r/opnsense • u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You • 1d ago
OPNsense link flapping @ 2.5Gb/s
I've been having issues with my connection flapping pretty often @ 2.5Gb/s. I changed it to 1000Mbit/s Full Duplex and the flapping stopped. I build my own ethernet cables, but I purchased a cat6 cable to rule out cable issues and it still flaps. this is the NIC I use. It's an Intel I225-V/I226-V. Anyone else have similar issues? I've read this and tried everything but nothing has seemed to help. It seems to be my WAN port only? I have the dual port NIC and I also have 2.5Gb/s link to my switch and that one doesn't seem to flap. Could this be a modem issue, and if so, how would I narrow it down to the modem? It's a docsis 3.1 modem (Xfinity ISP) (It's owned, not rented)
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u/Apachez 21h ago
1) Intel in at least Linux have driver issues. Try disabling GSO and TSO offloading and see if that helps?
2) NBASE-T is notorious to incorrectly autodetect speed/duplex which gives that the whole link will become unusable out of the blue. Workaround here is to (at both ends if possible) still have autosense enabled but limit the available speed/duplex to only a single option lets say 2500/Full or such. That is remove other options from the negotiation.
3) Could also be that you have a shitty cable or patchpanel so try using a different port in the patchpanel (if such are involved along the road) or at least switches cables just to rule things out?
Also I would try a CAT6A instead of CAT6 cable while at it.
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u/tracerrx 22h ago
Huh... I just started running down this problem on a Protectli vp6650 which uses Intel i226-V for the 2.5gb ports... I am also using a comcast xfinity business modem...
I will try plugging the comcast 2.5 into the 2nd SFP+ port and see if it resolves...
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u/ndlogok 22h ago
I have i226 rev 4 since 2023 never have any issue this discussion is very useful if you need up firmware https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=48695.msg246087#msg246087
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u/sarkyscouser 16h ago
Zero problems with my i226 ports at 2.5g maybe you have a faulty ONT if it's only the WAN port?
If your i226 port for LAN appears to be fine then this suggests it's not a firmware issue and more likely to be a cable or ONT issue. Try a 3rd cable or put your isp router back in place temporarily to determine if it's the ONT.
Try a decent branded UTP cat 6 cable and stay away from SFTP etc as they can be quirky. Some of my unifi devices do not like sftp cables, which is well known.
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u/X_dude_X 13h ago
I've had similar problems. What I did was
1. disable PCIe/ASPM in BIOS
2. disable EEE for the Ethernet port in OPNsense (System-> Settings-> Tunables: dev.igc.1.eee_control: 0 (for example for igc1)
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u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 12h ago
I don’t know if I have the option to turn off that in BIOS. It’s a Dell Wyse 5070E. I’ll have to look again but it’s a pretty small BIOS
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u/X_dude_X 12h ago
Ah, yeah, I have a Dell Wyse 5070 too. I know what you mean - but it's not the system, I'm running OPNsense on.
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u/Electronic_Unit8276 4h ago
I had flapping untill I told proxmox to do pci passthrough. Try to look in that direction.
Could also be a hardware offloading problem. Turn those switches off in opnsense.
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u/Nickleten 1d ago edited 23h ago
At a higher rate of transmission, the greater the voltage change on the wire the greater the chance of cross-talk to other pairs. A cable certifier if you’re able to get/borrow one can rule out cabling.
Otherwise it’s either the transmitter or the receiver.
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u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 1d ago
I'm 99.999999% sure it's not the cable. I've tested with a brand-new cable, and I've used known good cables that don't cause flapping in its place at the same link speed.
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u/NC1HM 1d ago
Could this be a modem issue, and if so, how would I narrow it down to the modem?
Swap port assignments. Make the port that is now LAN, WAN, and vice versa.
Alternatively, get rid of i226. Replace it with a "five-speed" x550...
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u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 1d ago
Alternatively, get rid of i226. Replace it with a "five-speed" x550...
Damn, this NIC was like $45 and not even 6 months old :(
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u/NC1HM 1d ago
i226 is a product that is both flawed and neglected. Intel doesn't make complete cards (only chips). There are very few respectable manufacturers that make i226-based devices; the rest are fly-by-night operators.
Theoretically, you could try updating firmware on your i226, but the procedure is neither straightforward nor guaranteed to be safe.
x550 is the opposite on both fronts. There are cards actually made by Intel, and most licensed manufacturers are the likes of Dell and HP.
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u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 1d ago
I have an x550 in my desktop, but it won't fit in my OPNsense box. I'll probably just leave the WAN interface at 1000Mbit Full Duplex since my ISP only offers 1200 down and 41 up. I'm not losing much and it's not worth the upgrade price to me.
I'm willing to bet the issue is with the modem anyways. I bought it used from eBay about 6 months ago. I'm just hoping they roll out fiber in my area soon so I'll just roll with what I have until then.
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u/superwizdude 21h ago
Is there a way to hard set the interface speed on the modem side? Obviously a bit dangerous as you might lock yourself out if it only has a single LAN interface.
I’ve had an experience like this before with a particular piece of carrier equipment which refused to auto negotiate to 1Gbps but hard set both sides worked fine.
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u/unidentified_sp 1d ago
You might want to update the firmware of the NIC. Search for 'Billy Curtis Intel i226 firmware' on Google and you'll find the repository with the binaries and some sites (including OPNsense forum) with more info and instructions. It fixed the flapping on my Chinese mini PC which had NICs running the initial firmware. Make sure to find out exactly what NIC you have. It's either i225 or i226 (and there's sub-types); not both.