Training: Traffic Shaping
Netgate pfSense Plus Fundamentals — Section 9: Traffic Shaping
Training slide deck: FUND001-LIVE-SLIDE-SEG9-SHAPE.pdf
Traffic Shaping — Overview
Traffic shaping is a form of managed unfairness of bandwidth. It helps avoid the default FIFO queueing behavior imposed by ISPs.
- Queues define traffic priorities.
- Rules assign traffic to queues.
- There are two separate methods for shaping:
- Limiters (dummynet pipes)
- Traffic Shaper (ALTQ)
Limiters
Limiters provide a quick, easy means of imposing hard bandwidth limits.
- Can be applied on a group or per-IP basis.
- Optionally schedule-based.
- Advanced options include:
- Queue size
- Delay
- Packet Loss
Traffic Shaping Rules
- Rules are evaluated from the point of view of traffic leaving an interface.
- Typically use floating rules to apply shaping.
- In/Out options under advanced rule options are used to assign queues.
- Matches only assign queues — they do not control access.
Traffic Shaping Wizards
The wizards offer an easy way to implement queueing and attempt to automate common scenarios.
| Wizard Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Multiple LAN/WAN | Most common scenario |
| Dedicated Links | For dedicated link configurations |
Traffic Shaping Schedulers
Schedulers are methods of handling queueing. The following schedulers are available:
| Scheduler | Notes |
|---|---|
| HFSC | Hierarchical Fair Service Curve |
| CBQ | Class-Based Queueing |
| FAIRQ | Legacy scheduler |
| CODELQ | Legacy scheduler |
| PRIQ | Easiest solution — recommended wherever possible |
Section 9 Summary
- Try to keep configurations as simple as possible.
- Use PRIQ wherever possible.
- Limiter rules can be on a schedule.
- Limiters can be per-IP or per-network (masking).
- Ensure appropriate rule matches.
- Clear states if needed after making changes.
- Check the Traffic-Shaping section of the book for more details.
Next Module: Lab 9 — Traffic Shaping (Hands-on)
Source Attribution
- Document: FUND001-LIVE-SLIDE-SEG9-SHAPE.pdf
- Course: pfSense Plus Fundamentals and Practical Applications
- Copyright: © 2017 Rubicon Communications, LLC dba Netgate
- Extracted and formatted for internal training wiki.