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    WAN "loss" question

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved 2.0-RC Snapshot Feedback and Problems - RETIRED
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    • K
      kevindd992002
      last edited by

      Here's a pic of my system logs:

      What does "loss" mean in WAN1 and WAN2? My gateway groups are set to "member down". What is its difference if I set it to "packet loss"?

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        "loss" implies some packet loss on that interface. Enough to trigger the alarm threshold, 10% by default I think.
        I need some clarification on this because having read through the docs and the comments in the code I'm still unsure however…
        I belive that if you set your gateway group to "member down" then it it won't be excluded from the group until it is marked as down by apinger. This only happens if it reaches either of the second apinger thresholds, 20% packet loss or 500ms delay by default.
        Presumably, though I have not seen this happen, if you have it set to "packet loss" the connection would be excluded from that group at the first threshold.

        I'd love to be corrected on this or confirmed.  :-\

        Steve

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        • K
          kevindd992002
          last edited by

          But both of my WAN interfaces are working fine and never saw them marked as "offline" or removed from the group. Is packet loss normal?

          Also, when I change something under Routing tab and press apply changes and looked at the system logs, I also see "php: : Gateways status could not be determined, considering all as up/active." What does it mean?

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          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            Packet loss can happen if your connection heavily loaded, if it's not causing you a problem then I wouldn't worry about it too much.
            If you add the gateways widget to the dashboard you can see the packetloss and delay in near real time and test with a few downloads. If you have a 'bad' connection you can set the thresholds higher.

            The gateways status message appears after you have reloaded something in pfSense, after a config change for example. It's nothing to worry about it simply means that it's not been running long enough to correctly determine the status. I think!  ;)

            Steve

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            • K
              kevindd992002
              last edited by

              Thanks for the info :)

              Regarding widgets, how do you download and install them?

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              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Click on the '+' symbol at the top left of the dashboard and select the widget you require.

                Steve

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                • K
                  kevindd992002
                  last edited by

                  Got it. Thanks!

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                  • K
                    kevindd992002
                    last edited by

                    One more thing, so the "member down" setting would be the most preferred from the 4 choices if all is well in my Internet connection?

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      This is where I'm unsure.  :-
                      My guess is that "member down" is most fault tolerant, it will continue to use a slightly flaky connection.
                      If you have some application that is very sensitive to latency or packetloss, like VOIP for example, you might want to have connections excluded from a group at the first sign of a problem. In that case you would use one of the other settings.

                      Steve

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                      • N
                        Nachtfalke
                        last edited by

                        RRD Graphs and ther ethe tab "quality" will help you know, how high the latency and the poacket loss was when the gateway went down.
                        so you can adjust the low and high watermark.

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                        • jimpJ
                          jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                          last edited by

                          Using "member down" would only stop using a WAN if the link is lost on the port.

                          Most WAN failures do not result in a loss of link on the physical port - the loss is upstream somewhere (like on the other end of your modem/CPE). You want "Packet Loss or High Latency" in almost all cases.

                          If your WAN tends to be a bit lossy, as my Cable line is, even when it works fine, you can adjust the parameters that trigger the alarm under the individual gateway. So go to System > Routing, edit the gateway for WAN, and in the Advanced settings, increase the Packet Loss thresholds. For my Cable interface I have to use 20/35 or so.

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

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                          • K
                            kevindd992002
                            last edited by

                            But in that case, high latency would be a problem for me since the latency increases when I download using Newsgroups. Is there a way to change the latency threshold as well?

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                            • jimpJ
                              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                              last edited by

                              @kevindd992002:

                              But in that case, high latency would be a problem for me since the latency increases when I download using Newsgroups. Is there a way to change the latency threshold as well?

                              Yes, the setting is in the same place. Edit the gateway, under the advanced settings there are tweaks there for the latency, loss, etc.

                              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!

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                              • N
                                Nachtfalke
                                last edited by

                                @jimp:

                                @kevindd992002:

                                But in that case, high latency would be a problem for me since the latency increases when I download using Newsgroups. Is there a way to change the latency threshold as well?

                                Yes, the setting is in the same place. Edit the gateway, under the advanced settings there are tweaks there for the latency, loss, etc.

                                @jimp
                                What is the default value for "Down" ?
                                Could it be possible to enter the default values in the description for future snapshots ?

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                                • jimpJ
                                  jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                  last edited by

                                  I don't recall the defaults, you can check /var/etc/apinger.conf to see what's there.

                                  Having them in the description would be handy.

                                  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!

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                                  • N
                                    Nachtfalke
                                    last edited by

                                    Thanks for the info.

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