(Newbie) Internet speeds higher but online gaming connection worse??

[railswrack]

I just recently changed to a new modem (Arris S33) and a protectli vault with OPNsense. Also using a switch and wireless access point.

I did this to fix fluctuating and constant speed drops that my old modem/router was giving me. (Netgear C7000v2). This has completely fixed my internet speeds by not only making them more stable but also faster.

However despite my improved speeds, my connection in online gaming is worse than before. This is the 2nd OPNsense router I have tried (thought the first one had faulty hardware or something) but the same thing is happening on my new one.

The game I’m playing uses p2p (peer to peer) connections between players. Not a dedicated server, so connections are based on the “host” player with the other players feeding off the host’s connection.

I’m not sure how to go about fixing it, but from my research I think it might have something to do with UPnP or NAT.

My old router had UPnP enabled and did not have this issue.

I’m not sure how to go about fixing this or what settings to change. If someone could please help me I’d appreciate it! All my OPNsense settings are currently default except I changed my LAN ip from 192.168.1.1 to a static ip.

By the way I game on PC and it is hard wired to my switch (not WiFi). Thank you!

[run('Jimbo');]

Can you go to Google and do a Speed Test and let us know the result?

Make sure no other devices are connected, only the one doing the test. Best on a PC.

Thanks

[railswrack]

940 Mbps download / 23 Mbps upload

[run('Jimbo');]

Nice download speed but your upload is a little slow? I think it should be 30+

Are you able to get a result from your opnsense box while playing your game so you can see where it's lagging.

You can check the traffic graph on the opnsense lobby page and if your upload is maxing out at 23 then you may need higher upload speeds.

Also there is windows task manager then performance to see the network adapter graph.

Thanks

[cookiemonster]

If your application (game in this case) needs to dynamically open ports on your firewall (that's what UPNP does) then you won't find this on OPN. OPN is not a domestic router where that is deemed acceptable by some. In the settings where OPN and other enterprise-grade firewalls operate, that is not usually deemed acceptable nor desirable. So you won't find it in the box
There was a sort of plugin developed some time ago for those who wanted to do it, search in the plugins please.
The alternative is to explicitly open the ports but it becomes a bit convoluted. You need to know which ones and their settings a bit. Other elements could start coming into play too like reflections and other bits.
Also do a search on the forum for UPnP.

[opnfwb]

In my experience most modern online games don't work with out of the box settings on OPN/pfS due to the way they re-write source ports for NAT traffic. I'm not sure why this continues to be the default config. Many years ago it was a security feature but now it just breaks stuff more than it helps. As far as I'm aware only OPN/pfS do this, literally every other implementation of a router/firewall will not.

There are 3 work arounds.

1. You can install a Upnp plugin and attempt to use that to allow devices to open ports.
2. If you have many LAN devices all trying to join the same online game lobby (multiple Xbox consoles for example), you will need to set DHCP reservations for each one and manually set outbound traffic rules for each one and also leverage Upnp. Many threads available for this, see here for reference: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=8812.0
3. You can set static port outbound for your entire /24 LAN and get most games working without additional effort.

I'm going to focus on option #3, its what I've used for over a decade now. This will get you "moderate" NAT and allow the vast majority of games and game consoles to join online and stay connected.

You'll need to manually switch the firewall to Hybrid outbound NAT and manually create a single outbound NAT rule with the "static" port option selected. This will prevent your source ports from being rewritten by the firewall during NAT traversal. It's pretty straight forward and I've attached a screenshot for reference. Make a rule like you've see in the screenshot and save/apply the settings. Then retry your games and see if this helps.