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

    Can't get full bandwidth

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Traffic Shaping
    4 Posts 3 Posters 4.3k 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.
    • N
      nrlazmi
      last edited by

      Hi, I'm very new to pfsense, so forgive me if this question has been answered before.

      I have a PF box made out of Pentium 4 2.2Ghz with 512Mb RAM, using pfsense 1.2.3. The box is used as a router and for distributing internet bandwidth fairly to about 30 clients. I have two NICs, one for WAN and another for LAN, both using PCI 10/100Mb card. For internet connection (WAN) I use PPPoE connection with bandwidth of 2Mbps up, and 328kbps down.

      My problem is that when I test my download and upload bandwidth using www.speedtest.net, I manage only to get about 0.12Mbps download speed. I've tried to tweek my traffic shaper, but to no effect. I've already uninstall squid and snort, but I still get the same result. At one point, I also disable traffic shaper and still get the same result.

      Currently I use traffic shaper with the following queue setting:

      Flags Priority Default Bandwidth Name 
                      0    No          342 Kb          qwanRoot     
                      0    No          1800 Kb          qlanRoot     
                      1    Yes              5 %            qwandef     
                      1    Yes            10 %            qlandef     
      ACK          7    No            60 %            qwanacks     
      ACK          7    No            25 %            qlanacks     
      RED ECN    1    No            1 %            qP2PUp     
      RED ECN    1    No            1 %            qP2PDown     
      RED ECN    4    No            25 %            qOthersUpH     
      RED ECN    4    No            60 %            qOthersDownH     
      RED ECN    2    No            1 %            qOthersUpL     
      RED ECN    2    No            1 %            qOthersDownL

      Is this normal or have I screwed up somewhere? Please help.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • jimpJ
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by

        If you disabled the shaper and had the same result, it is probably not due to the shaper configuration.

        It may be something with your WAN configuration, perhaps the MTU.

        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

        Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

        Do not Chat/PM for help!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • N
          nrlazmi
          last edited by

          jimp, thanks for the reply.

          I have decided to test my pf box at other location with the same PPPoE speed, but have less users behind it (2 users including me!). What I found is that when I do the bandwidth test at this location with www.speedtest.net, my download bandwidth is shown as 1.60Mbps!

          So I guess, my bandwidth is slow before because of heavy usage by users, not because of any settings in pfsense! Silly me….

          I also test my bandwidth (behind pf box that is) for different WAN MTU. pfsense uses 1495 as the default for PPPoE connection. I lowered it down to 1400, and speedtest.net shows 1.2Mbps download bandwidth. Then I changed MTU to 1500, and I get 1.3Mbps. Lastly I changed WAN MTU to 1480, and I get the final result, 1.6Mbps! So I guess, for me MTU 14800 should work fine.

          Now I have to figure out how to block all those P2P file sharing apps (like BitTorrent and Ares). Any thought?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • A
            Alan87i
            last edited by

            Run the traffic shaper and enable the catch all rule and input the lowest kb speed for up and down that you want.

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