PPPoE connection on multi-WAN setup occasionally goes down without explanation

ttblum

Hello,

I have an Alix 2D3 box running 2.0.1 connected to a T1 configured with a static IP on the 'WAN' connection, and an AT&T DSL PPPoE connection connected to the OPT (named WAN2) port. It seems every few months the PPPoE connection goes down, continuously logging:

Oct 16 14:25:26 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
Oct 16 14:25:26 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
Oct 16 14:25:26 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1256 in 3 seconds
Oct 16 14:25:29 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1256
Oct 16 14:25:29 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] PPPoE: Connecting to ''
Oct 16 14:25:38 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] PPPoE connection timeout after 9 seconds
Oct 16 14:25:38 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
Oct 16 14:25:38 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
Oct 16 14:25:38 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1257 in 3 seconds
Oct 16 14:25:41 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1257
Oct 16 14:25:41 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] PPPoE: Connecting to ''
Oct 16 14:25:50 pfsense ppp: [opt1_link0] PPPoE connection timeout after 9 seconds

AT&T finds nothing wrong with the connection. I've tried reconfiguring WAN2 by DHCP, then back to PPPoE with no change. Connecting a Linksys router to the DSL modem (modem is in bridge mode) brings up the connection just fine. Rebooting the pfSense router brings it back up. I have at least one other router running 2.0.1 with the same setup whose AT&T PPPoE connection is perfectly stable.

Am I the only one having this problem?

Todd

jimp

There are others who have seen that (and some that see it every time their PPPoE goes down), I've seen it myself too but I can never replicate it in a repeatable way. I've tried unplugging the nic, unplugging the DSL line, power cycling a bunch of times, etc. But it never fails for me when I do any of that. I've had my DSL line be down (on the provider's side) for 24+ hrs and it comes back fine, but then some random time a month or two later it'll go down for a couple hours and never come back up.

If you search around a bit here on the forum and on redmine you'll find several others talking about it. The typical subject is "PPPoE won't reconnect after link loss" (https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/1943)