PPPOE with Vodaphone

[swansense]

Just recently got a major upgrade with FTTH and a 1Gbps dl and 100Mbps up connection which is a big change from the unstable mobile broadband which i was using for the last 10-15 years. I now want to remove my ISP router and just have my virtual pfsense firewall as my home gateway. For years i just had pfsense communicate with the different mobile routers on a network 192.168.110.0 with pfsense having ip of 192.168.110.1 and mobile router with IP of 192.168.110.2. This was because the mobile routers had no option for bridge mode.

From reading online many are reporting that all that is needed to get PPPOE working with my ISP is to use the username and password below and use vlan 10.
vodafone@vodafone.com
password.

My problem is im not sure how to set this up on the pfsense side. I previously had 2 virtual interfaces set on the VM but now i have add secondary PCI physical interface and passed this through to the pfsense vm in ESX which i will use for WAN(pfsense to ONT). There is another virtual interface then connect for LAN access. I then added the new physical interface within the UI with the username and password above and set it as WAN. I then when to interfaces vlan and set the interface to use vlan 10.

After doing that i would expect that the interface gets an IP address but does not and i dont have any internet connectivity. Is there additional steps i need to do here that i am missing. I am seeing PPPOE packets on the interface when i run tcpdump so i assume i am on the right track.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated,

[swansense]

I spent some more time trying again today after finding this guide and still at a loss.

logs show nothing useful

wan interface setting

wan MLPPP settings

interfaces

gateway settings

[rcoleman-netgate]

@swansense Have you contacted Vodaphone for more information?

[swansense]

@rcoleman-netgate

no but was told by others who have PPPOE working with vodafone and their own router/modems that all that is needed is vlan 10, username and password.

All have said if you contact vodafone you will be told to use their router and any third party router is not supported.

[rcoleman-netgate]

@swansense OK, well, I updated your title so its clear what you're trying to do. It might be a new ISP for you but the issue you're experiencing appears to be specifically Vodaphone.

[swansense]

@rcoleman-netgate
Thanks, I take it i am along the correct lines so?

[rcoleman-netgate]

@swansense said in PPPOE with Vodaphone:

Thanks, I take it i am along the correct lines so?

Unclear but PPPoE is almost always a carrier-specific issue.

[swansense]

I contacted vodafone tech support the first person i talked to didnt have a clue what PPPOE and neither did the second persons.

The third person sent me on the username and password which as different to what others are using.

Username - serial_number@vfieftth.ie
Password - broadband

They had no clue what the serial number i am suppose to use is nor if vlan 10 is required. I tired with the serial number of their router/modem in both up and lower case and still no luck. Not sure should i be spoofing mac address too but thats my next step.

I tired with vlan 10 also like others have recommend but still the same.

I tired to take pfsense out of the equation and tried to use my macbook with all different pppoe settings to see if that would work but still no luck. It just fails with all the setting. The macbook does not have vlan settings so i can test that part.

Is there any tools or apps for Mac that allow setting up with vlan. If i can get it working with that then at least i know a routing or config issue in pfsense could be the issue.

Also looking at vodafone router logs it looks like this may have CNAT as i can see gateway - 10.8.17.1

router.log.zip

[rcoleman-netgate]

@swansense said in PPPOE with Vodaphone:

Is there any tools or apps for Mac that allow setting up with vlan. If i can get it working with that then at least i know a routing or config issue in pfsense could be the issue.

You can set a VLAN for Mac on the Networks page.

Choose Manage Virtual Interfaces

[swansense]

@rcoleman-netgate

thanks for the help. Didnt know that.

you dont seem to be able to set a vlan on an PPPOE interface only a standard interface.
When you create a vlan interface and then a PPPOE connection from it there is no option to enter in username and password like a stand PPPOE interface.

mac-interface-videos.zip

Also i found this guide but this is for a different infrastructure type than i have and didnt work.
https://greenfrognest.com/pfVodafoneSiro.php

[RobbieTT]

@swansense

Why the MLPPP - are you really using Multi-Link?

I would be a bit surprised if you need to set VLAN 10 for Vodafone FTTP. Are you in the UK (where Vodafone piggybacks on Openreach) or another country?

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[swansense]

@RobbieTT

For multi-link im just trying what i am finding online. Open to ideas if you think this is wrong.

Im in republic of ireland and every one guide i found says you need a vlan tag 10. I found this that shows that at least for one guy in UK vlan tag was needed for vodafone too.

[RobbieTT]

@swansense

Ok, MLPPP is for when you are using multiple PPPoE WANs in a particular way. This does not sound like your use case, so no need to set it.

The article you linked to mixes a bit of UK non-fibre modem use and a bit of RoI fibre via a particular fibre carrier and ONT; so it is a bit confusing.

I am familiar with PPPoE (all methods) but not with the specifics of the Emerald Isle. Typically (but not always) the PPPoE VLAN is added between the ONT and the first WAN external hop; ie it is set automatically by equipment not under your control. However, this could be different for Éire.

Does your ONT have any markings to give you a clue as to the actual bearer of the fibre connection? (Sometimes a photo can help)

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[swansense]

@RobbieTT

nope nothing other than Huawei logo and the usual standard things.

Any guide or forum post i found that has people using their own modem all state vlan10 is needed. I have tired with and without it but no luck. The blog post i previously linked to that guy is bearer is SIRO which is ran along electrical lines and is different to the bearer i am using.

Have you any idea how to debug this. There tech support are awful and wont escalate when i ask them to and once they hung up on me.

The bearer of the fibre connection as far as i am aware are OpenEir(https://openeir.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html) as they were the ones i needed to contact to get them to allow me connection as previously the fiber distribution point was not showing available in my location but was showing for my neighbor who was 100 meter further away from the distribution point than me. This has been a long haul trying to get this nearly 15 years fighting for it. when the housing estate across the road has had at least fttc that whole time

[swansense]

I finally got it working.

The issue seems to be the Broadcom NIC i was using.

I used my DR server with a dedicated intel NIC as my current server has no free PCI slots and the intel PCI card is an x4(i think) as its a dual NICs where as the broadcom is an x1 card in current server and bang straight away the connection worked.

it seems the username and password do not matter all that matters is vlan is set to 10.

Here are some shots of my working config incase it helps someone else.

first create vlan on wan interface with vlan tag 10

Configure Wan Interface
Set go to wan interface to vlan interface and set PPPOE and enter random username and password of if you want you can use router_SN@vfieftth.ie and broadband but it made no difference to me other than getting allocated to a different public IP segment.

inteface page should look like this

gateway setting.
This will what most have as default anyway but i had static setting here from a previous setup

gateway dashboard

status page showing IP

you can see the public IP of 109.79.9.169

[fireodo]

@swansense said in PPPOE with Vodaphone:

gateway dashboard

Should it not be an external IP for the Monitor IP?

[RobbieTT]

@fireodo said in PPPOE with Vodaphone:

Should it not be an external IP for the Monitor IP?

It should be and, being PPPoE, it should automatically set itself to the IP of the parent PPPoE node (first external hop) when Gateway IP address is set to 'dynamic'.

Although I cannot think of a technical reason why it could not be an RFC1918 address... Indeed, for PPPoE IPv6 it is common to use just the link-local address. Someone will know more I am sure.

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[swansense]

@fireodo

I found that weird too as when i reviewed the logs of the vodafone router i could see it was getting private ip like in that screenshot.

Anyway it works as expected and now i can dump that crap router they gave me.

@RobbieTT
Please mark as resolved.

[RobbieTT]

@swansense said in PPPOE with Vodaphone:

@RobbieTT
Please mark as resolved.

I would be happy to oblige but I am not a moderator. 🫡

Normally I would redirect you to @rcoleman-netgate who answered earlier but apparently Ryan has been banned??

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[fireodo]

@RobbieTT