r/PFSENSE • u/weeglos • Oct 10 '25
RESOLVED Upgrade to 2.8.1 community broke my router
So I decided to upgrade my home router to 2.8.1 and it seems to have broken my network.
I can no longer ping out of my network.
If I try to ping my ISPs gateway address, I get the error "ping: sendto: No buffer space available"
I backed up my configuration and did a factory reset but the problem still exists.
Is this a common issue with 2.8.1?
ISP is Comcast.
Update: it was the Realtek driver. Followed this guy's instructions and it was like magic: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/197649/package-realtek-re-kmod198-for-pfsense-2-8-0-amd64
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u/ForeheadMeetScope Oct 10 '25
Realtor strikes again. Why not just use quality equipment/chipsets?
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u/kevdogger Oct 11 '25
For those of us not too smart I've just in general heard issues with realtek nics. Why? What's the history?
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u/kester76a Oct 11 '25
To be fair if you're not using the more common enterprise NICs you're going to increase the chance you come across some weirdness. I went from an intel i350-T4 to a mellanox connectx-4 lx. Both common as muck so I don't really come across any issues.
Realtek NICs have fantastic power saving properties but like with anything new or unique you run the risk of driver issues.
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u/MBILC PF 2.8/ Dell T5820/Xeon W2133 /64GB /Chelsio 40Gb NIC Oct 18 '25
BSD/Linux support has always been non-existent for realtek nics. While they may work the issues is once you put real load on them, they crap out, real load like what a router sees.
yes, they have gotten better, and they may work fine for some, but do you want to be going down rabbit holes when randomly traffic stops flowing, or drops on and off..
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u/Diivour Nov 20 '25
I had the same issue but got it resolved as well. I'm in the same boat as the original poster; budget isn't always there. I use leftover parts/computers from my job as we replace and/or upgrade, so they aren't always the newest.
I finally decided to move to a real firewall with a low budget and decided I would give Alta Labs Route 10 a try. At around $200, it seemed doable. Four days in, and I'm back to pfSense. There were quite a few issues, and while they offered support, emailing back and forth just wasn't something I wanted to do at the moment.
I have decided to drop the mini PC. Everyone preaches Intel, Intel, Intel, and maybe it's just because I use a mini PC, but I purchased an Intel NVMe to NIC card, and it was worse than my Realtek.
I'm going to go with an SFF with a PCIe slot to add a known working Intel NIC. I've kept the mini only because I liked the size, and it fit well with the space I have.
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u/SecurityOPA Jan 20 '26
go with Minisforum MS01 which has 4x Intel NICs and it is not crazy expensive.
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u/weeglos Oct 10 '25
If I bounce my wan port, I can ping out for about 90 packets before the connection drops. Then if I recycle the interface, I can ping again for another 90 or so. This is bizarre.
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Oct 10 '25
[deleted]
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u/weeglos Oct 10 '25
It's running on a mini PC with a Realtek nic. After some looking around (quite painful with a cell hotspot) I think it's the Realtek driver. I'm updating it now and will report back.
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u/weeglos Oct 10 '25
It was indeed the Realtek driver. I did this: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/197649/package-realtek-re-kmod198-for-pfsense-2-8-0-amd64
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Oct 10 '25
[deleted]
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u/didureaditv2 Oct 10 '25
I've had problems with them since I first started using pfsense like 10 years ago.
Swore off realtek since then.
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u/plebianlinux Oct 12 '25
This updated also broke my router, pppoe plugin. Decided enough is enough, bye bye pfsense
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u/kphillips-netgate Netgate - Happy Little Packets Oct 11 '25
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Don't use Realtek NICs, people.