Networking, Freenas and Gigabit

[thorpj]

I just want to describe my networking setup, and ask a couple of questions:

 

2 PCs + a Freenas PC connected to a terrible ISP modem that supports 100/10 (fast ethernet, i think). At the moment i'm transferring files to my freenas via a pc that is sitting next to the modem, and getting speeds of 10 MB/s. Clearly the modem is the limiting factor in this setup.

 

First question: If i bought a gigabit switch (like this little thing https://www.ple.com.au/ViewItem.aspx?InventoryItemId=601187)and plugged that into my router, could i have a gigabit network between the pcs and the freenas box. 

TLDR: does a switch fulfill the most basic part of a router: the ability to connect stuff?

 

Second question: I know there is documentation online about this, and i have looked at it, but i can't understand how to set a static IP for my freenas. At the moment i have to go into the webgui for my modem, and find the ip that the freenas is using. The main problem with doing this is my modem. Options are limited, and port forwarding within the webgui is way more confusing than it should be.

TLDR: how do i setup a static IP for my freenas?

 

Third question: If i've got a number of devices connected via that switch, to the internet, will each connection suffer if for example, the one pc is copying files to the nas + watching youtube, another laptop is watching youtube, and the other pc is gaming. I have a measly 4 megabit connection, but i'm still wondering.

TLDR: How will the gamer be affected in the above situation?

 

Fourth question: Could you give me an idea of how the terrible modem is affecting internet speeds. I'm about 4000 metres from the exchange, and about 50 from the node (this is on ADSL2+), but i'm still concerned that the modem is a big part of the problem. If it's not, then of course, i can't do anything about that.

Edit: I wonder if using bridge mode on the modem, along with a router would make any difference?

 

And, that's it! thanks in advance

[Vitalius]

I just want to describe my networking setup, and ask a couple of questions:

 

2 PCs + a Freenas PC connected to a terrible ISP modem that supports 100/10 (fast ethernet, i think). At the moment i'm transferring files to my freenas via a pc that is sitting next to the modem, and getting speeds of 10 MB/s. Clearly the modem is the limiting factor in this setup.

 

First question: If i bought a gigabit switch (like this little thing https://www.ple.com.au/ViewItem.aspx?InventoryItemId=601187)and plugged that into my router, could i have a gigabit network between the pcs and the freenas box. 

TLDR: does a switch fulfill the most basic part of a router: the ability to connect stuff

 

Second question: I know there is documentation online about this, and i have looked at it, but i can't understand how to set a static IP for my freenas. At the moment i have to go into the webgui for my modem, and find the ip that the freenas is using. The main problem with doing this is my modem. Options are limited, and port forwarding within the webgui is way more confusing than it should be.

TLDR: how do i setup a static IP for my freenas

 

And, that's it! thanks in advance

First Answer: Yes. Just make sure all of them are connected to the Gigabit Switch while the Gigabit Switch is connected to the Modem/Router combo. The Modem/Router combo will supply the IP address and such (what a router does), but the Switch should remove the bottleneck entirely because then the FreeNAS system will talk to your PC directly over the Switch.

Second Answ- er Response: Depends. What version of FreeNAS are you running?

If you are using 9.3.X, then go to Network, then to the Interface (should be em0), and then set the IP4 address to the static one you want.

 

[Altecice]

Yes a simple switch will do what you need for your internal network.

 

Static IP's are setup within freenas and then within your router add a DHCP reservation so your Router knows not to hand it to another device.

[thorpj]

First Answer: Yes. Just make sure all of them are connected to the Gigabit Switch while the Gigabit Switch is connected to the Modem/Router combo. The Modem/Router combo will supply the IP address and such (what a router does), but the Switch should remove the bottleneck entirely because then the FreeNAS system will talk to your PC directly over the Switch.

Second Answ- er Response: Depends. What version of FreeNAS are you running?

If you are using 9.3.X, then go to Network, then to the Interface (should be em0), and then set the IP4 address to the static one you want.

 

Thanks for helping me out here

 

With Q1, will the switch do that automatically, or will i need to do anything?

 

Q2: I'm on "FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE

I had some trouble setting up the Freenas originally, since i'm not too good with networking. Originally i set an IP4 adress (via the freenas, not the webgui), but the next day i got an error saying that what i'd tried to do had failed, and it reverted to DHCP

 

[thorpj]

Yes a simple switch will do what you need for your internal network.

 

Static IP's are setup within freenas and then within your router add a DHCP reservation so your Router knows not to hand it to another device.

Thanks for your help

 

the main issue there is the modem's webgui. It's more confusing than it should be, so i don't know how to do what you've mentioned.

[Vitalius]

Thanks for helping me out here

 

With Q1, will the switch do that automatically, or will i need to do anything?

 

Q2: I'm on "FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE

I had some trouble setting up the Freenas originally, since i'm not too good with networking. Originally i set an IP4 adress (via the freenas, not the webgui), but the next day i got an error saying that what i'd tried to do had failed, and it reverted to DHCP

 

You're welcome bro.

It will do it automatically.

Choose "Add Interface". 

Choose "em0" (it should be the only one unless you have multiple NICs or Ethernet Ports on the motherboard).

Configure it accordingly.

[thorpj]

You're welcome bro.

It will do it automatically.

Choose "Add Interface". 

Choose "em0" (it should be the only one unless you have multiple NICs or Ethernet Ports on the motherboard).

Configure it accordingly.

Ok, i've got a PCI gigabit nic in the freenas, so i assume it's just the other one

 

 

So from here: I assume that i only need to fill out the ipv4 info. If so, then i only need to know the Ipv4 netmask. Trouble is, i don't understand what that is, or how i can find out what it should be.

 

[Vitalius]

Ok, i've got a PCI gigabit nic in the freenas, so i assume it's just the other one

 

So from here: I assume that i only need to fill out the ipv4 info. If so, then i only need to know the Ipv4 netmask. Trouble is, i don't understand what that is, or how i can find out what it should be.

Yep.

A netmask is basically the size of the neighborhood that is your network. That's a simplification/analogy, but that's basically what it is.

Set it to 255.255.255.0 and your "neighborhood" can have 255 IP addresses communicate together at once (they can "see" each other). 

If you set it to 255.255.252.0, then you can have 765 IP addresses do that. Three times as many. 

Basically, if everything on your network has 255.255.252.0, and your network's base IP range is 192.168.3.X, then anything in your network can "see" devices with IP addresses 192.168.3.1->192.168.5.255 (765 devices IIRC). 

If everyone on your network has 255.255.255.0, then they will only be able to see 192.168.3.1-192.168.3.255 (255 devices, as you can't count the broadcast IP address). If something were on your network with IP address 192.168.4.25, for example, they (the devices) wouldn't be able to communicate with one another.

Essentially: It doesn't matter for your home network. That stuff only really matters for business networks or networks with >255 devices that all need to see each other. So 255.255.255.0 is fine.

The reason Subnet Masks work like that is because the Netmask (short-hand) is responsible for determining the broadcast IP address that pings to everyone in the network and who all is considered "in the network". If my network is 192.168.3.X based, and the Subnet Mask is 255.255.252.0, then the broadcast IP address is 192.168.5.256, and it will broadcast to everything from 192.168.3.1 to 192.168.5.255. 

If it were 255.255.255.0, then it'd just broadcast to 192.168.3.1 to 192.168.3.255, and that's what limits what devices can see each other.

[thorpj]

-snip--

Ah ok, that makes sense

 

Edit: It works perfectly.

 

Now about those other two questions, they're really just to make sure that i wont be wasting money by getting a switch

 

 

Thanks for your help, bro

[Vitalius]

Ah ok, that makes sense

 

And all done: I'll restart the nas, and hopefully it'll stick with 10.0.0.71

 

Now about those other two questions, they're really just to make sure that i wont be wasting money by getting a switch

 

Thanks for your help, bro

I did that backwards actually, for 255.255.252.0, it's 192.168.3.1-192.168.5.255. 

Hopefully, lol. Just make sure you are using the right NIC port (I'm assuming there is onboard, and then there is the Gigabit NIC).

What other two questions? I thought I answered all of them? Quote them please or something.

You're welcome. I like to help, and FreeNAS/Storage + Networking Basics is about all I know well.

[thorpj]

Third question: If i've got a number of devices connected via that switch, to the internet, will each connection suffer if for example, the one pc is copying files to the nas + watching youtube, another laptop is watching youtube, and the other pc is gaming. I have a measly 4 megabit connection, but i'm still wondering.

TLDR: How will the gamer be affected in the above situation?

 

Fourth question: Could you give me an idea of how the terrible modem is affecting internet speeds. I'm about 4000 metres from the exchange, and about 50 from the node (this is on ADSL2+), but i'm still concerned that the modem is a big part of the problem. If it's not, then of course, i can't do anything about that.

Edit: I wonder if using bridge mode on the modem, along with a router would make any difference?

 

 

I did that backwards actually, for 255.255.252.0, it's 192.168.3.1-192.168.5.255. 

Hopefully, lol. Just make sure you are using the right NIC port (I'm assuming there is onboard, and then there is the Gigabit NIC).

What other two questions? I thought I answered all of them? Quote them please or something.

You're welcome. I like to help, and FreeNAS/Storage + Networking Basics is about all I know well.

255.255.252.0 allows 255 ips, i'd love to know who designed that system...

 

I rebooted the nas and it worked perfectly! No longer do i have to scour through the modem's webgui for 10 minutes to find current ip for the nas!

 

I edited in two questions. They're both pretty nooby

 

Networking is a pretty darn useful skill. One day i'll just get so mad at this modem i've got, that i'll throw it out, and go learn networking.

[Vitalius]

255.255.252.0 allows 255 ips, i'd love to know who designed that system...

 

I rebooted the nas and it worked perfectly! No longer do i have to scour through the modem's webgui for 10 minutes to find current ip for the nas!

 

I edited in two questions. They're both pretty nooby

 

Networking is a pretty darn useful skill. One day i'll just get so mad at this modem i've got, that i'll throw it out, and go learn networking.

Where did you see that? According to this IP calculator (you can substitute 255.255.252.0 for the /24), 255.255.255.0 gives 254 hosts, while 255.255.252.0 gives 1022 hosts (my bad, I was wrong).

It's actually a system built on Binary. 255.255.252.0 is 11111111.11111111.11111100.00000000 in Binary. Add up each 1 and it's /22.

255.255.255.0 is 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 in Binary. Add up each 1 and it's /24.

Each one is roughly double the last, so this is how the table would be:

255.255.255.0 = /24 = 254 hosts

255.255.254.0 = /23 = 510 hosts (the broadcast IPs are converted to usable IPs IIRC, which is where the extra 2 come from)

255.255.253.0 is illegal to use and doesn't work.

255.255.252.0 = /22 = 1022 hosts

etc. (each one roughly doubles the last's number of hosts)

Awesome. Glad the thing works right.

Didn't notice, sorry.

Third Answer: No, it won't, unless the Gigabit Switch is a piece of crap. You should be perfectly fine while doing that.

Fourth Answer: It isn't the Modem related to the Internet. 4 Mb/s is horrible. That's not even good enough for 720p (depending on the video) in real time. I know your pain. 

It's the Modem acting as your home router/switch. See, your Modem has a CPU just like your computer does, but it's reallllly crappy in comparison. It has to be able to handle all the data you push through the Modem, which, if you are transferring a file over your network from your FreeNAS system to your PC (or vice versa) using the Modem as the switch, your Modem is probably being overloaded, which makes the Internet flaky because the Modem can't handle that on top of the maxed out 100 Mb/s connection to your FreeNAS system.

So moving the transfer from your Modem to the new switch should help your internet out a little bit (less flaky, but still slow). ISP modems are generally horrible bare minimum hardware anyway.

Fifth (the edit) Answer: That would help if you got a decent Router and used that as the Switch instead. That way, your modem only has to deal with the Internet and nothing else. However, this same setup is what you'd get if you just bought a Switch too. Except that your Modem would then handle the IP address allocation over DHCP as the server. This isn't intensive and you shouldn't have to worry about it.

It's up to you. A Router or a Switch should help your situation significantly.

[thorpj]

Where did you see that? According to this IP calculator (you can substitute 255.255.252.0 for the /24), 255.255.255.0 gives 254 hosts, while 255.255.252.0 gives 1022 hosts (my bad, I was wrong).

It's actually a system built on Binary. 255.255.252.0 is 11111111.11111111.11111100.00000000 in Binary. Add up each 1 and it's /22.

255.255.255.0 is 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 in Binary. Add up each 1 and it's /24.

Each one is roughly double the last, so this is how the table would be:

255.255.255.0 = /24 = 254 hosts

255.255.254.0 = /23 = 510 hosts (the broadcast IPs are converted to usable IPs IIRC, which is where the extra 2 come from)

255.255.253.0 is illegal to use and doesn't work.

255.255.252.0 = /22 = 1022 hosts

etc. (each one roughly doubles the last's number of hosts)

Awesome. Glad the thing works right.

Didn't notice, sorry.

Third Answer: No, it won't, unless the Gigabit Switch is a piece of crap. You should be perfectly fine while doing that.

Fourth Answer: It isn't the Modem related to the Internet. 4 Mb/s is horrible. That's not even good enough for 720p (depending on the video) in real time. I know your pain. 

It's the Modem acting as your home router/switch. See, your Modem has a CPU just like your computer does, but it's reallllly crappy in comparison. It has to be able to handle all the data you push through the Modem, which, if you are transferring a file over your network from your FreeNAS system to your PC (or vice versa) using the Modem as the switch, your Modem is probably being overloaded, which makes the Internet flaky because the Modem can't handle that on top of the maxed out 100 Mb/s connection to your FreeNAS system.

So moving the transfer from your Modem to the new switch should help your internet out a little bit (less flaky, but still slow). ISP modems are generally horrible bare minimum hardware anyway.

Fifth (the edit) Answer: That would help if you got a decent Router and used that as the Switch instead. That way, your modem only has to deal with the Internet and nothing else. However, this same setup is what you'd get if you just bought a Switch too. Except that your Modem would then handle the IP address allocation over DHCP as the server. This isn't intensive and you shouldn't have to worry about it.

It's up to you. A Router or a Switch should help your situation significantly.

Yeah that was noob mistake that i made (with the ips)

 

I should've mentioned it, i know that it happens to me, i'm helping someone (obviously, not with networking ) and sometimes they'll edit the OP, and i'll completely miss it.

 

I was a little concerned about the switch that i found (cheapest at my local store), the TP-LINK SG1005D. But then i read the review for it! 16 pages of 5 star reviews on Nwegg.

 

I've even updated my member status to share the pain that i bear

"I know your pain" What's yours like?

 

I'll go with that switch, so gigabit (almost) everywhere! Plus it gives me an opportunity to stop using powerline.

[Vitalius]

Yeah that was noob mistake that i made (with the ips)

 

I should've mentioned it, i know that it happens to me, i'm helping someone (obviously, not with networking ) and sometimes they'll edit the OP, and i'll completely miss it.

 

I was a little concerned about the switch that i found (cheapest at my local store), the TP-LINK SG1005D. But then i read the review for it! 16 pages of 5 star reviews on Nwegg.

 

I've even updated my member status to share the pain that i bear

"I know your pain" What's yours like?

 

I'll go with that switch, so gigabit (almost) everywhere! Plus it gives me an opportunity to stop using powerline.

Same.

Yep.

TP-Link makes good switches. I use many of them and they are great. I even use two of those very ones. It deserves 16 pages of 5 star reviews.

Yep. Currently, I'm on 12 Mb/s down, but I had 3-5 Mb/s for a looooong while. It was painful. Pre-loading Youtube videos. Waiting all night to download one Steam game that wasn't even all that big (1-2 GB), etc. 

The inverse is even worse. Uploading a 720p 10 minute videos to Youtube takes 8-10 hours on a 1 Mb/s upload connection. 

Powerline is ... ok. It depends on where and how it's used though. It's not much better than WiFi except that it can go places WiFi can't.

[thorpj]

Same.

Yep.

TP-Link makes good switches. I use many of them and they are great. I even use two of those very ones. It deserves 16 pages of 5 star reviews.

Yep. Currently, I'm on 12 Mb/s down, but I had 3-5 Mb/s for a looooong while. It was painful. Pre-loading Youtube videos. Waiting all night to download one Steam game that wasn't even all that big (1-2 GB), etc. 

The inverse is even worse. Uploading a 720p 10 minute videos to Youtube takes 8-10 hours on a 1 Mb/s upload connection. 

Powerline is ... ok. It depends on where and how it's used though. It's not much better than WiFi except that it can go places WiFi can't.

Well that's one heck of a recommendation, and for only 19(AUD)!

 

Recently i've discovered that i can get free weekends on mobile data. It's quicker to download steam games - at 2.2MB/s for half an hour, then wait another, rinse and repeat - than to use the 4mb connection

 

The wiring in my house is pretty old, so powerline doesn't do so well here.