XG7100 Confirmation if you can plug in an SFP / SFP+ to RJ45 Adapter

ASGR71

Hello Guys,

I wanted to move the WAN port to one of the SFP+ ports on my XG-7100-U1.
However, this article (I believe) from the documentation states that they are not supported...
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/solutions/xg-7100-1u/io-ports.html

However, this forum post descibes that someone did manage to get it working...
https://forum.netgate.com/topic/151593/xg-7100-sfp-ports-with-ethernet

The type of module I was thinking about was something similar to this one from UI...
https://eu.store.ui.com/eu/en/collections/unifi-accessory-tech-cable-sfp/products/rj45-to-sfp-module?variant=uacc-cm-rj45-1g

Please can someone clarify if I can use an adapter of this type in the XG7100?

Thanks in advance.

rcoleman-netgate

@ASGR71 The Intel Atom C3000 CPU does not support SFP->RJ45 but some have reported they work therefore YMMV.

Officially they are not supported and I would recommend a media converter if you need to use the SFP+ but have to have RJ45.

RobbieTT

@ASGR71

If you looking at this I would suggest using one of the newer low-power SFP+ modules fitted with the Broadcom BCM84891 PHY. These meet the requirements of the direct-to-SoC limits of the Atom interfaces.

They are a bit more expensive and not as easy to source but with no NIC between the modules and your Atom CPU I strongly suggest that these make much more sense.

They are often marketed with terms such as '80-meter' capable (as they are also capable of longer cable lengths than the traditional type) but the reduced heat and power is what you are looking for.

2023-08-23 at 09.30.29.png

There is no doubt that the traditional modules do functionally work but they expose additional risk to the host unit. External media converters are also a good choice as they remove the risk from the host unit but are less 'tidy' than the new Broadcom adapters.

️

ASGR71

Thanks for all you replies guys.

I emailed customer services at 10GTEK and they couldn't recommend RJ45 but did
suggest that I go with an optical module... 10GBase-SR SFP+ / 10G 850nm MMF / AXS85-192-M3-INT
Hope this helps someone.

However, now I'm looking at media converters. Specifically, the range from Startech:

Media converter: MCM1110SFP (Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Media Converter with Open SFP Port)
Modules: SFP1000SXST (1000BASE-SX MSA Complient SFP Transceiver Module)
Cable: A50FBLCLC1 (1m 10Gb Multimode 50/125 Duplex Fiber Patch OM3)

I emailed Startech US and they couldn't definitively say if the Startech range of products would
work an XG7100 but they are all MSA compliant products and Netgate documentation left the
compatibility a little bit wide-open.

Is their any reason why MSA compliant products wouldn't work on an XG7100?

Thanks.

stephenw10

An external media converter should always work.

Do you need 10G here or 1G. The link you initially posted was a 1G device I think.

tman222

@RobbieTT said in XG7100 Confirmation if you can plug in an SFP / SFP+ to RJ45 Adapter:

@ASGR71

If you looking at this I would suggest using one of the newer low-power SFP+ modules fitted with the Broadcom BCM84891 PHY. These meet the requirements of the direct-to-SoC limits of the Atom interfaces.

They are a bit more expensive and not as easy to source but with no NIC between the modules and your Atom CPU I strongly suggest that these make much more sense.

They are often marketed with terms such as '80-meter' capable (as they are also capable of longer cable lengths than the traditional type) but the reduced heat and power is what you are looking for.

There is no doubt that the traditional modules do functionally work but they expose additional risk to the host unit. External media converters are also a good choice as they remove the risk from the host unit but are less 'tidy' than the new Broadcom adapters.

️

I have recently been testing out a SFP+ to RJ45 adapter based on the Broadcom BCM84891L PHY which, from what I can tell, appears to be a a newer, lower power version of the the BCM84891.

https://www.broadcom.com/products/ethernet-connectivity/phy-and-poe/copper/10gbase-t-phy/bcm84891l

From the limited testing I have done thus far, the adapter doesn't appear to get too hot even when operating at full 10Gbit/s full duplex. Was also happy to find out that it works fine at 10Gbit/s in a SFP28 cage. Will continue to test - if heat does end up becoming an issue I'll switch over to a SFP+ to 10GBASE-T media converter.

RobbieTT

@tman222
Very nice - is any of your equipment able to show the actual port power draw?

️

ASGR71

@stephenw10 Thanks...
1Gbe is all that I'll require for now.
It'll be interesting to see the results of tman trials!
I'll order the Startech products and report back...

stephenw10

Using a 1G RJ45 module I'm not able to get a link in the 7100 SFP ports. The actual link is established but the module doesn't pass that to the port so the 7100 always sees it as down. That's using a 10G-tek 1G module:

[23.05.1-RELEASE][root@7100.stevew.lan]/root: ifconfig -vvm ix1
ix1: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	description: ADVA
	options=4e138bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6,NOMAP>
	capabilities=4f53fbb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,WOL_UCAST,WOL_MCAST,WOL_MAGIC,VLAN_HWFILTER,VLAN_HWTSO,NETMAP,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6,NOMAP>
	ether 00:00:00:00:00:00
	inet6 fe80::208:a2ff:fe0e:a591%ix1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
	inet 10.15.2.3 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.15.2.255
	media: Ethernet 1000baseT (autoselect)
	status: no carrier
	supported media:
		media autoselect
		media 1000baseT
	nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
	plugged: SFP/SFP+/SFP28 1000BASE-T (Unknown)
	vendor: OEM PN: SFP-GE-T SN: CSMTGTKA06934 DATE: 2020-10-24

That is the issue you may hit using an RJ-45 module.

tman222

@RobbieTT said in XG7100 Confirmation if you can plug in an SFP / SFP+ to RJ45 Adapter:

@tman222
Very nice - is any of your equipment able to show the actual port power draw?

️

I'm afraid not, and unfortunately I can't see the temperature either. However, I've been using this transceiver / adapter for a few days now with zero issues. Great performance and no signs of any instability.

ASGR71

@ASGR71 Confirmed.
The above Startech products do work with an XG7100 for 1Gbe.

Set the interface up from tty and restarted the system and then
specifically select the speed from Interface->WAN->Speed Duplex->1000baseSX

Did have a activate/deactive issue but I think it was realted to
the LFP switch on the converter. Set it to off and all works well!

Thanks for all your help guys.

stephenw10

@ASGR71 said in XG7100 Confirmation if you can plug in an SFP / SFP+ to RJ45 Adapter:

SFP1000SXST

That module? So that's a 1GbE Fiber module?

ASGR71

@stephenw10 Hi Stephen,

Yeah, transceiver manufacturer part number SFP1000SXST.
Not got the system setup properly but WAN address coming through.
So assuming everything else will work.

ASGR71

This post is deleted!

seanmcne

@tman222 Just want to report back my findings, so far. I procured a "10GBase-T(80m)" the chipset can be different depending on the length supported and, indeed, the 80m does include the newer (more power efficient Broadcom BCM84891L PHY chipset). Figuring that out is a little difficult as you need to go to 10GTek's website but we did confirm you do need the 80m SFP+ to get this specific chipset.

And, so far, it's working wonderfully - this SFP+ module was immediately recognized by pfsense in our XG-7100's. It also instantly negotiated 10G w/ our Calix ONT. Additionally, under "Status | Interfaces" it shows helpful statistics like the current voltage & temperature. The module is cool to the touch (from the outside, at least) and we haven't seen any issues thus far. One thing we noticed is that we aren't exceeding 1.7Gbps on 2Gbps service but I am relatively sure this a configuration issue w/ our ISP and not an issue w/ the SFP+ module or pfsense.

Hopefully, this helps other locate something that might work well for them, I spent a relatively significant amount of time trying to find a module that would work and luckily it panned out. In hopes of helping others I'll also share the amazon link I used for the module I purchased (10GBase-T(80m)): https://www.amazon.com/10Gtek-SFP-10G-T-S-Compatible-10GBase-T-Transceiver/dp/B094N9YKN9

MTU: 1500
Media: 10Gbase-SR <full-duplex,rxpause,txpause>
Plugged: SFP/SFP+/SFP28 10G Base-SR (LC)
Vendor: OEM PN: SFP-10G-SR SN: XXX********* DATE: 2024-01-05
Temperature: 34.97 C
Voltage: 3.42 Volts
RX: 0.40 mW (-3.98 dBm)
TX: 6.00 mA
In/out packets: 30643820/35544015 (31.23 GiB/24.75 GiB)
In/out packets (pass): 30643820/35544015 (31.23 GiB/24.75 GiB)
In/out packets (block): 30305/7076 (2.94 MiB/1.21 MiB)
In/out errors: 0/0
Collisions: 0
Interrupts: 28135022 (4/s)

Other useful links:
https://store.10gtek.com/10gbase-t-sfp-transceiver-up-to-80-meters-cat-6a-compatible-for-no-requirements/p-12189

stephenw10

Does it link at multiple speeds?

seanmcne

@stephenw10 next time I'm up there I can try and test connecting 1Gb RJ45 as a test. Our use-case is specific to connecting 10G RJ45 ONT's to our XG-7100's so I didn't test connecting anything lower than 10G. FWIW, the plan is to eventually go GPON/XPON on a stick but our ISP doesn't support that, yet, so we went with this setup for now.

seanmcne

@stephenw10 was able to test today - it only does 10Gb, I had it on auto select but it would only connect to other 10Gb interfaces (my 1Gb cable modem Ethernet wouldn’t successfully come up). In our case our two ONTs are 10Gb so luckily they work well for us.

stephenw10

Mmm, Ok probably can't see link rate to negotiate it. It might be possible to force it to 1G. Anyway good to know either way.