Pppoe passthrough is now broken on Open BSD router

[doverosx]

I’m in Barrhaven on Bell Fibe and it’s been great, using pppoe passthrough (OpenBSD router) with no issues for a while now.

This weekend, I’ve been getting disconnects, crazy high pings and more. Anyone else have problems?

I’ll be *trying* a direct connection to the modem in a bit.

 Using just the modem seems to have resolved the issue so Bell broke something nicely.

[Vanadiel]

PPPOE passthrough and third party equipment are not officially supported. That being said, I use my GPON into a Mikrotik, and shelved my home hub 3000. 

I have not experienced any issues with my setup.

[doverosx]

I wish. I’ve only had the Home Hub and Giga Hub.

I’ll try Advanced DMZ. They broke that in the GH so maybe the 2.13 version fixed it (but then broke pppoe passthrough).

[dks]

I encourage you to look to settings in your router, if you have not. A copy of a traceroute when this issue occurs (copy and paste in a reply, not a graphic image attached) would be helpful in pointing to the location of the potential core issue. Some user have reported similar issues with the Giga Hub when running high loads such as when torrenting continually.  

[doverosx]

There’s nothing wrong with my router, it’s a custom build OpenBSD box that could easily handle the workload of an enterprise office. Yet, I’m only using it for basic port forwards. 

I took pictures of the trace route output and I’ll textualize that later today. You’ll see that delays occur immediately upstream.

[dks]

Thank you for your reply. I did not say anything was wrong with your router. I simply asked about your router setting. You can copy paste text from a traceroute inside the Giga Hub console as well. That is the best option. 

[doverosx]

I think you’re missing the context of my setup. My Router is behind the Gh, the issue only appears when pppoe passthrough is occurring. How would running a trace route from the GH give you any meaningful information?

[dks]

Thank you for your question. I am asking for a modem traceroute to remove the possibility of upstream issues. 

[doverosx]

1	<1 ms	<1 ms	<1 ms 192.168.1.1
2	107 ms	1 ms	3 ms 142.124.41.176
3	*	*	* Request timed out.
	*	*	* Request timed out.
	*	*	* Request timed out.
	7 ms	9 ms	13 ms 142.124.127.124
7	5	5 ms	4 ms 142.124.126.255
8	5 ms	5 ms	5 ms google_bx1-montrealgz.net.bell.ca [184.150.167.189]
9	8 ms	7 ms	7 ms 192.178.86.181
10	6 ms	5 ms	5 ms 172.253.77.117
11	28 ms	5 ms	5 ms dns.google [8.8.8.81

[doverosx]

This is output from the bell modem.

• 1 ms 142.124.41.176 142.124.41.176
• 5 ms 142.124.127.110 142.124.127.110
• 13 ms 142.124.126.253 142.124.126.253
• 4 ms google_bx1-montrealgz.net.bell.ca 184.150.167.189
• 4 ms 192.178.86.237 192.178.86.237
• 5 ms 142.250.236.113 142.250.236.113
• 4 ms dns.google 8.8.8.8

[doverosx]

This is output from pppoe passthrough. Again. It was working just fine before the new firmware version was propagated. I tried pasting the text and it appeared to post, but I don’t see it anymore.

[JB1]

I had same problem as OP.  doing PPOE through gigahub - high latency and high packet loss for the last week ish and then as of last night PPOE doesn't seem to be passing a signal through the my unifi router.  Thought it was an update on the router side of things but I'm now suspecting some auto update with Bell.  Anyone else have this -- curious if its a widespread issue before I end up going down the rabbit hole...

[alexricher]

I'm in the same boat since a few days. Knowing that using a third-party router (pfSense) is not supported by Bell, I haven't even bothered calling support. I've been digging for a few days.

At first, I noticed that whenever I would download something, my connection would drop, I'd get a new IP and it'd be unstable. I looked onto the modem and noticed a new firmware (2.13). I did a modem reboot, factory reset and now, I'm not even able to connect through PPPoE from my pfSense box. Nothing has changed hardware and configuration-wise on my end. It just started not working one day and now, whatever I try (DMZ, ADMZ, PPPoE Passthrough), my pfsense box is unable to connect properly. I got double NAT to work for a few minutes and now it won't work anymore.

Who can we contact whenever those issues arise? I mean, it's most likely triggered by a firmware update because about 2 years ago, I used to have these exact issues, went onto DSLReports, spoke with Dom from Bell, he updated my firmware and it worked well afterward. Flash forward 2 years later, and the problem is back without any interaction from my end.

[alexricher]

Good day everyone!

So, starting this week, I lost Internet connection through my own router, even though nothing was changed on my end and was fine for the last 2 years or so.

For some context:

• I have a 1.5 Bell Fibe connection (FTTH) with a Giga Hub Modem on an ethernet cable going from the 10GB port to a 2.5GB on a pfSense box
• PfSense box connecting through PPPoE with b1###### account, then goes to other switches.
• Not using the Bell routing capabilities as I have my own local network composed of Ubiquiti AP, Switches, etc. All Bell WIFI are turned off, DHCP off, etc.. I usually setup ADMZ for my pfSense box to do PPPoE passthrough.
• About 2 years ago, I experienced issues using my own pfSense router through firmware upgrades on the Giga Hub. Bell customer support wouldn't be able to help, so I had to go myself onto DSLReports forums, speak with Dom from Bell, request firmware upgrades, troubleshoot and resolve the issue. Around Nov 2023, it was resolved by a firmware upgrade and it's been nice since. Sadly, DSLForum is gone, so I'm not sure where to go now.
  • The issues I experienced were that my connection would drop as soon as I had a bit of traffic (downloads) of the modem, then I'd get a new IP and it would do that again a few minutes later. If no network traffic, everything seemed ok, but I would notice it mostly when I'd download something.
• For the last two years or so, everything worked fine, other than the few occasional glitch.
• Fast-forward to early this (Jan 13th 2025), my Internet is unstable.
  • When I'd download something, the Internet wouldn't go higher than 10MB/sec (almost like my connection would be capped or throttled), even with speed tests. If it was done directly on the modem (through the small screen interface), I get a full 1.5GB down/1GB up. But if it goes through my pfsense box, it's 10MB up/down max.
  • Whenever downloading something, my connection would drop on the pfsense box, PPPoE would reconnect, get a new IP and boom, I'm back for a few minutes until it dropped again.
  • I decided to reboot the modem. No go. Did a factory reset, no go. Redid the ADMZ configuration to my PfSense box, no go. I'm unable to connect to PPPoE, or at least, stay connected. I can provide logs from PfSense if needed.

Therefore, I'm wondering:

• Am I the only one impacted by this recent issue?
• Could this be caused by a recent firmware upgrade? If so, is this a known issue by Bell? Is there a new firmware with a fix pending? If so, could I request to have it?
• How could I get my network up and running in the meantime? Whatever I do, I'm unable to get PPPoE passthrough working, and I have about 60 devices on my LAN that depends on it.
• I can provide logs from my pfSense, but I'm unable to provide logs from the Giga Hub modem/router. When I look at their logs, it's dating from 2023, and there are no new logs shown. Not sure why this happen. Even a reset or factory reset does not solve this.
• Who can we reach when this happens? I feel there should be a 2nd level of support for those customers, and we should ideally be able to revert back to older firmware if a new one introduces instability or disconnection.
• Obviously, my family isn't happy about this right now as it impacts them (WFH, etc.), so I'd be interested in fixing this asap.

Thanks for your input and have a great day!

[dks]

Bell left DSL Reports in November, 2023. DSLR and the Bell user forum there no longer exist, having been shut down permanently by the owners on January 15, 2025. Bell support is through the Community Forum.

Customers don't have direct access to Bell technical staff other than through the Bell moderators and staff here. Community All-Stars such as myself operate out of our knowledge base with referrals to Bell staff.

The current Giga Hub firmware is 2.13, which has been out for six months.

It's also useful to remember that Bell doesn't support user attached hardware or user software behind the Giga Hub. What you connect to it is yours. Bell has always said this, even in the days of dialup. Users on Reddit r/bell might be helpful, though.