Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Slow upload speeds on HP Z2 G9 PFSense Box

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    74 Posts 3 Posters 4.6k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • BearB
      Bear @stephenw10
      last edited by

      @stephenw10 said in Slow upload speeds on HP Z2 G9 PFSense Box:

      Yes there is a CLI client. In fact there are two:

      [25.03-RC][admin@5100.stevew.lan]/root: pkg search speedtest
      py311-speedtest-cli-2.1.3      Command line interface for testing internet bandwidth
      speedtest-go-1.7.9             CLI and Go API to test internet speed using speedtest.net
      

      You can install and run those directly:

      [25.03-RC][admin@5100.stevew.lan]/root: pkg install py311-speedtest-cli
      Updating pfSense-core repository catalogue...
      pfSense-core repository is up to date.
      Updating pfSense repository catalogue...
      pfSense repository is up to date.
      All repositories are up to date.
      The following 1 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):
      
      New packages to be INSTALLED:
      	py311-speedtest-cli: 2.1.3 [pfSense]
      
      Number of packages to be installed: 1
      
      52 KiB to be downloaded.
      
      Proceed with this action? [y/N]: y
      [1/1] Fetching py311-speedtest-cli-2.1.3.pkg: 100%   52 KiB  53.1kB/s    00:01    
      Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
      [1/1] Installing py311-speedtest-cli-2.1.3...
      [1/1] Extracting py311-speedtest-cli-2.1.3: 100%
      [25.03-RC][admin@5100.stevew.lan]/root: rehash
      

      As I said it will not give an accurate value at bandwidths that high but you can use it to compare relative rates.

      Sadly, it's completely unreliable running on the FW. Getting 450mbit up and 45 down on the 6100, since it's picking a completely different server than even my other FreeBSD box.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • BearB
        Bear
        last edited by Bear

        Tried one more test - Put a QNAP Multigig switch in between the PFSense box and the RG.

        The 6100 maintained its speeds.

        The HP Box also maintained its lower upload speeds.

        Went into the Z2G9's BIOS (it's running the latest) and disabled PCI Express Power Management.

        Upload speeds remained at 450-700Mbits, their typical range. Going back to the 6100 yielded the usual 3800-4500 up and down.

        Almost at my wit's end. This is a very standard build using HP workstation components and Intel NICs. No idea why I'm seeing this.

        Any ideas?

        -Bear

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

          You can specify which server it uses:

            --list                Display a list of speedtest.net servers sorted by distance
            --server SERVER       Specify a server ID to test against. Can be supplied multiple times
          
          BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • BearB
            Bear @stephenw10
            last edited by

            @stephenw10

            ✓ Test Server: [68863] 0.00km San Antonio, TX by AT&T
            ✓ Latency: 9.472954ms Jitter: 1.390244ms Min: 8.694556ms Max: 13.568589ms
            ✓ Packet Loss Analyzer: Running in background (<= 30 Secs)
            ✓ Download: 1350.20 Mbps (Used: 1708.20MB) (Latency: 15ms Jitter: 10ms Min: 8ms Max: 44ms)
            ✓ Upload: 763.02 Mbps (Used: 930.43MB) (Latency: 11ms Jitter: 2ms Min: 8ms Max: 13ms)
            ✓ Packet Loss: N/A
            

            I'm getting really slow speeds from the 6100 vs my Mac or Windows system with 10GBE to the point where this up speed is aligned with the ~750mbit I get on those systems with the HP/X520.

            In other words, the slow performance test locally on the 6100 would mask the issue as I get 3500+mbits up when running speedtest from a local system vs 760 from the 6100 itself.

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

              Hmm, OK. Probably not useful data there then.

              Do you see the same in an iperf test?

              BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • BearB
                Bear @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10 Haven't run iPerf yet. I'll try that later, but I'm not sure what data we're after here; the performance is identical for low upload speeds using 2 different Intel NICs in the same x16 slot @ x8, and both WAN and LAN are on the same NIC.

                Flow control is off, PCI power management is off, and with an intermediary multigig switch, results remain identical.

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

                  If you're able to see the same issue against a remote iperf server you can then test against a local iperf server to check if it's something specific to the WAN connection.

                  Also you can run iperf directly from pfSense with more useful results.

                  BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • BearB
                    Bear @stephenw10
                    last edited by Bear

                    @stephenw10 said in Slow upload speeds on HP Z2 G9 PFSense Box:

                    If you're able to see the same issue against a remote iperf server you can then test against a local iperf server to check if it's something specific to the WAN connection.

                    Also you can run iperf directly from pfSense with more useful results.

                    IPerf isn't jibing with speedtest. Here's my recent speedtest result: https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/d/739237147

                    Here's a few iPERF 3 runs to supposedly local addresses:

                    Connecting to host 37.19.206.20, port 5201
                    [  5] local 75.31.24.1 port 38531 connected to 37.19.206.20 port 5201
                    [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd
                    [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec  28.2 MBytes   237 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec  46.9 MBytes   393 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   2.00-3.01   sec  47.6 MBytes   397 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   3.01-4.00   sec  46.9 MBytes   396 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   4.00-5.00   sec  47.2 MBytes   396 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   5.00-6.00   sec  47.2 MBytes   396 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   6.00-7.03   sec  48.2 MBytes   395 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   7.03-8.00   sec  46.0 MBytes   396 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   8.00-9.00   sec  47.5 MBytes   398 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    [  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  47.4 MBytes   397 Mbits/sec    0   6.41 MBytes
                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                    [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                    [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   453 MBytes   380 Mbits/sec    0             sender
                    [  5]   0.00-10.05  sec   453 MBytes   379 Mbits/sec                  receiver
                    
                    
                    Connecting to host dal.speedtest.clouvider.net, port 5200
                    [  5] local 75.31.24.1 port 48312 connected to 2.56.188.136 port 5200
                    [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd
                    [  5]   0.00-1.01   sec  5.62 MBytes  46.9 Mbits/sec    8   92.8 KBytes
                    [  5]   1.01-2.00   sec  11.2 MBytes  94.8 Mbits/sec    0    162 KBytes
                    [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  17.8 MBytes   149 Mbits/sec    0    231 KBytes
                    [  5]   3.00-4.02   sec  20.9 MBytes   172 Mbits/sec    3    220 KBytes
                    [  5]   4.02-5.00   sec  19.1 MBytes   163 Mbits/sec    4    179 KBytes
                    [  5]   5.00-6.01   sec  19.2 MBytes   160 Mbits/sec    0    248 KBytes
                    [  5]   6.01-7.00   sec  24.8 MBytes   210 Mbits/sec    0    316 KBytes
                    [  5]   7.00-8.01   sec  22.2 MBytes   186 Mbits/sec   81    114 KBytes
                    [  5]   8.01-9.01   sec  10.9 MBytes  91.1 Mbits/sec   46   34.7 KBytes
                    [  5]   9.01-10.00  sec  6.12 MBytes  51.5 Mbits/sec    0    104 KBytes
                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                    [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                    [  5]   0.00-10.00  sec   158 MBytes   132 Mbits/sec  142             sender
                    [  5]   0.00-10.01  sec   157 MBytes   132 Mbits/sec                  receiver
                    

                    I can consistently get similar speeds to other providers as well. iperf3 isn't getting me close to a gigabit. Real world transfers are in the 2.5-3.5Gbit range usually.

                    BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • BearB
                      Bear @Bear
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10

                      Now, if I do the iperf3 from my Mac Studio with 10GBE going /through/ the 6100 Max...

                      Connecting to host speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net, port 5201
                      [  7] local 75.31.24.8 port 61252 connected to 209.58.159.68 port 5201
                      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
                      [  7]   0.00-1.01   sec   186 MBytes  1.55 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   1.01-2.00   sec   247 MBytes  2.08 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   2.00-3.01   sec   249 MBytes  2.08 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   3.01-4.01   sec   247 MBytes  2.07 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   4.01-5.01   sec   248 MBytes  2.08 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   5.01-6.01   sec   247 MBytes  2.07 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   6.01-7.01   sec   248 MBytes  2.08 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   7.01-8.01   sec   220 MBytes  1.84 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   8.01-9.00   sec   207 MBytes  1.74 Gbits/sec                  
                      [  7]   9.00-10.01  sec   216 MBytes  1.81 Gbits/sec                  
                      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
                      [  7]   0.00-10.01  sec  2.26 GBytes  1.94 Gbits/sec    sender
                      [  7]   0.00-10.02  sec  2.26 GBytes  1.94 Gbits/sec    receiver
                      

                      And do the same iperf3 test from the 6100 Max itself, just a moment later to the same iperf3 server...

                      Connecting to host speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net, port 5201
                      [  5] local 75.31.24.1 port 8528 connected to 209.58.159.68 port 5201
                      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd
                      [  5]   0.00-1.00   sec  11.4 MBytes  95.3 Mbits/sec   60    145 KBytes
                      [  5]   1.00-2.00   sec  6.88 MBytes  57.7 Mbits/sec   37   79.5 KBytes
                      [  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  11.9 MBytes  99.6 Mbits/sec    0    156 KBytes
                      [  5]   3.00-4.01   sec  10.5 MBytes  87.6 Mbits/sec   68   53.7 KBytes
                      [  5]   4.01-5.02   sec  7.50 MBytes  62.3 Mbits/sec   19    108 KBytes
                      [  5]   5.02-6.02   sec  10.6 MBytes  88.9 Mbits/sec   19   42.7 KBytes
                      [  5]   6.02-7.00   sec  7.88 MBytes  67.2 Mbits/sec    0    118 KBytes
                      [  5]   7.00-8.00   sec  15.6 MBytes   131 Mbits/sec    0    194 KBytes
                      [  5]   8.00-9.01   sec  23.8 MBytes   197 Mbits/sec    0    271 KBytes
                      [  5]   9.01-10.02  sec  31.8 MBytes   263 Mbits/sec    0    348 KBytes
                      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                      [ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                      [  5]   0.00-10.02  sec   138 MBytes   115 Mbits/sec  203    sender
                      [  5]   0.00-10.03  sec   137 MBytes   115 Mbits/sec         receiver
                      
                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Hmm, interesting. Yes, as I said, running iperf from pfSense itself is always going to give a worse result than thorough it just because of the processing required to run the test itself. That's particularly true of the 6100 where each CPU core is not that powerful.

                        Can you test using the i5?

                        Was that with multiple parallel streams?

                        The default direction for iperf3 is from the client to the server, so upload. Try using -R to get a download result.

                        BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • BearB
                          Bear @stephenw10
                          last edited by Bear

                          @stephenw10 said in Slow upload speeds on HP Z2 G9 PFSense Box:

                          Hmm, interesting. Yes, as I said, running iperf from pfSense itself is always going to give a worse result than thorough it just because of the processing required to run the test itself. That's particularly true of the 6100 where each CPU core is not that powerful.

                          Can you test using the i5?

                          Was that with multiple parallel streams?

                          The default direction for iperf3 is from the client to the server, so upload. Try using -R to get a download result.

                          6100 Max With -R and -P 120

                          # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120 -R
                          
                          [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.28  sec  3.21 GBytes  2.68 Gbits/sec  9325    sender
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.00  sec  2.88 GBytes  2.47 Gbits/sec          receiver
                          

                          Mac Studio behind 6100 Max with -R and -P 120

                          # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120 -R
                          [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.01  sec  5.26 GBytes  4.52 Gbits/sec  11595     sender
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.00  sec  5.12 GBytes  4.40 Gbits/sec            receiver
                          

                          6100 Max with just -P 120

                          # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120
                          
                          [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.07  sec  3.10 GBytes  2.65 Gbits/sec  12761    sender
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.09  sec  3.04 GBytes  2.59 Gbits/sec           receiver
                          

                          Mac Studio behind 6100 Max with just -P 120

                          # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120
                          [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.01  sec  2.06 GBytes  1.77 Gbits/sec           sender
                          [SUM]   0.00-10.02  sec  2.05 GBytes  1.76 Gbits/sec           receiver
                          

                          Not quite my SpeedTest Results, but enough that I can try the same on the i5 later tonight and append this thread with some of those numbers.

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

                            Probably hitting the CPU core limit on the 6100 there. But it's at least the same both ways and more than the 400Mps limit you hit previously. So try the i5 there and see if it still hits it.

                            BearB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • BearB
                              Bear @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @stephenw10

                              I'll run the same tests tonight - I need to take my network offline to jump to the i5-based system, so it'll need to be after hours this evening, but I'll get some data here soon. Thanks for the help. :)

                              -Bear

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • BearB
                                Bear @stephenw10
                                last edited by

                                @stephenw10 said in Slow upload speeds on HP Z2 G9 PFSense Box:

                                Probably hitting the CPU core limit on the 6100 there. But it's at least the same both ways and more than the 400Mps limit you hit previously. So try the i5 there and see if it still hits it.

                                Getting a No Active Repos when I try to install iperf3 on the i5.

                                I'm going to try a clean install (And not use ZFS as the fs this time), restore my old config and try again.

                                Will likely be a tomorrow thing, but I'll update as soon as I have more data.

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

                                  If you just tried to install it at the CLI without visiting the webgui first you probably need to run: pfSense-repoc -N first. Then retry.

                                  BearB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • BearB
                                    Bear @stephenw10
                                    last edited by Bear

                                    @stephenw10 Looks like when I swapped NICs, I lost my registration for some reason.

                                    What do I need to do in order to get a new token? It's not on my PDF. Order SO25-338254 - Sent you my NDI via Chat.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • BearB
                                      Bear @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10

                                      I've got the numbers from the i5-14500 /w the X520, flow control off.

                                      With - P -R

                                      # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120 -R
                                      [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                                      [SUM]   0.00-10.01  sec  5.20 GBytes  4.46 Gbits/sec  10655       sender
                                      [SUM]   0.00-10.00  sec  5.07 GBytes  4.35 Gbits/sec              receiver
                                      

                                      With -P

                                      # iperf3 -c speedtest.dal13.us.leaseweb.net -p 5201-5210 -P 120
                                      [ ID]   Interval         Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
                                      [SUM]   0.00-10.01  sec  1.61 GBytes  1.38 Gbits/sec  27815      sender
                                      [SUM]   0.00-10.02  sec  1.60 GBytes  1.37 Gbits/sec             receiver
                                      

                                      Note that with Speed Test, I initially see speeds of 1.6-1.7Gbit that quickly slow down to 400-650Mbits. This does not happen with the 6100.

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

                                        Hmm, so that looks like the same result as a client behind the 6100.

                                        Does a client behind the i5 still see a much lower limit on iperf? Like ~400Mbps?

                                        If so that implies a LAN side issue with traffic going into pfSense.

                                        BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • BearB
                                          Bear @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10 Yes, a client behind the i5 sees a much lower limit. Though I'm not sure where to go with this from here. Same cables, same switch between both units. Same config even, since it was a restore.

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

                                            Hmm, well that seems to confirm some issue on the LAN side then.

                                            Still no input errors on the LAN interface?

                                            Can you try connecting a client to the LAN directly to rule out some low level issue between the LAN and switch?

                                            BearB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.