Host-Uniq tag value pass through

[ukhobo]

Hi all,

I have an ISP (BT in the UK) that supplies a hub/router device with VoIP ports. The goal of what I'd like to achieve is to use psfense as my router / pppoe client to BT and use the BT supplied hub to connect a VoIP handset to enable me to use the BT VoIP service.

I understand that what I'm wanting to do is almost possible at the moment by configuring the WAN interface in pfsense with pppoe config and then also configuring a pppoe server in pfsense to allow the BT hub to connect to the outside world through pfsense.

The problem I encounter is that BT VoIP SIP negotiation fails when I have things setup in this arrangement due to the BT hub dynamically changing the Host-Uniq tag value, a value which is supposed to get forwarded in a request to https://linediscovery.hub.bt.com/, a request which in turn is supposed to return SIP session initiation values back to the BT hub.

I imagine what would be needed to get this working is the ability for psense to extract the Host-Uniq tag value from the pppoe server side when present and forward it on as-is on the WAN interface pppoe client side.

If a change is needed to enable this to work I imagine it could be quite a large change but I'm not familiar with pfsense code so I thought I'd start with a thread here to see if anyone has any other ideas or just sanity check what I've said.

Many thanks, Joe

[DaddyGo]

@ukhobo said in Host-Uniq tag value pass through:

If a change is needed to enable this to work I imagine it could be quite a large change

Hi,

I'm not saying it's impossible , but these are difficult things to do, as ISPs almost universally use custom FW on CPE devices.

Here (PT) we have been trying such implementations for years to get IPTV and VOIP working behind pfSense

I note,..... unsuccessfully, as the custom FW on the CPE, the right setting requires a lot of research to get it to work on the network (and extract the necessary information from the CPE FW), not to mention if you get a working configuration at some point and the ISP changes something and you can start over...

just one example:
(these worked for a while, then became unusable)

with Unifi
https://community.ui.com/questions/SOLVED-USG-Altice-Meo-Fibra-Data-IPTV-Portuguese-ISP/a0fb840b-8aad-4072-bf0e-279c53244475

with pfSense
https://forum.meo.pt/internet-fixa-e-movel-11/tutorial-pfsense-87365

[ukhobo]

Hi @daddygo thanks for your input, on reflection I think I agree with what you've said.

The idea of pfsense being able to extract a continually changing Host-Uniq tag on it's pppoe server side and have a change in that value tear down the pppoe WAN client side and then re-establish the link with the new Host-Uniq tag value is likely too application specific an issue for it to gain traction for a pfsense change.

I'll avoid BT's VoIP service for the moment and stay with Sipgate.

[DaddyGo]

@ukhobo said in Host-Uniq tag value pass through:

too application specific an issue for it to gain traction for a pfsense change.

Exactly

the pfSense level NGFW should serve general purposes, in accordance with RFC and other standards.
It cannot meet everyone's specific needs, this is also a security question.

In many cases, the ISP will require you to use their CPE device, for a number of reasons, f.e.: so they don't lose control of the endpoint,
or in many places (countries), the ISP CPE included as part of a WIFI MASH network, included in the operator's free or pay wireless network.

[willowen100]

@ukhobo I too have a BT/EE ISP connection and would love to be able to place their hub used for VoIP behind my pfSense router.

Someone on the thinkbroadband forum managed to get around it using a custom Asus router firmware (probably similar to OpenWrt). If there was a way to run a cron job on pfSense that extracts the changing Host-Uniq, store it into a file or some kind of varible and then use this to dynamically update the Host-Uniq field within pfSense that'd be one way to go about it.

https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/4664092-bt-fttp-with-digital-voice-alternative-to-smart-hub-2.html?fpart=7#Post4670157

Did you ever find a solution to this?

I persoanlly will be carrying on using pfSense behind my BT router unless someone has a solution.