Sky Fibre to the Cabinet Rollout - PfSense support?
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Okay, small update to this.
I tried again last night with the correct modem settings, the DHCP log kept showing DISCOVER but no offer.
Maybe my exchange isn't MER enabled - I don't know how to confirm this.
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Hmm, I don't think it's the exchange that has to be MER enabled. The authentication servers are not in the exchange.
They probably do have to support MPoA at the exchange though.
Edit: Nope probably just ticking a check box on some central server.Unless you managed to get hold of a friendly sky engineer I don't know how you could find out. How likely is that! ::)
Until you are sure you can connect via MER any results you get may just be more confusing than useful.
Only one more day to wait.Steve
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May have been a modem issue (or firmware)
Fibre dropped today, will be attempting to get it up and running tonight!
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Boom.
First pfsense install on MER/Fibre
All you do is use the tool here>http://www.ph-mb.com/products/sky-calc and ensure you select the Sagem one.
Then in hostname under DHCP on the WAN connection add your username|password (with the bar).
Connected first time. Well happy!
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Ha. Nice. ;D
Steve
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glad to hear.
was the MER only enabled when you switched to fibre?, or was it enabled all along.
Do you mind posting a brief guide for all sky users that may wish to use pfsense as their firewall/router
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glad to hear.
was the MER only enabled when you switched to fibre?, or was it enabled all along.
Do you mind posting a brief guide for all sky users that may wish to use pfsense as their firewall/router
Yes. For me anyway, I know some users have been using MER for ages on their ADSL line.
I was with Sky since 2008 for broadband though so I was using the legacy PPPoA mechanism with no possibility to use MER.
All you need to do is enter your router username and password (like this (with the | bar) -> USER|PASS) with the bar that you get from the ph-mb website (http://www.ph-mb.com/products/sky-calc) using your fibre routers LAN MAC and wireless key (8 LETTERS).
Drop it into the DHCP connections 'hostname' field:
Simple as that.
Please Note: It is NOT your previous sky adsl username and password
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thank you very much both of you.
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On BT Fiber that I have had working with pfsense for about 5 months, I have to set the WAN interface as PPPoE and set my username and password specified from BT. I wonder why sky uses that connection type and BT does not. Does it make any difference? Just different isp software?
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Well it means they don't have to use PPPoE. No PPP layer means less overhead and a slightly faster connection. Pretty weak argument!
It means they can connect almost anything that has an ethernet port, it doesn't have to support PPPoE. A Sky satellite box perhaps.I have a mate who deals with this sort of thing I'll ask him.
Steve
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Hi All,
I'm in the process of moving to sky (Adsl not fibre), and they are sending me straight onto the SVBN, which I believe means I will be on a MER only connection (no option to use PPPoA).. Currently I connect to my BT broadband using a ZyXEL P660R-D1 Ethernet router, with ipcop handling the actual connection.
It appears that it wont work with the new Sky setup.. but I believe that pfSense will..
Can anyone confirm that the settings and advice in this thread is equally relevant to the ADSL connections? Im just wondering if I should move to pfSense now in preparation as I have no desire to use the Sky ADSL Router.. I'd like to put my router into ENET ENCAP mode which ZyXEL tell me is the same as RFC1483 MER, and then use pfSense with the modifications above to get it all connected.. (Which I hope means I can get rid of the sky router)
Thanks (and apologies for this not being 100% on topic but it didnt seem to deserve a new thread either)
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Should be the same. It will be completely dependent on your modem supporting the correct mode. Ethernet encapsulation sounds pretty good. The only known configuration is using the Draytek V120, where you have to set it in MpoA mode:
http://wiki.ph-mb.com/wiki/MER#WRT54G_.26_Similar_running_TomatoSteve
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Hi All,
I'm in the process of moving to sky (Adsl not fibre), and they are sending me straight onto the SVBN, which I believe means I will be on a MER only connection (no option to use PPPoA).. Currently I connect to my BT broadband using a ZyXEL P660R-D1 Ethernet router, with ipcop handling the actual connection.
It appears that it wont work with the new Sky setup.. but I believe that pfSense will..
Can anyone confirm that the settings and advice in this thread is equally relevant to the ADSL connections? Im just wondering if I should move to pfSense now in preparation as I have no desire to use the Sky ADSL Router.. I'd like to put my router into ENET ENCAP mode which ZyXEL tell me is the same as RFC1483 MER, and then use pfSense with the modifications above to get it all connected.. (Which I hope means I can get rid of the sky router)
Thanks (and apologies for this not being 100% on topic but it didnt seem to deserve a new thread either)
For me, it didn't work for ADSL.
I had to use PPPoA bridge on the Draytek Vigor 120.
If you have a modem thats capable of bridging it will be the same.
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Hi All,
I'm in the process of moving to sky (Adsl not fibre), and they are sending me straight onto the SVBN, which I believe means I will be on a MER only connection (no option to use PPPoA).. Currently I connect to my BT broadband using a ZyXEL P660R-D1 Ethernet router, with ipcop handling the actual connection.
It appears that it wont work with the new Sky setup.. but I believe that pfSense will..
Can anyone confirm that the settings and advice in this thread is equally relevant to the ADSL connections? Im just wondering if I should move to pfSense now in preparation as I have no desire to use the Sky ADSL Router.. I'd like to put my router into ENET ENCAP mode which ZyXEL tell me is the same as RFC1483 MER, and then use pfSense with the modifications above to get it all connected.. (Which I hope means I can get rid of the sky router)
Thanks (and apologies for this not being 100% on topic but it didnt seem to deserve a new thread either)
For me, it didn't work for ADSL.
I had to use PPPoA bridge on the Draytek Vigor 120.
If you have a modem thats capable of bridging it will be the same.
cheers, it worked for me on adsl2+ unlimited. so glad
cant wait for fibre in june -
Why do you just put the WAN port into the Sky router and on the Sky port just DMZ the pfsense IP on that Sky router :P ::)
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Because that leaves you at the mercy of who ever wrote the firmware in the Sagem router as well as being dependent on the throughput of it's hardware. ;)
Steve
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Why do you just put the WAN port into the Sky router and on the Sky port just DMZ the pfsense IP on that Sky router :P ::)
Because that's an awful idea.
Stage 3 of my project (Maxterm 8300B > Intel Atom 330D) is to implement Pfsense on an ESXi box.
I wonder if I can do PPPoE through a switch.
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Why do you just put the WAN port into the Sky router and on the Sky port just DMZ the pfsense IP on that Sky router :P ::)
Because that's an awful idea.
:D True, Lets hope Virgin Media never do this aswell :o but recently we have been upgraded to superhub made by NETGEAR all in one wireless and modem combo, But theres a downside from BT side. If your still fair from the bt exchange you wont get say 38 Mbps Down because some of the wires are not fiber from your house to there cabinet is all copper with Virgin Media is all fiber from your house to there cabinet and from there cabinet to where ever is all fiber and you will get your full speeds.
Ok now heres the downside to Virgin Media,
30 Mbps reach 7GB in the daytime they cap you 15 Mbps speed until 5 hours
60 Mbps reach 1TB in the daytime they cap you 30 Mbps speed until 5 hours - The one of the reason why im on this package too many Sky anytime+ downloads from the misses and PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
120Mbps reach 2TB in the daytime they cap you 60 Mbps speed until 5 hours -
Capped to 60Mbps doesn't sound too bad. ;)
The FTTC dsl operated by bt wholesale and used by everyone except virgin uses VDSL2 between your house and the cabinet. VDSL2 is good for up to 250Mbps at 100M.
@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_high_speed_digital_subscriber_line_2:
VDSL2 deteriorates quickly from a theoretical maximum of 250 Mbit/s at source to 100 Mbit/s at 0.5 km (1,600 ft) and 50 Mbit/s at 1 km (3,300 ft), but degrades at a much slower rate from there, and still outperforms VDSL. Starting from 1.6 km (1 mi) its performance is equal to ADSL2+.[3]
So as long as you're within 1km of the cabinet you should see 38Mbps.
Not a problem for me, I'm less than 100M from the exchange! :P
Steve
