pfSense - 2.5G port disconnects
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I have a pfSense with 4 NIC 2.5GbE (I225-V). Well, I'm testing my new network card (I225-V also) with a 2.5G pfSense port (even though I don't actually have a 2.5Gbps available at home yet).
There is a problem: often, with totally random interval times, the pfSense disconnects and reconnects the port for about 3 seconds. In the "Interfaces" section I read that the "Collisions" increase when this happens. How is it possible? I read on the web that it is a common problem with this I225-V. Is there a solution?Jul 22 22:52:09 check_reload_status 422 Linkup starting igc1 Jul 22 22:52:09 kernel igc1: link state changed to DOWN Jul 22 22:52:10 php-fpm 85227 /rc.linkup: DEVD Ethernet detached event for lan Jul 22 22:52:10 check_reload_status 422 Reloading filter Jul 22 22:52:12 check_reload_status 422 Linkup starting igc1 Jul 22 22:52:12 kernel igc1: link state changed to UP ' -
Is it a rev3 device?
[22.05-RELEASE][admin@4100-2.stevew.lan]/root: pciconf -l igc1 igc1@pci0:5:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x00008086 chip=0x15f38086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00The earlier revisions were known to have issues.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Hi Steve! Yes it's the 3rd revision.
[22.05-RELEASE][admin@mypfSense.home.arpa]/root: pciconf -l igc1 igc1@pci0:2:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x00008086 chip=0x15f38086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00It only happens with 2.5G ports, no problem if I set to 1G.
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What are you connecting it to? Could the link be close to the edge of what's possible for 2.5G? Like a long or old cable?
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@stephenw10 I am connecting the pfSense with a PC with a 2.5G network card (again a I225-V). I tried to change the ethernet cable (cat.6) but nothing has changed.
Just a note: currently I have a gigabit connection (1000 DL / 1000 UL) and in fact if I set the port to 1G it seems to work regularly without connection losses. Maybe there is a compatibility problem in case the speeds are lower than those of the port?
Now you will ask me: "why do you have to set the port to 2.5G if you have a gigabit?"
Well, because soon I will install 2.5Gbps at home and I would like everything to work properly. -
Well, because soon I will install 2.5Gbps at home and I
would like everything to work properly.Some ISPs are offering overprovisioning, let us say with 1 GBit/s you will able to see something like 1100 or 1200 MBit/s, why not being able to get the last out if a paid line.
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It should work with two 2.5G NICs connected like that.
What does the other end show logged when it happens?
It's losing link for some reason.
What I can say is that the i225 NIC cannot use a fixed speed, it can only be auto-negotiate. When you set a different link speed it actually only removes all the other speeds from the list it can negotiate to. So it cannot link to something that is actually fixed with autoneg disabled.
Given then that is stays connected when set to 1G it's not a negotiation issue.Steve
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@stephenw10 said in pfSense - 2.5G port disconnects:
What does the other end show logged when it happens?
When it happens, a new "Collision" is added to the counter on "Interfaces" tab, and then on my Windows PC I have this error:
Obviously, in the 3-4 seconds that pass from disconnection to reconnection, nothing works.
I also tried to set the speed on 2.5 Gbps (instead of using automatic negotiation) on both the pfSense and the PC. Nothing...
Question: what does collision mean? In which cases does it happen?
If I try to detach and reattach the ethernet cable it is not counted as a collision, for example. -
Is this a PCIe card or an onboard NIC on an Asus ROG - xyz
or perhaps a NAS inside 4 Port NIC?Some mentioned on Windows 10/11 to install the latest driver from the board vendor and some peoples were
getting rid of this problem by installing the latest Intel drivers. (Not pfSense, on their VM host or Windows host) -
@dobby_ It's a PCIe card and I already installed the latest drivers.
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Can you try connecting something other than Windows at the other end? Another pfSense instance perhaps? Or boot a live Linux distro there as a test?
When you set both sides to 2.5G only do you mean there was difference, what I'd expect, or that it failed to connect.
Steve
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@stephenw10 The pfSense NICs are the cause of the problem. I bought a router with two 2.5GbE ports (Broadcom) and everything works perfectly with no disconnections.
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Mmm, interesting. What's the actual card you were using there? I've not really seen any significant issues with igc NICs here.
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@stephenw10 pfSense has 4 I225-V rev3 ports. Same card on my PC (rev3 as well).
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Right but what's the actual card? I assume it's not an Intel card. I'm not aware of a particular issue with igc but other Intel NIC types have a real problem with cheap fakes and all that implies.
Steve
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@stephenw10 BCM50991E
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@puffin23 said in pfSense - 2.5G port disconnects:
BCM50991E
Umm, that's a Broadcom chip.
What I mean here is you can buy, for example, a 4 port Intel 10G NIC for a massively wide range of prices. Some of them are 'too cheap'.
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@stephenw10 Perhaps in the future, when devices with four 10GbE will cost less, I might think about buying one.
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I'm asking if the igc NIC you're using in pfSense was in fact suspiciously cheap?
Spontaneously losing link like that could be overheating or just bad hardware.
I've not seen that issue with igc NICs (yet) though and in fact I bought the cheapest one I could find and it's been fine.
Steve
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@stephenw10 I really don't know, I bought a Mini PC with everything already installed.
I tried a lot of O.S., not just pfSense, but still same issues.
