BT Infinity and third party router in bridge mode

[John_Gateshead]

I've just got Google Wifi and would like to use the modem in my TPLink Archer VR600 (aka AC1600) to connect this. I've been attempting to follow various (unclear and slightly contradictory) instructions on line to do this. The gist of them seems to be to delete the existing connection to BT Infinity and create a new one, setting the mode to "Bridge".

I knew I would lose the wireless connection temporarily, so I connected a cable directly from my laptop, switched off DHCP and "wireless radio", deleted the connection and created a new one as advised. Unfortunately, most of the connection options to tell the modem how to connect to broadband were missing. I then rebooted the router. It came back up with no lights on. It was still accessible via the Ethernet connection but didn't connect to the Internet.

The only way I could get things to work (that is, to restore the Internet connection) was by re-entering the original connection parameters (user name bthomehub@btbroadband.com etc), and switching off DHCP and wireless. I noticed it showed no lights in this setup either, which was odd, as the DSL light should still be on. This works with my Google Wifi but I'm concerned that I may be limiting the speed by inadvertently using "double NATing".

The things I don't understand are:

1) How do I tell the modem part of the router how to connect to my broadband line when a bridge connection doesn't show any parameters for this?

2) If I have to add a separate connection to my router configuration for this, doesn't that take me back to square one and make entering the bridge connection pointless?

Can anyone clarify?

Thanks.

[Keith_Beddoe]

There is a guide for a similar router which may help https://www.tp-link.com/uk/faq-1332.html

Remember that PPPoE authentication would have to be handled by the Google WiFi unit.

[John_Gateshead]

Thanks, Keith. I had a quick look at those instructions and they're similar to what I've already tried - no connection parameters.

Does that mean that the Google Wifi has to send the user name and password? In that case, it's more complicated than I thought, as I don't think its app has an interface to do that. I don't understand how the modem can connect if the router has to allow or disallow the connection, as surely the router link is further down the chain.

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@John_Gateshead wrote:

Thanks, Keith. I had a quick look at those instructions and they're similar to what I've already tried - no connection parameters.

Does that mean that the Google Wifi has to send the user name and password? In that case, it's more complicated than I thought, as I don't think its app has an interface to do that. I don't understand how the modem can connect if the router has to allow or disallow the connection, as surely the router link is further down the chain.

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Yes, the modem cannot provide authentication, it has to be done within the router, in your case, the Google wifi.

See https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/6246630?hl=en-GB

https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/6246630#PPPoE

You can use a user name of broadbanduser@btbroadband.com and a password of bt

[licquorice]

The modem connects at the physical DSL layer, the router authenticates at the PPP layer.

However, I'm not sure the VR600 has a bridge mode from a quick look at the emulator.

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@licquorice wrote:

The modem connects at the physical DSL layer, the router authenticates at the PPP layer.

However, I'm not sure the VR600 has a bridge mode from a quick look at the emulator.

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I can`t see it either.

https://www.tp-link.com/resources/simulator/VR600V2_Emulator_2017042601/index.htm

[John_Gateshead]

Thanks to Keith and Licquorice for explaining things. Yes, my modem/router did show "bridge" as a connection type during the setup, but I seem to have been thinking in simplistic terms because I assumed the authentication was set up before the signal reached the router. Will give it a try when I get home.

It looks as if "bridge" only appears if you go into setup through the "Advanced" section, just to complicate things further...

[John_Gateshead]

Thanks for the help but it didn't work. I could select bridge mode through the advanced dialogue, and I rebooted the TPLink. Then (after waiting a minute or two) I entered the user name and password in the appropriate place in Google Wifi. Google told me the changes had been applied but the network was offline. I tried this twice, the second time setting the VLAN ID on with its default value, but it still didn't work.  I could only get my connection back by reverting to the old configuration. Maybe this router (it's V1) doesn't do bridge mode properly.

I was able to remedy the situation by digging out the old BT Openreach modem I still had from years ago. After plugging this in and waiting a minute, setting up the configuration in Google Wifi was simple.

So: plus points to this community and a big minus to TPLink for such poor facilities and lack of documentation. (I wish tech companies would realise that their users deserve information - if there was a description of this router anywhere that says only later versions can do bridge mode properly, or explains how it works with providers like BT if it can be made to, then I wouldn't have wasted so much time.)