[GH-ISSUE #1650] netbird in wsl2 / forcing user space wireguard #2860

New Issue

saavagebueno · 2026-08-05T00:49:19-04:00

saavagebueno commented

2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

Originally created by @lambadalambda on GitHub (Feb 29, 2024).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/1650

Describe the problem

First, thank you for the excellent software!

I have netbird running inside wsl2. It connects fine, but no traffic seems to pass. Forcing user space wireguard as described in https://docs.netbird.io/how-to/troubleshooting-client#enabling-wire-guard-in-user-space makes everything work, but I don't see any way to enable this for good in the configuration. I'm not sure why no traffic is flowing in kernel mode, but I don't really care about that as long as user mode works.

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Install netbird in wsl2
Connect to a peer
Connection works, but traffic doesn't flow.

Expected behavior

It should work :)

Are you using NetBird Cloud?

This is self-hosted.

NetBird version

0.26.2

Originally created by @lambadalambda on GitHub (Feb 29, 2024). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/1650 **Describe the problem** First, thank you for the excellent software! I have netbird running inside wsl2. It connects fine, but no traffic seems to pass. Forcing user space wireguard as described in https://docs.netbird.io/how-to/troubleshooting-client#enabling-wire-guard-in-user-space makes everything work, but I don't see any way to enable this for good in the configuration. I'm not sure why no traffic is flowing in kernel mode, but I don't really care about that as long as user mode works. **To Reproduce** Steps to reproduce the behavior: 1. Install netbird in wsl2 2. Connect to a peer 3. Connection works, but traffic doesn't flow. **Expected behavior** It should work :) **Are you using NetBird Cloud?** This is self-hosted. **NetBird version** 0.26.2

saavagebueno added the triage-needed label 2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

saavagebueno closed this issue

2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

saavagebueno commented

2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

@cmjdev commented on GitHub (Mar 10, 2025):

Have you tried adding NB_WG_KERNEL_DISABLED=true to your bashrc? This is just an environment variable that netbird should pick up automatically.

@cmjdev commented on GitHub (Mar 10, 2025): Have you tried adding NB_WG_KERNEL_DISABLED=true to your bashrc? This is just an environment variable that netbird should pick up automatically.

saavagebueno commented

2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

@Gregor1996 commented on GitHub (Jan 20, 2026):

I experienced the same issue and found a solution!

The problem is that WSL2's eth0 interface (which transfers data between WSL and Windows) has a default MTU of 1280. This is exactly equal to NetBird's default MTU, so there's no headroom for WireGuard encapsulation overhead (~60-80 bytes). As a result, larger packets are silently dropped.

Symptoms:

ping works fine (small packets)
TCP connections hang during TLS handshake (larger packets ~1240 bytes get dropped)
tcpdump shows retransmissions that never arrive on the Windows side

Solution:
Increase the eth0 MTU to standard Ethernet size:

sudo ip link set eth0 mtu 1500

This persisted across WSL reboots for me. If it doesn't persist for you, add it to a startup script.

Environment: Windows 11, WSL2, NetBird 0.63.0 running in Docker with network_mode: host

@Gregor1996 commented on GitHub (Jan 20, 2026): I experienced the same issue and found a solution! The problem is that WSL2's `eth0` interface (which transfers data between WSL and Windows) has a default MTU of 1280. This is exactly equal to NetBird's default MTU, so there's no headroom for WireGuard encapsulation overhead (~60-80 bytes). As a result, larger packets are silently dropped. **Symptoms:** - `ping` works fine (small packets) - TCP connections hang during TLS handshake (larger packets ~1240 bytes get dropped) - `tcpdump` shows retransmissions that never arrive on the Windows side **Solution:** Increase the `eth0` MTU to standard Ethernet size: ```bash sudo ip link set eth0 mtu 1500 ``` This persisted across WSL reboots for me. If it doesn't persist for you, add it to a startup script. **Environment:** Windows 11, WSL2, NetBird 0.63.0 running in Docker with `network_mode: host`

saavagebueno commented

2026-08-05 00:49:19 -04:00

@PizzaLovingNerd commented on GitHub (May 30, 2026):

Closing with @Gregor1996 solution. Cheers!

@PizzaLovingNerd commented on GitHub (May 30, 2026): Closing with @Gregor1996 solution. Cheers!

saavagebueno referenced this issue

2026-08-05 01:06:20 -04:00

[GH-ISSUE #2860] Netbird won't reconnect to other windows peer on reboot until I ping the peer #6019

saavagebueno referenced this issue

2026-08-05 01:07:11 -04:00

[GH-ISSUE #2860] Netbird won't reconnect to other windows peer on reboot until I ping the peer #6196

saavagebueno referenced this issue

2026-08-05 01:07:49 -04:00

[GH-ISSUE #2860] Netbird won't reconnect to other windows peer on reboot until I ping the peer #6341

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Reference: DYNR/netbird#2860