can't figure out why that is.

                        I would be happy to do any additional tests or provide more information.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • M
                          mercurynormanbates @KOM
                          last edited by mercurynormanbates

                          @kom
                          If I have webgui up successfully and the modem is connected to the router, then I am unable to ping 8.8.8.8

                          Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
                          Reply from 192.168.1.205: Destination host unreachable.
                          Reply from 192.168.1.205: Destination host unreachable.
                          Reply from 192.168.1.205: Destination host unreachable.
                          Reply from 192.168.1.205: Destination host unreachable.

                          KOMK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • KOMK
                            KOM @mercurynormanbates
                            last edited by KOM

                            @mercurynormanbates So LAN is 192.168.1.0/24, correct? What network is your WAN on? I'm wondering if your modem is not set to bridge mode and is giving your WAN a NATed address in the same subnet as your LAN.

                            Can you ping 8.8.8.8 if you do it via pfSense Diagnostics - Ping and pick WAN for source address?

                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • stephenw10S
                              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                              last edited by

                              @mercurynormanbates said in Can't Access Webgui while hooked up to internet:

                              Turn off VPN
                              Can now access the webgui but now I lose internet

                              That seems like a clue. You are disabling a local VPN client on the LAN side host?

                              What is 192.168.1.205? If that the local host IP then it has no default route after disabling the VPN client.

                              Steve

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • KOMK
                                KOM
                                last edited by

                                I'm not exactly clear if he redid the VPN config after resetting everything or not. I'm probably misunderstanding but I thought he was having basic connectivity issues aside from the VPN.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  mercurynormanbates @KOM
                                  last edited by

                                  @kom

                                  I loaded the pfsense webgui with my computer connected via LAN. Once in, I connected the modem to the WAN port.

                                  When I did the ping from diagnostics with WAN as the source, I get:

                                  --- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
                                  3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

                                  KOMK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • KOMK
                                    KOM @mercurynormanbates
                                    last edited by

                                    @mercurynormanbates Do you have any VPN config stuff still loaded? Did you change any rules or outbound NAT settings? If you look at Status - Interfaces, does your WAN have an address, and if it does is it in the same subnet as your LAN? Do you see a default gateway under System - Routing - Gateways?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M
                                      mercurynormanbates @KOM
                                      last edited by

                                      @kom I did not reconfigure the VPN on the pfsense after resetting. I did have a VPN running on my computer, but it was disconnected (then I uninstalled it to be safe).

                                      KOMK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • KOMK
                                        KOM @mercurynormanbates
                                        last edited by

                                        @mercurynormanbates OK, and the answers to my other questions would be....

                                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • M
                                          mercurynormanbates @KOM
                                          last edited by

                                          @kom Sorry, I saw the other comment about the VPN before I saw your latest one.

                                          It does not list an address for WAN. It's "down"

                                          WAN Interface (wan, igb0)
                                          Status
                                          no carrier
                                          DHCP
                                          down
                                          MAC Address
                                          MTU
                                          1500
                                          Media
                                          autoselect
                                          In/out packets
                                          0/2 (0 B/112 B)
                                          In/out packets (pass)
                                          0/2 (0 B/112 B)
                                          In/out packets (block)
                                          0/0 (0 B/0 B)
                                          In/out errors
                                          0/0
                                          Collisions
                                          0

                                          Gateway set to “automatic”
                                          For Default gateway IPv4, there is no other option besides "automatic"
                                          For IPv6, it has WAN_DHCP6 as an option in the dropdown

                                          KOMK johnpozJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • KOMK
                                            KOM @mercurynormanbates
                                            last edited by

                                            @mercurynormanbates Well, you will have to resolve that to get anywhere further. Try unplugging your cable modem, wait 10 seconds and then boot it back up with pfSense still running. Check again to see if it got an address. Is there anything funny about your ISP for example are they delivering Internet to you on a VLAN? You can also try doing a packet capture on WAN to see if it's getting any reply traffic from your DHCP requests.

                                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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