I just replaced my pfSense pc, a Mitec D2500 from 2015. Still working, just getting old. Replaced it with a Protectli VP 2410. No issues installing pfSense on the new hardware. Restored the configuration with a file from the Mitec. Had to modify the NIC names.
Awhile ago now, maybe a couple of years I watched two of Tom’s videos on vlans and iOT devices. Thanks Tom for all the information provided in the two videos. Basically I copied what he did to create a vlan for “crapwifi” and have two devices on the vlan network.
I swapped out the old with the new hardware with exactly the same configuration. But the Ring doorbell and Alexa Show did not have internet access. They had ip addresses from the new pfSense hardware. Went over every line of configuration related to the vlan. Didn’t find anything. Acted like I fat fingered the firewall and blocked instead of pass. Pulled the new pc and reinstalled the old and both devices had internet access.
I then reinstalled pfSense on the new pc and configured it manually. No change. Also checked with an Ethernet connected pc to the vlan port that is used for a Unifi AP. No internet access.
At that juncture started looking at my managed switch. I cycled power to it. Internet restored. Been running over 24 hours now without a problem. So the vlan was providing dhcp addresses and connections to the two devices but not providing internet access. I have no clue what caused this behavior.
Just curious if anyone has had any problems such as what I described above.
Have you rebooted the problematic devices? You say pfSense was providing DHCP addresses. Did you confirm that there were actually any leases listed on the status page? It might be a stretch, but what I’m getting at is that possibly the WiFi clients kept their DHCP leases and, crucially, their ARP entries, from when the old hardware was in place. Since the new hardware has different MAC addresses, Ethernet frames from the WiFi clients to what they presume is the gateway would not be received at the new hardware.
Initially when the new pfsense box was installed and got ip addresses from Comcast I checked both devices…Ring and Alexa. There’s also a range extender for the Ring only as its outside. When I realized no internet connection on both I checked and there were addresses for all three devices and listed as active. Our desktops and mobile stuff are all static addressed. The DHCP process for the three devices seemed to complete without a problem. That’s what had me baffled.
Also I did take one of my desktops in my office and plug it into the switch port that supplied both the vlan and other subnet to the AP. I manually changed the ip on the pc to the vlan subnet address. No internet. That same port with the other subnet had internet.
So basically the only problem was with the vlan subnet not connecting to the internet. Cycling power to the switch eliminated the problem. Its not an issue that I’ve experienced in the past. I have an Edge Router X as well. I tested it and swapped out the old pfsense box without any problem but did not have the added complexity of the vlan at the time.