Superhub pfSense with VM Superhub

balanga · 30-01-2016, 12:24

Has anyone managed to hook up a pfSense (https://www.pfsense.org/) router to a VM Superhub?

I have the hub in modem mode and have been trying to configure pfSense for the last couple of days without success. Wondered if any else here has managed to get it working....

Using a LINKSYS router presented no problems - it was just a matter of connecting a couple of cables, but pfSense has me tearing my hair out!

Stuart · 30-01-2016, 16:07

to the forum. Looking at their product page, only one product shown appears to be a router. The rest appear to be dedicated firewalls. Firewalls are often built into home routers, but do not provide routing facilities themselves.

Can you give us the model number?

it's worth noting that pfsense themselves appear to be set up to sell to businesses rather than consumers. Having dedicated units for routing, switching and firewalls means that more processing power is available for each. This is important if the network is handling hundreds or thousands of connections, as it probably will be in a medium to large business. However, this takes up a lot of space, and a lot of electrical power. As such, it's not the approach taken by consumer level routers (which tend to be a small box that takes little power but maxes out at a few connections).

balanga · 30-01-2016, 16:34

Hi!

I think you misunderstand about pfSense.... The company develop open source software for routers based on FreeBSD. They also sell routers with the software already installed and configured.

I am trying to configure this software on one of my computers.

This links provides a better idea of what pfSense is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0JFfpG4BWI

Stuart · 30-01-2016, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by balanga

Hi!

I think you misunderstand about pfSense.... The company develop open source software for routers based on FreeBSD. They also sell routers with the software already installed and configured.

Not at all..I didn't know about pfsense before I saw your post, but I did spend some time going through their site before they answered, so I was already aware of the open source software..

It's just that you mentioned using a pfsense router. You didn't mention you were installing it on a spare PC. As such, I assumed you had bought one of their boxes. Which, more often that not in my experience, would be the correct assumption.

Kushan · 30-01-2016, 18:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by balanga

Has anyone managed to hook up a pfSense (https://www.pfsense.org/) router to a VM Superhub?

I have the hub in modem mode and have been trying to configure pfSense for the last couple of days without success. Wondered if any else here has managed to get it working....

Using a LINKSYS router presented no problems - it was just a matter of connecting a couple of cables, but pfSense has me tearing my hair out!

Could you give more details on what is and is not working? Error messages? Log files?

balanga · 31-01-2016, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

It's just that you mentioned using a pfsense router. You didn't mention you were installing it on a spare PC. As such, I assumed you had bought one of their boxes. Which, more often that not in my experience, would be the correct assumption.

Fair enough... I just meant a router running pfSense.

I wouldn't be able to afford a 'pfSense' branded router

---------- Post added at 10:31 ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

Could you give more details on what is and is not working? Error messages? Log files?

I have it working now...

There were no error msgs as such. I just could not establish a connection between hub and router.

The problem was that the hub was in modem mode when I tried connecting to the pfSense box and would not assign an IP address. The trick was to put the hub in router mode first with everything cabled up and then switch to modem mode. When it rebooted it automatically issued an IP address and now it works fine.

Kushan · 01-02-2016, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by balanga

I have it working now...

There were no error msgs as such. I just could not establish a connection between hub and router.

The problem was that the hub was in modem mode when I tried connecting to the pfSense box and would not assign an IP address. The trick was to put the hub in router mode first with everything cabled up and then switch to modem mode. When it rebooted it automatically issued an IP address and now it works fine.

I think your problem was most likely not having the pfSense box plugged into the hub before rebooting it. When the hub is in modem mode, it will only issue 1 IP at a time. So if you've got something plugged into the hub, then unplug it to plug something else it, it won't issue that second device an IP until you reboot.

Sometimes the hub also gets stuck if you try to swap in too many difference devices as well.

balanga · 01-02-2016, 09:55

Believe me, I must have rebooted over a dozen times... It would appear that the hub only assigns an IP address once when it goes into modem mode. It finally worked after I plugged in the pfSense box in router mode and then changed to modem mode. It had been working fine in modem mode when I was using a LINKSYS router but swapping that for the pfSense box did not assign an IP address. I can see why in retrospect....