This topic

PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 15:58:55 GMT

Hi all,

I've been struggling to get PPPoE working with my new BT FTTP connection. It works flawlessly with the SH2, but when connection the ONT to either my pfSense box or a small TP-Link router (AX1500) it seems that they simply timeout and never get a response when authenticating with the ISP.

I have tried a lot of different things that I found here in the community , including leaving pfSense off during the night and doing a cold boot in the morning. I have also done a fresh install as I moved houses and had already quite a bit of config there.

I'm using the bthomehub@btbroadband.com with BT as password (and tried fiddling with VPN, and other configs). I'm getting without any other ideas, so I need a bit of help and hopefully someone out there would be able to help.

When I moved to this house, I had an old Huawei 4 port ONT which did not work, so they replaced it with a Nokia 10G (G-010G-Q) I believe (single port). Could it be they did some type of locking?

Any ideas or help would be appreciated !

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

licquorice — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:04:11 GMT

Nope, no locking.

If the SH2 is working there is no problem with the ONT or network build.

Seems odd that both the pfSense and TP Link aren't working though.

It has to be a config setting in those devices, what MTU size have you set?

You don't need to configure a VLAN with FTTP either, that is done by the ONT

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

NorthernNico — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:04:43 GMT

On The TP-Link AX1500 on the web configuration page do you have a VLAN enabled and I'm assuming you have it setup in wireless router mode and you're conecting the RJ45 cable from the ONT modem to the WAN port on the TP-Link router?

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

NorthernNico — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:06:16 GMT

Exactly this. If you have a VLAN enbaled on the TP-Link then switch it off

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:06:34 GMT

I believe I have tried default (for pfsense is 1500) and 1470 and 1492.. any other MTU value I could try?

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

NorthernNico — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:10:30 GMT

I use a TP-Link Archer VR2100 with my BT FTTP and the MTU is set to the default 1480

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

licquorice — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:11:41 GMT

Should be 1492.

Make sure VLAN is set to off.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:14:24 GMT

I'm guessing the setting is IPTV/VLAN? It is off. The other assumptions are also correct.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:53:06 GMT

None of those MTU settings seem to work on either setup (pfsense and tp-link) 😞

pfsense wan configpfsense PPP logsTP-LINK PPP logs

(don't mind the log date on the above, I have corrected it and tested)

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

stevebrass — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 17:55:36 GMT

What firmware is the TP-Link on?

Have you tried its quick set up wizard?

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 08:36:20 GMT

Tried all the above, no success..

I've given up on the TP-Link and returned it - the issue seems further down the line than in my settings - it's impossible that something that is as simple as a lot of people said and done couldn't be achieved on a simple router.. or on pfSense.

There has to be some kind of mac address locking + caching happening on BT side - it's the only explanation I get continuous timeouts on both sides when authentication. Heck, I even connected my mac directly to the ONT and configured PPPoE as well - nothing.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

stevebrass — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 08:47:53 GMT

Have you powered the ONT down?

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 08:52:00 GMT

Tried power it down for 30 seconds/1 minute maybe, I have also tried reseting it few times while connected to pfSense.. Tried pfSense off the whole night and then cold boot in the morning - not sure I need also to turn off the ONT for more than few seconds/minutes

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 09:22:53 GMT

I have read about the VLAN ID - is this something to try/take into consideration? Some people say it's required, others don't..

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

stevebrass — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 09:38:00 GMT

30 seconds is fine for the ONT. No vlan id needed. It's a real puzzler this one - especially since you can't get a direct connection from the MAC.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

licquorice — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 10:42:16 GMT

@albus7c7 wrote:

I have read about the VLAN ID - is this something to try/take into consideration? Some people say it's required, others don't..

VLAN id of 101 is required but this is a modem function rather than router, so is achieved by the ONT in the case of FTTP but on a combined modem/router in the case of FTTC.

There is nothing on the BT side preventing either the pfSense or TP Link from working.

Are you sure you are entering bthomehub@btbroadband.com as the username rather than bthomehub@btinternet.com

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 20:30:46 GMT

@licquorice you wouldn’t believe how many times I have made sure letter by letter I had the right username 😕

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

licquorice — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 20:33:20 GMT

Had to be asked, it's a common sub-conscious mistake.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

stevebrass — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 08:33:02 GMT

Another common sense suggestion - have you tried a different Ethernet cable.

Re: PPPoE timeout on both pfSense and TP-Link AX1500

albus7c7 — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 18:14:32 GMT

Tried quite a few..

I ended up setting up ONT -> SH2 -> pfSense -> LAN

Portforward 1-65K and DMZ pfSense id... this is far from ideal, but got me going with me home setup..

Tried today again.. just in case - same result!