I’ve tried it in both bypass mode, and normal router mode. Both are experiencing this issue when plugged directly into the WAN port on the Pepwave router. [quote=“todd, post:21, topic:40836”]
I can’t seem to find the “Alerts, LanEthSlowlink10” or like your pic above.
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It is listed in the Starlink app. The debugging information give you a bit more details on how the router is connected and such. Not on the pepwave side.
Basically yes. If Starlink ethernet adapter is used directly to the Pepwave, it doesn’t work without high packet loss, slow speeds, and connections timing out. If I put a switch in between the Starlink adapter and the Pepwave router (so the pepwave it technically connecting to this switch and not Starlink ethernet adapter), I’m able to get full speeds and no packet loss. So not sure why the pepwave is not happy being plugged directly into the Starlink adapter.
@Zachary_Hazell : You performed a good experiment with the insertion of a switch between devices. I’d suggest this is a matter which justifies the submission of a ticket and I’d encourage you to do so. - Rick
I would get a ticket raised to Starlink support informing them that you have a router which is having an interop issue with the Starlink ethernet adapter and ask if they can provide the ability to set the port speed to a fixed value. Do this as well as the Peplink ticket as it could easily be a Starlink issue as much as a Peplink one.
This is very interesting to me since I was about to order an Ethernet adopter to do exactly the same as you did. What specific Switch (make model) did you inserted between the adopter and Pepwave?
Looks like one or both devices are suffering from an old ethernet chip set issue that has been around since about 2001/2002.
Most people know nothing about this, including most experienced network engineers, but the auto negotiate protocol was never designed to handle the high frequencies of 1000M connections. The issue is that when the connection is heavily loaded OR one end has upstream congestion causing a packet queue the auto negotiation trips. Basically like below:
End 1: let’s do 1000M FD
end 2: ok - I agree 1000M FD
under load:
End 1: Did you say “go to 100M HD? OK - I am at 100M HD” (note that end 2 did not say that…but end 1 heard it"
End 2: umm. ok, I am at 100M HD, but I prefer 1000MFD
End 1: Did you say go back to 1000M FD? OK - I am at 1000M FD
End 2: I agree - 1000M FD
End 1: Did you say “go to 100M HD? OK - I am at 100M HD” (note that end 2 did not say that…but end 1 heard it"
End 2: umm. ok, I am at 100M HD, but I prefer 1000MFD
End 1: Did you say go back to 1000M FD? OK - I am at 1000M FD
End 2: I agree - 1000M FD
End 1: Did you say “go to 100M HD? OK - I am at 100M HD” (note that end 2 did not say that…but end 1 heard it"
End 2: umm. ok, I am at 100M HD, but I prefer 1000MFD
End 1: Did you say go back to 1000M FD? OK - I am at 1000M FD
End 2: I agree - 1000M FD
End 1: Did you say “go to 100M HD? OK - I am at 100M HD” (note that end 2 did not say that…but end 1 heard it"
End 2: umm. ok, I am at 100M HD, but I prefer 1000MFD
End 1: Did you say go back to 1000M FD? OK - I am at 1000M FD
End 2: I agree - 1000M FD
Now, every time it switches there is a burst of lost packets. The only absolute solution is to set both ends to 1000M FD. I NEVER leave uplink ports set to auto unless there is no option for fixed.
Next best solution is to do what you did - put in a switch. Oddly, virtually all switch manufacturers have fixed this issue by putting in a delay before responding to speed negotiation. i.e. I wait for you to offer a lower speed two or three times before responding.
Thank you for this information. Super useful. I’m about to setup a Max Transit Pro and will be using Starlink as one of the wan connections. Hopefully the chipset in this new device can auto negotiate. Either way, I’ll find out soon enough.
I am experiencing this same issue with the Pepwave MAX Transit Duo (8.2.0 Firmware) connected to Starlink (Gen3) via the SL ethernet adapter.
On SL Wifi, I get download speeds above 150Mbps and upload speeds from 10-15Mbps.
On Pepwave with WAN connected via ethernet to SL Adapter, I get about 10Mbps upload and 0.1Mbps upload!
When I change the Pepwave WAN port to use 100Mbps Full Duplex, I get about 10Mbps upload and 10Mbps download, which is more usable, but still losing out on a huge amount of download bandwidth.
Starlink replied to my ticket with the following:
“There was a recent update that would address the issues you were having with your ethernet adapter. Whenever you can reset the router and this should help. Additionally if this does not help the situation please let us know by reopening this ticket. Thank you!”’
I removed the switch and plugged starlink directly into the WAN port. Did a speedtest and got great download, but terrible upload. Open up terminal and do a continuous ping and… oof. Terrible loss. Did a speedtest a second time and download was great 110Mbps, but upload only got 0.21Mbps. So they fixed it half way? I should be getting 10-20Mbps upload at least.
My starlink firmware is currently (Released June 2):
a6b08c6e-3b2d-4346-af31-a54397819878.uterm.release
Hah! Halfway fixed indeed. Very helpful test results here, thank you for sharing. Are you also sharing this with Starlink support or did they close the ticket after their last response?
The ethernet switch method has been working for me, but this week I’m deleting the router and ethernet adapter to move to a 12v DC PoE solution. Hoping that takes care of this issue. I still want to know that Starlink will work well with my Pepwave using the stock configuration too though.
Yes, I share results/screenshots with Starlink Support too. They always close the ticket after each response. Kind of annoying so I have to reply again and say “No, it is not fixed and still experiencing issues”
I’d really like to do the router delete as well and splice the cable into a 12v PoE solution. Maybe when time permits and now that my 150ft cable came in, as I have a backup now.
Just want to chime in and say that I’m not seeing this issue when using Starlink as WAN on a Max Transit Pro. Speeds are typically slower through the router as compared to the Starlink app. However, I don’t have a very controlled test and the speed differences are not as drastic as this thread describes. I woudl have expected the Max Transit Pro to have the same issue as the Max Transit DUO if the issue was on Starlink’s side, but I guess there is more to it.
Just wanted to drop a line and let everyone know that this forum post solved me pulling my hair out for the last month. Using a Max Transit with the StarLink Ethernet adapter saw terrible speeds and consistent (50%) packet loss. Couldn’t figure it out and spent so much time playing with outbound policy, FusionHub policies, anything I could think of. Was just about to switch to using the DtarLink router which would have made me so sad since the SL router gives you zero control over your network.
Found this post on a whim one night, tried it immediately and was impressed how quickly things were fixed.
Hi all, I’d like to add an additional thanks to everyone in this thread. I just got a starlink system for our 5th wheel this week and trying to get it integrated with my max transit CAT-18 (HW2) was becoming a challenge. All the same things others have posted, dropped packets, slow speeds, etc. all while hooked up via the ethernet adapter to the WAN port of the max transit. My fix was the switch (I’m on FW 8.2.1 and still had the issues before adding the switch). Tossed a switch between the max transit and the starlink ethernet adapter and getting lower ping times (~50 ms vs 180 ms), consistent pings (jitter around 21 ms), ~100 Mbps download, ~5-8 Mbps upload and I’m in a waitlisted area. Getting ready to head out tomorrow and this thread cured my short term headache.
I’ll add I’m running starlink in bypass mode. I run multiple SSIDs from my pepwave with a couple VLANS and the starlink router is probably the most dumbed down router I’ve ever seen. So I knew it had to just be a dumb bridge to work best for me. Still has CGNAT but then again so do most cell connections I get.
Why do you suppose speeds are slower through the Max Transit Pro compared to going through only the Starlink router? any packet loss? How are y’all testing for packet loss?
Following this thread. I’m seeing speeds through a Balance slower than through only the starlink router by 30-50%. I’m curious if there is anything to tweak. Not seeing packet loss between the peplink and the starlink router though in my case, but it’s odd that introducing the balance wan-lan hop slows speeds down (and slower than I’ve seen the same balance wan-lan run on a different ISP connection.)
Same issue here (MAX Transit CAT-18), also resolved by adding a switch in between the two. Glad to find this post so I can use a temporary workaround, but hopefully we can get a fix soon! I’ve created a support ticket as well.
