Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Can’t get WAN IP from FiOS

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
    25 Posts 5 Posters 7.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      DominikHoffmann
      last edited by

      @NOYB:

      Capture a DHCP Discovery packet from each of them to determine the difference.

      I’ll dig around the pfSense menu to find how to do that. I am wondering, whether DD-WRT is set up for it. Is it?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • N
        NOYB
        last edited by

        @DominikHoffmann:

        @NOYB:

        Capture a DHCP Discovery packet from each of them to determine the difference.

        I’ll dig around the pfSense menu to find how to do that. I am wondering, whether DD-WRT is set up for it. Is it?

        For pfSense
        Diagnostics / Packet Capture
        Interface: WAN
        Port: 67
        Level of detail: Full

        Download the capture and view in Wireshark.

        For DD-WRT
        Don't know.  Not familiar with it.
        If it doesn't have any menu driven capture, maybe it has tcpdump.
        If it doesn't have internal capture capability then maybe capture live with Wireshark by plugging PC into it's WAN port and then turn it on.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D
          DominikHoffmann
          last edited by

          @NOYB:

          Download the capture and view in Wireshark.

          For DD-WRT
          Don't know.  Not familiar with it.
          If it doesn't have any menu driven capture, maybe it has tcpdump.
          If it doesn't have internal capture capability then maybe capture live with Wireshark by plugging PC into it's WAN port and then turn it on.

          For my DD-WRT router the only method I could find was to insert an Ethernet hub between the router and the ONT and also plug in my laptop running WireShark. I am hoping this will lead to success.

          I will still have to learn to use WireShark. It will be slow progress.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • luckman212L
            luckman212 LAYER 8
            last edited by

            I've used and continue to use pfSense with many FIOS installs, it works fine. Which ONT is it?  Have you experimented with manual speed/duplex settings?

            FIOS residential can be problematic with DHCP release/renews if you aren't using their equipment. For this reason, I usually CLONE THE MAC of whatever crap Actiontec etc gateway they supply before I throw it in the garbage. This way, their network thinks it's talking to the original equip and does not balk at handing out IPs.  Saves a lot of wasted time calling into national tech support.

            B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • D
              DominikHoffmann
              last edited by

              @luckman212:

              I've used and continue to use pfSense with many FIOS installs, it works fine. Which ONT is it?  Have you experimented with manual speed/duplex settings?

              FIOS residential can be problematic with DHCP release/renews if you aren't using their equipment. For this reason, I usually CLONE THE MAC of whatever crap Actiontec etc gateway they supply before I throw it in the garbage. This way, their network thinks it's talking to the original equip and does not balk at handing out IPs.  Saves a lot of wasted time calling into national tech support.

              Thanks very much for the tip!

              Cloning the MAC address of my DD-WRT router, which has worked for many years was the first thing I did to troubleshoot.

              I will explore manual speed/duplex settings, when I get a chance.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • luckman212L
                luckman212 LAYER 8
                last edited by

                Ok if you already did that, then yeah - tcpdump/Wireshark is your next move.

                Here's a starting point-

                1. pull out the cat5 cable from your FIOS ONT

                2. ssh to your pfsense, go to opt 8 and run the following:

                tcpdump -i <wan_interface_name>-w dhcplog.pcap -s 0 port 67 or port 68

                3. plug the cable back in and wait about a minute for some packets to be captured

                4. hit CTRL+C and then copy that .pcap file to your desktop computer (use scp)

                5. open that pcap in Wireshark and take a look… happy hunting ;)</wan_interface_name>

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • D
                  DominikHoffmann
                  last edited by

                  @luckman212:

                  Ok if you already did that, then yeah - tcpduimp/Wireshark is your next move.

                  Here's a starting point-

                  1. pull out the cat5 cable from your FIOS ONT

                  2. ssh to your pfsense, go to opt 8 and run the following:

                  tcpdump -i <wan_interface_name>-w dhcplog.pcap -s 0 port 67 or port 68

                  3. plug the cable back in and wait about a minute for some packets to be captured

                  4. hit CTRL+C and then copy that .pcap file to your desktop computer (use scp)

                  5. open that pcap in Wireshark and take a look… happy hunting ;)</wan_interface_name>

                  Thanks very much for the recipe!

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • N
                    NOYB
                    last edited by

                    @luckman212:

                    I've used and continue to use pfSense with many FIOS installs, it works fine. Which ONT is it?  Have you experimented with manual speed/duplex settings?

                    FIOS residential can be problematic with DHCP release/renews if you aren't using their equipment. For this reason, I usually CLONE THE MAC of whatever crap Actiontec etc gateway they supply before I throw it in the garbage. This way, their network thinks it's talking to the original equip and does not balk at handing out IPs.  Saves a lot of wasted time calling into national tech support.

                    When I first detailed this out years ago on Verizon FiOS.  Simply cloning the MAC was not enough.  Packet capture revealed option-125 was being used (Actiontec WR424 others may use different options).  Soon as that was added it worked.  Even without cloning the MAC.  But the beauty of cloning the MAC and fully impersonating the ISP provided router is being able to swap them at will without breaking the lease.  Or even run them in parallel if desired.

                    Frontier FiOS has dropped the use of option-125 and reduced the lease expiration from Verizon's 2 hours to 30 minutes.  Much more out of the box compatible.

                    P.S. Check out the pfSense Status / Interfaces page.  2.4 and 2.3.3 now has relinquish lease option to send the DHCP release message to the server.  :)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • luckman212L
                      luckman212 LAYER 8
                      last edited by

                      @NOYB:

                      When I first detailed this out years ago on Verizon FiOS.  Simply cloning the MAC was not enough.  Packet capture revealed option-125 was being used (Actiontec WR424 others may use different options).  Soon as that was added it worked.

                      Hmm interesting!  Could you point me to some more info on using that DHCP OPT 125? Never needed it myself, but I am in NYC (not Frontier country) and have an older Alcatel I211MK ONT (still GPON, but I don't think they use these much anymore…)

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • D
                        DominikHoffmann
                        last edited by

                        @luckman212:

                        Which ONT is it?

                        How do I find out?

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • luckman212L
                          luckman212 LAYER 8
                          last edited by

                          @DominikHoffmann:

                          @luckman212:

                          Which ONT is it?

                          How do I find out?

                          Look at the sticker on the back?

                          Google it and try to find the one that looks like yours?
                          https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=676&q=fios+ont

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • N
                            NOYB
                            last edited by

                            @luckman212:

                            @NOYB:

                            When I first detailed this out years ago on Verizon FiOS.  Simply cloning the MAC was not enough.  Packet capture revealed option-125 was being used (Actiontec WR424 others may use different options).  Soon as that was added it worked.

                            Hmm interesting!  Could you point me to some more info on using that DHCP OPT 125? Never needed it myself, but I am in NYC (not Frontier country) and have an older Alcatel I211MK ONT (still GPON, but I don't think they use these much anymore…)

                            The two links in the second post of this thread.
                            Also advanced search for impersonate or Actiontec for user NOYB.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • w0wW
                              w0w
                              last edited by

                              Have you looked at system logs? Are there anything regarding this issue?
                              I have had some issues connecting FIOS (not verizon) and this was pure hardware issue, ex realtek NIC on pfsense side that incorrectly established link with FIOS. Manually changed link speed on realtek to 100mbit and it's got an IP, but this can be related only to Realtek.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • D
                                DominikHoffmann
                                last edited by

                                @NOYB:

                                For pfSense
                                Diagnostics / Packet Capture
                                Interface: WAN
                                Port: 67
                                Level of detail: Full

                                Download the capture and view in Wireshark.

                                For DD-WRT
                                Don't know.  Not familiar with it.
                                If it doesn't have any menu driven capture, maybe it has tcpdump.
                                If it doesn't have internal capture capability then maybe capture live with Wireshark by plugging PC into it's WAN port and then turn it on.

                                I employed an old Netgear 100BaseT hub. I plugged the FiOS feed into the uplink port and both my LinkSys router running DD-WRT and my Mac into one of the other four ports.

                                Being a Mac guy, I used an app called CocoaPacketAnalyzer. I think, I managed to capture at least one of the DHCP packets:

                                58:6D:8F:30:6A:58 is the WAN MAC address of the router.

                                Am I on the right track?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • D
                                  DominikHoffmann
                                  last edited by

                                  @luckman212:

                                  Ok if you already did that, then yeah - tcpdump/Wireshark is your next move.

                                  Here's a starting point-

                                  1. pull out the cat5 cable from your FIOS ONT

                                  2. ssh to your pfsense, go to opt 8 and run the following:

                                  tcpdump -i <wan_interface_name>-w dhcplog.pcap -s 0 port 67 or port 68

                                  3. plug the cable back in and wait about a minute for some packets to be captured

                                  4. hit CTRL+C and then copy that .pcap file to your desktop computer (use scp)

                                  5. open that pcap in Wireshark and take a look… happy hunting ;)</wan_interface_name>

                                  I followed your instructions. Here is my command line output:

                                  [2.3.2-RELEASE][xxx@xxx.com]/root: tcpdump -i re0 -w dhcplog.pcap -s 0 port 67 or port 68
                                  tcpdump: WARNING: re0: no IPv4 address assigned
                                  tcpdump: listening on re0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 65535 bytes
                                  ^C0 packets captured
                                  0 packets received by filter
                                  0 packets dropped by kernel

                                  Why would it say, “0 packets captured?” Doesn’t that point to something else being wrong, i.e., that re0 (my WAN interface) is incorrectly configured, somehow?

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • luckman212L
                                    luckman212 LAYER 8
                                    last edited by

                                    post output of

                                    ifconfig
                                    

                                    go simpler… try

                                    tcpdump -i re0
                                    tcpdump -i re1
                                    tcpdump -i re2
                                    
                                    

                                    make sure you are capturing on the right interface … you should see packets flying by

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • D
                                      DominikHoffmann
                                      last edited by

                                      @luckman212:

                                      Ok if you already did that, then yeah - tcpdump/Wireshark is your next move.

                                      Here's a starting point-

                                      1. pull out the cat5 cable from your FIOS ONT

                                      2. ssh to your pfsense, go to opt 8 and run the following:

                                      tcpdump -i <wan_interface_name>-w dhcplog.pcap -s 0 port 67 or port 68

                                      3. plug the cable back in and wait about a minute for some packets to be captured

                                      4. hit CTRL+C and then copy that .pcap file to your desktop computer (use scp)

                                      5. open that pcap in Wireshark and take a look… happy hunting ;)</wan_interface_name>

                                      @luckman212:

                                      post output of

                                      ifconfig
                                      

                                      go simpler… try

                                      tcpdump -i re0
                                      tcpdump -i re1
                                      tcpdump -i re2
                                      
                                      

                                      make sure you are capturing on the right interface … you should see packets flying by

                                      It turns out that while troubleshooting I had inadvertently changed the NIC speed to something incorrect. So, I have been able to capture DHCP packets:

                                      It looks to me like the one shown here is either a DHCPOFFER or a DHCPACK message. The DHCP server is at 72.86.40.1 (= 0x48562801) and offers the IP address 72.86.40.140 (= 0x4856288C). I haven’t figured out, yet, which of the two it is.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • luckman212L
                                        luckman212 LAYER 8
                                        last edited by

                                        Still not enough info. Seems like pfSense is acquiring a valid WAN IP 72.86.40.140 from the ONT. You don't have anything nonstandard in your WAN DHCP config do you? Might be able to tell more if you PM me a pcap file.  If you're worried about leaking any private info, just disconnect your LAN first so only traffic between pfsense <-> ONT is in the capture. Try a packet capture without any filters- need to see other traffic in addition to the BOOTP.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • D
                                          DominikHoffmann
                                          last edited by

                                          Well, it turns out that that one of the NICs in my Zotac ZBOX-CI321NANO-U-W2B was bad.

                                          I found out by swapping the WAN and LAN cables. While before the box failed to get an IP address from my ISP, after the swap it couldn’t be pinged by the LAN. After the swap the router did just fine setting up connectivity with the ISP.

                                          I have now filed an RMA for replacement under warranty with Zotac. It had been an open-box unit purchased from Amazon for a real steal. Very possibly the previous owner had found the problem and returned it for credit without reporting the issue.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • B
                                            bonymattw @luckman212
                                            last edited by

                                            @luckman212 seems like you have a solid background with WAN IP issues on devices. My FiOS connection keeps dropping on the WAN interface and comes back when I reset the interface. Is there any way to solve this ?

                                            I posted in detail here what is happening:
                                            https://forum.netgate.com/topic/133896/wan-drops-connection-3-4-times-a-day-to-r210-ii-verizon-fios

                                            Thank you!

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.