@jigglywiggly:

i configured a lan rule so that 192.168.100.1 goes to the modem connected to the usbnic
this works, i can see the page and I know it's the right modem.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lan rule" - "firewall rule on LAN interface" perhaps. It is not clear this is necessary. Normal defaults for firewall rules on LAN anllow any traffic to anywhere and normal routing would direct traffic to the subnet of the USB NIC through the USB NIC. (The modem would normally be on the same subnet as the USB NIC.)

@jigglywiggly:

however, when I make a firewall rule so what whatismyip.org goes through the usb nic it times out

It is not clear in this case who is doing NAT or supposed to do NAT? If the modem is a router then it is almost certainly doing NAT but the conversation won't get established if pfSense is not doing NAT and the modem/router doesn't have a route to your LAN subnet.

@jigglywiggly:

EDIT: GOT ITZ
I had to go to nat > outbound > and create a rule with static port all the other settings were on any

If the access to whatismyip.org was web access it is not clear to me why Static Port on the NAT rule would have been required - that is, I suspect a "Static Port=NO" rule would also have worked.

i added the lan rule so i could see if traffic was able to get past the nic
by lan rule yes i mean firewall rule

to clarify, all traffic was not working. I had to enable static port for any traffic to work.

i configured a lan rule so that 192.168.100.1 goes to the modem connected to the usbnic
this works, i can see the page and I know it's the right modem.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lan rule" - "firewall rule on LAN interface" perhaps. It is not clear this is necessary. Normal defaults for firewall rules on LAN anllow any traffic to anywhere and normal routing would direct traffic to the subnet of the USB NIC through the USB NIC. (The modem would normally be on the same subnet as the USB NIC.)

@jigglywiggly:

however, when I make a firewall rule so what whatismyip.org goes through the usb nic it times out

It is not clear in this case who is doing NAT or supposed to do NAT? If the modem is a router then it is almost certainly doing NAT but the conversation won't get established if pfSense is not doing NAT and the modem/router doesn't have a route to your LAN subnet.

@jigglywiggly:

EDIT: GOT ITZ
I had to go to nat > outbound > and create a rule with static port all the other settings were on any

If the access to whatismyip.org was web access it is not clear to me why Static Port on the NAT rule would have been required - that is, I suspect a "Static Port=NO" rule would also have worked.

ok so iconfigured opt3 as ue0
enabled the interface
enabled dhcp
it has an ip address
and under status -> gateways it shows up and says it is working

i configured a lan rule so that 192.168.100.1 goes to the modem connected to the usbnic
this works, i can see the page and I know it's the right modem.

however, when I make a firewall rule so what whatismyip.org goes through the usb nic it times out

anyone have any ideas?

EDIT: GOT ITZ
I had to go to nat > outbound > and create a rule with static port all the other settings were on any

here is a pic for anyone else

~480 mb/s is more than enough.

@jigglywiggly:

i am cheap

But not cheap enough to go for the 10/100 variant? (You won't get 1Gbps sustained over USB 2.)

out of pci slots ;x

Why not use VLANs and a VLAN capable switch?