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    Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • T
      Teke
      last edited by

      I've got a PC with 1 onboard NIC and a 4 port NIC.
      I plan on having 4 networks hanging off of the 4 port NIC and use the onboard for the WAN.
      I also have a cisco 3560G 28 port Gig switch that I want to plug each of the 4 ports into.
      Each port is configured as a trunk with the desired vlan tag.
      I also would like to plug my fiber cable right into the WAN port. (Will this act as the router or do I need one in front of the WAN)
      Networks are as follows:
      LAN - 192.168.10.0/24 (10)
      OPT1 - 192.168.20.0/24 (20)
      OPT2 - 192.168.30.0/24 (30)
      OPT3 - 192.168.40.0/24 (40)
      I will be using a .1 for all of the interface IP's.

      I would like to set this up offline (no WAN) and then just put it in place but I've had no luck so far. Do I need the WAN plugged in to route between the networks?

      The trouble I've had is I can't ping from LAN to any of the other 3 networks but I can ping from the other 3 to LAN.

      I have no floating firewall rules and all of my interface rules are allow any any.
      Any help would be great.

      J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • J
        Jarhead @Teke
        last edited by

        @teke said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

        Each port is configured as a trunk with the desired vlan tag.

        No need to trunk the ports, you're plugging them directly into a router interface. It's the same as the LAN connection at that point. Just make sure you have the correct vlan on each switchport so the networks are available on any other ports needed.

        I also would like to plug my fiber cable right into the WAN port. (Will this act as the router or do I need one in front of the WAN)

        It is a router so that will be fine .

        I would like to set this up offline (no WAN) and then just put it in place but I've had no luck so far. Do I need the WAN plugged in to route between the networks?

        No. I'm guessing once you fix the switchports you'll be fine.

        T 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T
          Teke @Jarhead
          last edited by

          @jarhead
          Thank you for the reply. I will delete the trunk ports on my switch.
          4 of them, 1 for each pfsense NIC. I will just associate them to the correct vlan

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          • T
            Teke @Jarhead
            last edited by

            @jarhead
            So I have setup the Nic ports and the Cisco ports as well as allowing all traffic from all networks in the firewall but I still can't ping. It is giving me a general failure.
            Ports config
            interface FastEthernet0/1
            description pfSense Lan
            switchport access vlan 30
            switchport mode access
            spanning-tree portfast
            !
            interface FastEthernet0/2
            description pfSense Cameras
            switchport access vlan 20
            switchport mode access
            spanning-tree portfast
            !
            interface FastEthernet0/3
            description pfSense Wifi
            switchport access vlan 40
            switchport mode access
            spanning-tree portfast

            ip default-gateway 192.168.10.1

            It's not picking up a default gateway. I'm just not sure how to set it in pfsense because everything I have read said not to do that. Is that because it grabs it from the WAN?

            J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • J
              Jarhead @Teke
              last edited by

              @teke Can the pc ping itself?
              What port on the switch is the pc plugged into?
              What vlan is on that port?

              T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • T
                Teke @Jarhead
                last edited by Teke

                @jarhead
                It can ping itself (192.168.10.1) from the diagnostic web interface
                I messed up the config above.
                It's on fa0/1 and I listed the vlan wrong. It is now 10 but same ping issue.

                The laptop (192.168.40.100) is plugged into port fa0/9 which is vlan40 and my pc is plugged into fa0/16 (192.168.10.100) which is on vlan 10. They both get the correct IP address but they can't route.

                When I do ipconfig/release and then renew there is no gateway listed.

                bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • bingo600B
                  bingo600 @Teke
                  last edited by bingo600

                  @teke
                  How are the pfSense interfaces connected to the Cisco Switch ?

                  Are they connected to the Cisco
                  fa0/1

                  fa0/2

                  fa0/3

                  If yes ...
                  Where is the PC connected ?

                  You do know that you have to make "inbound" allow rules on the pfSense interfaces , in order to get those to allow traffic from the switch in to the pfSense firewall ... Correct ?

                  If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                  pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                  QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                  CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                  LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                  T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • T
                    Teke @bingo600
                    last edited by

                    @bingo600
                    How are the pfSense interfaces connected to the Cisco Switch ?
                    They are connected each with a cat6 cable

                    Are they connected to the Cisco
                    fa0/1 - Lan

                    fa0/2 - OPT1

                    fa0/3 - OTP2

                    If yes ...
                    Where is the PC connected ? Connected to port 16 on the cisco switch and it's tagged with vlan10

                    You do know that you have to make "inbound" allow rules on the pfSense interfaces , in order to get those to allow traffic from the switch in to the pfSense firewall ... Correct ?

                    So on all firewall rule interfaces I have to add inbound rules for all other interfaces?
                    ex. if on Lan firewall would the rule be protocol any. source opt1 net, destination Lan allow?

                    bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • bingo600B
                      bingo600 @Teke
                      last edited by bingo600

                      @teke

                      You could start out with a rule like this, on the interfaces (change Lan_net) to the respective (XXX_net) on the other interfaces.

                      fdb07556-024e-49c5-8cd7-8baba7f87b18-image.png

                      That would allow anything for starters ....

                      Edit: DON'T do the above on WAN

                      If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                      pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                      QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                      CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                      LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                      T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • T
                        Teke @bingo600
                        last edited by

                        @bingo600
                        I do have something similar to that but instead of Lan_Net I have any.

                        bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • bingo600B
                          bingo600 @Teke
                          last edited by bingo600

                          @teke
                          That would also work ...

                          Do you still have DHCP default GW issues on the PC ?

                          If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                          pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                          QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                          CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                          LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                          T 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • T
                            Teke @bingo600
                            last edited by

                            @bingo600
                            I have that but ping can't flow between a PC on the Lan and a laptop on the OPT2 network. I've been trying different configs the last 3 days but can't seem to make things work. I would have things working from OPT1 and 2 (ping wise) but I couldn't ping from LAN to OPT1/2. I can play with the firewall rules tomorrow when I'm back to work.

                            I also thought that my switch ports had to be trunked with the corresponding vlans as well. If I don't need that it make things easier.

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                            • T
                              Teke @bingo600
                              last edited by

                              @bingo600

                              Do you still have DHCP default GW issues on the PC ?
                              I do. It grabs an IP but the gateway is blank. I was wondering if it is supposed to grab it from the WAN, which is not plugged in.

                              bingo600B J 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • bingo600B
                                bingo600 @Teke
                                last edited by

                                @teke
                                Without def-gw set , the PC's would only be able to ping on their own Lan/Vlan.
                                Not even OPT2

                                Do you use pfSense as DHCP server ???

                                @stephenw10
                                Would pfSense DHCP server NOT send out def-gw, if WAN isn't connected ??

                                If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a šŸ‘ - "thumbs up"

                                pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                CPUĀ  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                LANĀ  : 4 x Intel 211, DiskĀ  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                                T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • J
                                  Jarhead @Teke
                                  last edited by

                                  @teke
                                  The DHCP server has nothing to do with the WAN.

                                  Post screenshots of pfSense config's. All interfaces, all firewall rules.

                                  Chances are this is a switch problem so if you can, connect the laptop and a pc directly to the pfSense interfaces and test from there to prove it.

                                  T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • T
                                    Teke @bingo600
                                    last edited by

                                    @bingo600
                                    I read a bunch of how to's and watch a few videos on how to set this up and they all say not to put in a default gateway even though I know that you need one to route. I was thinking this was because I have no WAN connected yet??

                                    I do use pfSense for the DHCP server.
                                    Should I set the gateway up on each interface DHCP scope?

                                    johnpozJ J 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • T
                                      Teke @Jarhead
                                      last edited by

                                      @jarhead said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

                                      @teke
                                      The DHCP server has nothing to do with the WAN.

                                      Post screenshots of pfSense config's. All interfaces, all firewall rules.
                                      I will post shortly.

                                      Chances are this is a switch problem so if you can, connect the laptop and a pc directly to the pfSense interfaces and test from there to prove it.
                                      I have 2 laptops connected directly to the pfSense box.
                                      Laptop 1 plugged into Lan
                                      Laptop 2 plugged into OPT2
                                      They both get an IP but they can't ping each other.

                                      J 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • johnpozJ
                                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @Teke
                                        last edited by johnpoz

                                        @teke said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

                                        Should I set the gateway up on each interface DHCP scope?

                                        You don't need to do this - by default pfsense hands out its IP on the dhcp interface as the gateway.

                                        gateway.jpg

                                        But if client has no gateway, then no it wouldn't be able to talk to other networks/vlans on pfsense or the internet

                                        defaultgw.jpg

                                        Your saying when you look at the client that got an IP (from your dhcp) not some 169.254 address? It has no gateway?

                                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
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                                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
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                                        • J
                                          Jarhead @Teke
                                          last edited by

                                          @teke said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

                                          @bingo600
                                          I read a bunch of how to's and watch a few videos on how to set this up and they all say not to put in a default gateway even though I know that you need one to route. I was thinking this was because I have no WAN connected yet??

                                          Where exactly are you referring to about the gateway?
                                          If you're talking about the LAN interface, then no, don't put one in.
                                          Are you talking about the switch??

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                                          • J
                                            Jarhead @Teke
                                            last edited by

                                            @teke said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

                                            @jarhead said in Recommendations for my pfsense setup with 5 nics:

                                            @teke
                                            The DHCP server has nothing to do with the WAN.

                                            Post screenshots of pfSense config's. All interfaces, all firewall rules.
                                            I will post shortly.

                                            Chances are this is a switch problem so if you can, connect the laptop and a pc directly to the pfSense interfaces and test from there to prove it.
                                            I have 2 laptops connected directly to the pfSense box.
                                            Laptop 1 plugged into Lan
                                            Laptop 2 plugged into OPT2
                                            They both get an IP but they can't ping each other.

                                            Show pics of your rules as I asked earlier.
                                            Show the ipconfig of the laptops.

                                            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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