Input and Output Ports

Front Side

The front side of the Netgate 5200 contains most items of interest for connecting to and managing the device.

Rear side view of the Netgate 5200 Firewall Appliance

The items below are marked with circled numbers on figure Rear side view of the Netgate 5200 Firewall Appliance:

#	Description	Purpose
1	RJ45 Serial Port	Connect to Serial Console via RJ45
2	USB 3.2 Type-A Port	Connect USB devices (up to 5Gbps)
3	USB 2.0 Type-A Port	Connect USB devices (up to 480Mbps)
4	USB Micro-B (5-pin) Serial	Connect to Serial Console via USB
5	Power Button (Protruding)	Graceful shutdown, hard power off (Hold 10s), power on
6	Reset Button (Recessed)	Perform Factory Reset Procedure
7	4x 2.5 Gbps Network Ports	Connect to Networks
8	1x 1 Gbps Network Port	Connect to Networks
9	Status LEDs	System Status Indicators
10	Expansion Slot	Reserved for future use.

Serial Console Ports (1, 4)

Clients can access the serial console using the USB Micro-B (5-pin) serial adapter port and a compatible USB cable or via the RJ45 “Cisco” style port with a separate cable and USB serial adapter or client hardware port.

Note

Only one type of console connection will work at a time and the RJ45 console connection has priority. If both ports are connected only the RJ45 console port will function.

Note

The RJ45 Serial Console port is only for use with the Serial Console. It cannot be used for any other purpose.

USB 3.2 Type-A Port (2, Upper Port)

The upper USB port, marked with the USB “SuperSpeed” icon, is a USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 Type-A port capable of 5 Gbit/s transfers.

See also

USB Ports

USB 2.0 Type-A Port (3, Lower Port)

The lower USB port is a USB 2.0 High Speed Type-A port capable of 480Mbit/s transfers.

See also

USB Ports

Power Button (5)

The upper protruding Power Button can put the system into a power-off standby state or turn it back on from that state.

See also

Power and Reset Buttons

Reset Button (6)

The lower recessed Reset Button is used to perform the Factory Reset Procedure.

See also

Power and Reset Buttons

4x 2.5 Gbps Network Ports (7)

This group of four ports are 2.5 Gbps network interfaces. They are explained in detail in Networking Ports.

1x 1 Gbps Network Port (8)

This port is a 1 Gbps network interfaces. They are explained in detail in Networking Ports.

Status LEDs (9)

The status LEDs present a visual indication of the system status. See Status LEDs for information on interpreting the meaning of different LED states.

Expansion Slot (10)

The expansion slot requires an additional riser card not included with the device. It is reserved for future use and cannot be utilized at this time.

USB Ports

USB ports on the device can be used for a variety of purposes.

The primary use for the USB ports is to install or reinstall the operating system on the device. Beyond that, there are numerous USB devices which can expand the base functionality of the hardware, including some implemented by add-on packages. For example, UPS/Battery Backups, Cellular modems, GPS units, and storage devices. Though the operating system also includes drivers for wired and wireless USB network devices, these are not ideal and should be avoided.

Tip

Given the higher speeds achievable by the USB 3.2 port, the upper port should be used for installing pfSense software.

Power and Reset Buttons

Close-up angle of the power and reset buttons

The power and reset buttons are depicted in Close-up angle of the power and reset buttons to clearly distinguish which is power (protruding) and which is reset (recessed).

Power Button

The upper protruding Power Button behaves similarly to a typical ACPI power button.

If the device is powered on and running, pressing the button for 3 seconds performs a graceful shutdown and the system enters a standby state.

If the system is in a powered off or standby state, holding the power button for 3 seconds powers on the device and starts the boot process.

If the system is unresponsive, holding in the power button for 10 seconds will forcefully power off the device. The LEDs will not change color indicating standby state until the button is released. Press and hold the power button for 3 seconds to turn it back on. The circle LED will be solid orange while returning from this state until the OS boots.

Reset Button

The lower recessed Reset Button is used to perform the Factory Reset Procedure.

Pressing and immediately releasing the button has no effect, it does not perform a hardware reset.

See Factory Reset Procedure for details on how to use the button to perform a factory reset.

Networking Ports

The sections on the rear of the device numbered 7 and 8 in Rear side view of the Netgate 5200 Firewall Appliance contain the network interfaces. These ports are labeled 1 through 5 on the device.

Label	Assigned Name	Device Name	Type	Speed
1	WAN	igc2	RJ-45	2.5 Gbps
2	LAN	igc1	RJ-45	2.5 Gbps
3	OPT1	igc0	RJ-45	2.5 Gbps
4	OPT2	igc3	RJ-45	2.5 Gbps
5	OPT3	igb0	RJ-45	1 Gbps

Note

The igc(4) network interfaces on this device do not implement fixed speed operation. These interfaces emulate a speed/duplex choice by limiting the values offered during autonegotiation to the speed/duplex value selected in the GUI.

When connecting different devices to these interfaces the peer should typically be set to autonegotiate, not to a specific speed or duplex value. The exception to this is if the peer interface has the same limitation, in which case both peers should select the same negotiation speed.

Rear Side

The rear of the device has power and related items.

Rear side view of the Netgate 5200 Firewall Appliance

#	Description	Purpose
1	Power Connector	Supplying power to the appliance
2	Exhaust Fans	Expel hot air from the rear of the appliance
3	Grounding Screw	Screw for connecting to electrical ground

Power Connector (1)

The Power connector is 12VDC with threaded locking connector.

Exhaust Fans (2)

The Netgate 5200 has active cooling. These two 40mm chassis fans pull airflow from the front of the appliance across the passive heatsink on the CPU, then expel that hot air out the rear.

Grounding Screw (3)

This terminal allows the appliance chassis to be connected to a common ground, rack, or other supplemental ground to reduce electromagnetic interference.

Status LEDs

The Netgate 5200 has status LEDs to visually indicate the system status.

Status LEDs on the rear of the Netgate 5200 Firewall Appliance, to the right of the Networking Ports.

LED Patterns

The LEDs on the device will light up and/or blink in one of the following patterns to indicate the system status:

LED States	LED Patterns	Description
	Circle Flashing Green	Power On Self Test / Firmware Setup
	All Flashing Blue	OS Boot in progress
	Circle Solid Blue	Boot completed, ready for use
	Square Solid Amber	Upgrade is available
	All Flashing Green	Upgrade in progress
	Circle, Square, then Diamond Solid Red	Triggering Factory Reset
	All Flashing Red	Factory Reset in progress
	Circle Pulsing Orange	In standby mode / OS halted
	Circle Pulsing Green	Powering on from graceful standby
	Circle Solid Orange	Powering on from hard standby