In order to manage WAN PPPOE connections, for more than a decade, pfSense It has depended on MPD5 and Netgraph. Basically, it is what allowed to establish a PPPOE connectionalthough it has had limitations. This has been the case since version 2.1.0, which they launched in 2013. Now, with the improvement in the services, they have made changes to be able to offer higher quality WAN connection to many homes and companies that could have limitations.
The problem is that Netgraph, although it was very important years ago, currently acts as a bottleneck. This means that, with the progress of the fiber optics, with speeds of up to several gigabits, it was not enough. Now, to solve these limitations, IF_PPPOE have presented.
IF_PPPOE, the new PFSENSE controller
From Netgatethey have presented the new IF_PPPOE controller that will be available for the PFSENSE software. It is an optimized controller exclusively in PPPOE. It allows to eliminate that overload, so it allows to achieve an important improvement in performance, especially in multinucole environments.
If we compare it with Netgraph, IF_PPPOE is designed to take advantage of several CPU nuclei efficiently. In addition, having a simplified architecture, and being able to focus only on PPOE, avoids complexity and results in greater agility and speed. It also allows to manage, simultaneously, packages both in reception and Multiple CPU transmission.
They have performed different tests to determine to what extent this is an improvement. The results have been more than promising. When using a Netgear 6100They observed performance improvements ranging from 25 to 100% in scenarios with multiple simultaneous traffic flows. You can see the complete results on the Netgate website.
The IF_PPPOE driver is now available in Pfsense 2.8.0 and in beta 25.03. However, in the Test versions They lack some performance functions. From Netgate they indicate that, although they have performed different tests, they cannot cover all PPPOE servers, so they invite users to test their operator and report any possible problem.
Speeds passing from 10 Gbps
If we look back, at the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, the best we could achieve were speeds of several MBPs. With luck, have more than 20 Mbps, with some ADSL rates that began to become popular in the 2000s. However, the thing has changed a lot in recent years.
Today, we can find Fiber optic rates of several hundred Mbps as something normal, and even reach 1 Gbps. But also, although less, there are rates that already promise the 10 Gbps. The latter will surely be common in the coming years, hence we should be prepared to take advantage of them.
Now, with this new IF_PPPOE driver for pfsense, the speeds achieved go from 10 Gbps. By improving performance, it is possible to have these speeds and be able to take advantage of them, something that can be very useful in certain cases, to offer improved services. It is something that companies can take advantage of, but also domestic users.
