X553 Chipset and unusable speeds

Started by wesleykirkland, August 12, 2025, 04:33:20 AM

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I've been battling Opnsense for months, trying to replace my old PFSense router with this hardware https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805995358102.html

I've seemingly narrowed down my issue to the X553 Chipset running the 10Gb ports. I'm only able to get 1000/14 throughput on this chipset. I've been able to verify this by installing speedtest-cli on Opnsense and verifying roughly 1000/1000 speeds on the WAN interface with the I-226V Chipset. I've verified the X553 chipset is fully supported by FreeBSD 14, which OpnSense is based on. I've also attempted working with support at Opnsense and have only been met with rudeness and resistance from them.

All of this is on a default configuration (Live ISO and install) with ASPM off and TSO, LRO turned off.

I'm wondering if anyone has been successful at getting Opnsense to function with an X553 chipset or if my hardware purchase needs to become e-waste?

August 12, 2025, 07:44:54 AM #1 Last Edit: August 12, 2025, 07:51:54 AM by JamesFrisch
Did you buy OPNsense Business Support package?


Looking at this:
https://community.intel.com/t5/Embedded-Connectivity/Intel-X553-driver-Support-for-Freebsd-12-1/m-p/697726

it seems to me like Intels stance on this is, that you need to contact you Qotom to resolve any issues.

I guess you already tried the latest drivers?
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/14303/intel-network-adapters-driver-for-pcie-10-gigabit-network-connections-under-freebsd.html?wapkw=x553


Quote from: wesleykirkland on August 12, 2025, 04:33:20 AMOpnsense to function with an X553 chipset
I would think that the support for the X553 chipset should be good, since the Negate 6100 uses the same CPU and the two SFP+ ports seem to also use the x553 chip.

To what are you connecting the SFP+ port, a switch or a client? What SFP+ transceivers are you using? What is the link speed for the link between the router and the switch/client?
Deciso DEC740

Quote from: patient0 on August 12, 2025, 08:04:40 AM
Quote from: wesleykirkland on August 12, 2025, 04:33:20 AMOpnsense to function with an X553 chipset
I would think that the support for the X553 chipset should be good, since the Negate 6100 uses the same CPU and the two SFP+ ports seem to also use the x553 chip.

To what are you connecting the SFP+ port, a switch or a client? What SFP+ transceivers are you using? What is the link speed for the link between the router and the switch/client?

I'm using a DAC cable and connecting to a USW (UniFi) aggregation switch and a UniFi 1Gb GBIC to validate on the end.

I previously tested this with the USW doing 10Gb to my multi-gig UniFi switch and my results were the same.

The client and switch link speed is 1Gb. The router and ONT is 2.5Gb.

August 14, 2025, 11:03:38 PM #4 Last Edit: August 14, 2025, 11:24:13 PM by BrandyWine
A couple of questions:
  • If you cable the two SFP+ ports together, what's the link status in bsd ?
  • What SFP+ module(s) exactly is it?

I just guessing (hypothesis, a tad better), but probably not a bsd/x553 issue.

I would boot into a live linux image and make a performance test, just to make sure that there is no hardware issue.

1000/14 is so low, it is indicating that there is a link layer issue. Maybe try setting the link speed manually on both ends.
Deciso DEC740

I would also comb dmesg and logs for "ix" related stuff, see if anything is barking.

Some net searching finds this:
QuoteNow your using the X5xx series from Intel, which is known to only support genuine Intel SFP's (hence the "hw.ix.unsupported_sfp=1" option), which is only found in the in-tree FreeBSD and Linux drivers. Third party SFP's shouldn't be a problem with this setting, but there are some specials like 10Gb RJ45 adapters (out-of-spec) and BiDi variants for AON Fiber like yours.
Reference --> https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=42936.0