FastTrack - New feature in 6.29

Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:24 am

My experience is that correctly used fasttrack helps always in common situations.

MTeeker · Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:51 am

Would you be able to run a Sppedtest (Ookla) on your wired device and comment on it?

Many thanks.

Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:12 pm

Actually my devices are configured in the way that there is no need for fasttrack. The devices are able to handle the traffic without it and the cpu is not maxed out. When fasttrack is on, the main effect is lowered cpu usage, nothing more. So there is nothing I can show you on the speedtest.net results. I had recently temporary 3times more bandwidth limit set on some of my places. When I was testing the fasttrack there, I have found that I am maxing out RB2011 around 100Mbits/s but with fasttrack it is able to run the 120Mbits/s with around 20% cpu utilization. Then I used the fasttrack only for torrents to get downloads faster and do not block the router by cpu utilization. As it prevents queues to work, I am not using fasttrack in any other way than for torrents and local subnets communication.

MTeeker · Sat Sep 12, 2015 6:43 am

Thanks for the reply.

I have just now been able to isolate a local issue with my ISP which has nothing to do with Fasttrack effects, measured via Speedtest indicator.

Red face. Sorry for barking at the wrong tree.
Cheers

Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:19 pm

Never mind. It is not so easy to find the reason of the problem many times.

docmarius · Mon Sep 14, 2015 6:57 pm

Just an observation: If you use fasttrack on a router capable of wirespeed on a PPPoE link, like the RB110AHx2 on a 1Gbps PPPoE, placing a fasttrack rule in the filter table will actually slow it down a tiny amount (in my case 900Mbps vs. 925 Mbps), because of that additional rule adding a small amount of processing while the PPPoE traffic needs to bypass that rule, not being fasttrack-able.
In this case, not using fasttrack is actually faster for WLAN traffic.

MTeeker · Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:30 am

@ jarda,

I decided not to use Fast Track for the time being. Much along your reasoning but with less knowledge than you have.

I am thinking about a potential flaw at the conceptual level. Imagine a convoy of delivery trucks arriving at my University gate, using a metaphor. The gatekeeper checks the first few trucks and then allows the rest of the convoy to go through. To speed up traffic of course.

The implied assumption is the rest of the convoy carries the same thing as the first few trucks.

What risk does Fast Track pose if it's not the case? Is it possible for subsequent packets to carry additional something else that the router firewall is not aware of, and therefore stops its delivery.

Like to hear your thought.
Cheer
(edited for clarity)

Sat Sep 19, 2015 9:25 am

I am thinking about a potential flaw at the conceptual level. Imagine a convoy of delivery trucks arriving at my University gate, using a metaphor. The gatekeeper checks the first few trucks and then allows the rest of the convoy to go through. To speed up traffic of course.

The implied assumption is the rest of the convoy carries the same thing as the first few trucks.

That's not a flaw in concept of fasttrack. A typically configured firewall without fasttrack behaves just like that anyways- checks the initial handshake, applies policies, accepts everything else. You need to understand that a firewall is NOT a traffic scanner, i.e. it does not (and should not) behave like antiviruses do. Once connection is established there's very little firewall can check in the following packets.

MTeeker · Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:26 am

Thanks for that explanation. I got mixed up.

Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:41 pm

It would be nice to have updated Packet Flow diagram with FastTrack blocks added somewhere. It would have made so many things just way easier to understand and diagnose. It took me considerable amount of time, for instance, to understand that outbound inner-tunnel IPsec traffic should be fully exempt from FastTrack processing, otherwise it'll leave the wire unencrypted. Highly counter-intuitive.

Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:28 pm

Correct. I have a feeling (from email communication with mikrotik staff) that they work on some new way of fasttrack implementation. But as always they don't say anything....

Fri Nov 27, 2015 9:52 am

We have made separated documentation for FastTrack on the wiki,
http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Wiki/Fasttrack
Currently it has initial description and configuration examples. More information is coming.

Bytezone · Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:58 pm

Can anybody confirm whether it's supported on x86 .. if not what should i do to use it?
I have v6.33 installed on my computer.

Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:21 pm

No fastpath or fasttrack on x86 for now...

Bytezone · Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:04 am

Even though it's existing as a feature on x86 ROS v6.33, really disappointed i see the fasttrack-connection on the action menu and can not use it !! .. thanks nz_monkey I hope mikrotik people do their job for this matter so i can enjoy this great feature like my friends here.

realdreams · Sun Dec 20, 2015 6:27 am

No fastpath or fasttrack on x86 for now...

or ever? Isn't fastpath/fasttrack using hardware specific capabilities? And for x86, why do you even need it?

realdreams · Sun Dec 20, 2015 6:32 am

ip/firewall/filter
chain=forward action=fasttrack-connection connection-state=established,related log=no log-prefix=""
chain=forward action=accept connection-state=established,related log=no log-prefix=""

Only a test in RB750g, no result...

Same on RB750G 6.33.3, fasttrack filter rule counter is ticking but

IPv4 Fasttrack Active		Yes
IPv4 Fasttrack Packets		0
IPv4 Fasttrack Bytes		0 B

Sun Dec 20, 2015 11:23 am

or ever? Isn't fastpath/fasttrack using hardware specific capabilities? And for x86, why do you even need it?

I can't speak for Mikrotik, but it seems like the natural direction for CHR.

Read this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Pl ... opment_Kit

It is used by Brocade, Juniper and Alcatel-Lucent to do wire speed on x86.

kor3k · Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:33 pm

fasttrack is indeed a cool feature, but it's current implementation is confusing and misleading. it also breaks the "normal" rule behavior.

when you place a "fasttrack connection" rule in your fw, then packets matched with this rule may or may not be fasttracked. that means, not all matching packets are consumed by this rule, therefore you need an "accept" rule right after the fasttrack rule.

this is not how rules behave. also, you cannot just replace your "accept" rules with "fasttrack", you have to add them.

so to correct this, the "fasttrack connection" action SHOULD utilize fallback to accept:

if fasttrack can be applied on a packet, then it is fasttracked.
if fasttrack can not be applied on a packet, then it is accepted.

then and only then all matched packets are consumed, so no need for additional accept rule and no more "broken behavior".

Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:53 am

Interesting concept. As the fasttrack is kind of mangle rule on connection level it should be rather applicable to all types of traffic matching the rule criteria. And anyway there should be also "not match" or "pass" counter on each rule to know what part of load was captured or not matched by each rule. It's obvious that fasttrack is not well cooked enough yet. Mikrotik admitted this to me long time ago. I hope we will see more rationally working fasttrack soon.

Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:47 pm

fasttrack is indeed a cool feature, but it's current implementation is confusing and misleading. it also breaks the "normal" rule behavior.

when you place a "fasttrack connection" rule in your fw, then packets matched with this rule may or may not be fasttracked. that means, not all matching packets are consumed by this rule, therefore you need an "accept" rule right after the fasttrack rule.

this is not how rules behave. also, you cannot just replace your "accept" rules with "fasttrack", you have to add them.

so to correct this, the "fasttrack connection" action SHOULD utilize fallback to accept:

if fasttrack can be applied on a packet, then it is fasttracked.

if fasttrack can not be applied on a packet, then it is accepted.

then and only then all matched packets are consumed, so no need for additional accept rule and no more "broken behavior".

1) mark-connection work exactly the same way.

2) if packet was received fragmented (it is received in slow path) and it will never go fastpath, but it can still trigger that rule, also not all packets form connection will be fastpath as you need some of those to refresh conntrack and arp timeouts, so you need accept rules anyway.

3) how will you combine fasttrack if firewall that checks connection-state=new, like you can do now?

blahblah927 · Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:27 pm

Is there any way to use the fastpath feature with hotspot? my box load is kinda high due to the NAT and queueing

Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:00 pm

There is a presentation available where FastPath and FastTrack is explained in detail. It is available here:
http://mum.mikrotik.com/presentations/E ... 413105.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bl7V5i ... 0HD40QyLEe

kabal · Sat Mar 26, 2016 10:17 pm

On RB750G and RB750UP not worked =( ROS 6.34.3

NetVicious · Tue May 30, 2017 2:36 pm

Hi!

I read RB4xx don't supports FastTrack. But why Winbox it showing this option on the Firewall action ?

IMHO, Winbox should detect this and the fastrack option should not appear.

Regards,

Chupaka · Wed May 31, 2017 5:25 pm

I read RB4xx don't supports FastTrack. But why Winbox it showing this option on the Firewall action ?
IMHO, Winbox should detect this and the fastrack option should not appear.

looks like you're talking about FastPath, not FastTrack. FastTrack is supported by RouterOS, not by hardware

Zdenekhb · Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:30 am

New ISSUE: Fasttrack causes errors with IPTV HLS. If is used Fasttrack , IPTV does not Work.... in all versions.of RoS vhere is it

Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:22 pm

New ISSUE: Fasttrack causes errors with IPTV HLS. If is used Fasttrack , IPTV does not Work.... in all versions.of RoS vhere is it

What do you mean by "IPTV HLS"? can you be more precise? i have no issues with my IPTV and Fastpath? If you use Fasttrack then this traffic is NATed??
There are not enough information in this statement

Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:26 pm

Are you using any of RouterOS functions which are listed here?
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:IP/Fasttrack

"Note that not all packets in a connection can be fasttracked, so it is likely to see some packets going through slow path even though connection is marked for fasttrack. This is the reason why fasttrack-connection is usually followed by identical action=accept rule. Fasttracked packets bypass firewall, connection tracking, simple queues, queue tree with parent=global, ip traffic-flow (restriction removed in 6.33), IP accounting, IPSec, hotspot universal client, VRF assignment, so it is up to administrator to make sure fasttrack does not interfere with other configuration."

If you do, then you need to adjust FastTrack rule so it would exclude this specific traffic.

GARCIADOEGOGERMAN · Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:11 pm

Good Morning!!!
A few days ago I bought an RB750GR3 for my home.
In my house I have internet connection of 30 megs of downhill and 3 megs of climb.
My query is if it is worth using fasttrack for this speed ???
Fasttrack is only for WAN-LAN or does it also affect LAN-LAN ???
On the other hand, the configuration that comes by default has everything activated or you have to do some particular configuration but ???

Thank you very much already.

Greetings.

amt · Fri Aug 18, 2017 4:55 pm

New ISSUE: Fasttrack causes errors with IPTV HLS. If is used Fasttrack , IPTV does not Work.... in all versions.of RoS vhere is it

thats what i try to solve, today i was searching ipTV problems in forum cause i also have a problem at iPTV....
what kind of problem do you have with ipTV ? can you share plase ?

aditrodostress · Mon Aug 21, 2017 12:19 am

fasttrack on rb850gx2 ?

Cha0s · Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:38 pm

RB850Gx2 is not supported.
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:I ... d_hardware

Modestas · Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:03 pm

RB850Gx2 is not supported.
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:I ... d_hardware

However, both OS CLI and WinBox happily allow to enable Fasttrack on RB850Gx2. Filter rule with action=fasttrack-connection is also OK on RB850Gx2.
I really wonder what technical limitations on RB1xx, RB5xx, RB850 prevent FastPath.

GARCIADOEGOGERMAN · Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:41 am

Good Morning!!!
A few days ago I bought an RB750GR3 for my home.
In my house I have internet connection of 30 megs of downhill and 3 megs of climb.
My query is if it is worth using fasttrack for this speed ???
Fasttrack is only for WAN-LAN or does it also affect LAN-LAN ???
On the other hand, the configuration that comes by default has everything activated or you have to do some particular configuration but ???

Thank you very much already.

Greetings.

idlemind · Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:07 pm

Good Morning!!!
A few days ago I bought an RB750GR3 for my home.
In my house I have internet connection of 30 megs of downhill and 3 megs of climb.
My query is if it is worth using fasttrack for this speed ???
Fasttrack is only for WAN-LAN or does it also affect LAN-LAN ???
On the other hand, the configuration that comes by default has everything activated or you have to do some particular configuration but ???

Thank you very much already.

Greetings.

FastTrack will help keep CPU utilization low. It's configured by default so you might as well leave it on. Local connections will only be FastTracked if you are doing inter-VLAN routing on the LAN side. If you have a single flat network on the LAN your traffic will be "switched" at line rate with or without FastTrack.

I use a RB750Gr3 on my LAN and have tested with and without FastTrack and it definitely won't limit you if you turn it off on a 30Mb/3Mb connection as far as accessing the Internet is concerned with a single flat network behind the Internet.

GARCIADOEGOGERMAN · Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:16 pm

Good Morning!!!
A few days ago I bought an RB750GR3 for my home.
In my house I have internet connection of 30 megs of downhill and 3 megs of climb.
My query is if it is worth using fasttrack for this speed ???
Fasttrack is only for WAN-LAN or does it also affect LAN-LAN ???
On the other hand, the configuration that comes by default has everything activated or you have to do some particular configuration but ???

Thank you very much already.

Greetings.
FastTrack will help keep CPU utilization low. It's configured by default so you might as well leave it on. Local connections will only be FastTracked if you are doing inter-VLAN routing on the LAN side. If you have a single flat network on the LAN your traffic will be "switched" at line rate with or without FastTrack.

I use a RB750Gr3 on my LAN and have tested with and without FastTrack and it definitely won't limit you if you turn it off on a 30Mb/3Mb connection as far as accessing the Internet is concerned with a single flat network behind the Internet.

Thanks for your answer!!! Greetings.

FastTrack - New feature in 6.29

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