PPPOE not working after a recent firmware update

[shlomithemoney]

Hello,

I know this is a grey zone and is not officially supported but like a lot of Bell users i use my own routing equipment and like other users i have found that since my modem rebooted on the latest firmware, pppoe from the router is not working anymore.

There is already a reddit thread discussing the details here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bell/comments/1u2k2rb/did_bell_start_blocking_pppoe_connections_entirely/ 

Basically the bug seems to be that "Any packet over certain size would trigger incorrect PPP frame length meaning that the length reported in the header was different from the actual payload size."

Is it possible to know if this is related to some firmware issue and a fix is coming or if it was deliberate change from Bell?

Any info about this would be appreciated since its currently starting to impact more users and we are all on our own so far wasting our time debugging this.

Thanks!

[VerticalPaq]

Oh WOW, I spent months trying to fix my own equipment.

Using the gigahub without a router would get me the proper 3GBPS

With PPPoE, 400mbps

I spent MONTHS and over $200 in buying other 10G network cards and hardware thinking it was my home server.

I spent MONTHS on crappy bandwidth, throttling my downloads so that everyone at home wouldn't suffer.

Eventually I reached out to Claude to dig deep, it found nothing but it started searching the web and found reddit posts and this thread.

Bell broke the firmware! and still didn't fix it? Just roll back for crying out loud, bunch of incompetents.

[BoringPlodder]

Guys!  I finally solved it and now my internet is back up to full speed with PPPoE.  I called 1-877-779-1575 and told them I needed working internet.  A Bell tech was out here this morning, swapped some fibre around and now I'm good.

[dks]

Thanks for letting us know. 

[shlomithemoney]

Hello,

I do not think "excited" is the proper word here and a good read of the situation. This is not us waiting for a "cool new feature" it is us dealing with a degraded internet service for 3 months and most of us are deeply annoyed by this issue. While a lot of us have been patient and been waiting for any kind of ETA, the situation is deeply annoying and starting to be a real deal breaker after 3 months of "patiently waiting" with no ETA or fix in sight. 

It really feels like bell has invested more time into editing post in this thread than posting updates to keep their customer aware. At this point i will be waiting for an update from you guys in the following days or will be switching internet provider as this as been dragging long enough.

Sure "iTs WoRkInG wItH tHe PrOvIdEd MoDeM" and might be fine for beginners and basic users but it is not for anyone serious about their home setup and saying otherwise is simply ignoring your customers reality.

I am pretty sure most sysadmins at bell are not using their default modem and most likely have already applied some kind of fix on their own setup.

[dks]

You are likely correct. Those who want to use their own routers and set up their own networks know how to do so  and have the resources to bypass the Giga Hub. They have also found a variety of support communities. 

[shlomithemoney]

Yes indeed but the bypass does not work for everyone sadly, at least on gpon some ppl like me are getting an issue where the the modified gpon adapter is getting an ip but the speed are stuck under 10mbit. I have tried multiple gpon adapter/firmware and also MIB/OMCI config but always getting  the same issue and sadly those support community have not been able to help yet. The only other ppl having this issue i have contacted have resorted to updating to xgs-pon to be able to successfully bypass. 

[dks]

Unfortunately support for anything beyond the Giga Hub is not provided here. A proper bypass using an ONT and a media converter is the most common way to resolve issues using your own router. Again, there are dedicated groups which support that option. 

[Philonious1]

Indeed. There are plenty of people you can have a DISCORD with about BYPASSING your BELL equipment with a PON adapter.

*cough*ahem*cough 

[dks]

That is what I said. A 30 second search will lead to any number of places. 

[BoringPlodder]

Would that include using a feature that is accessible via a menu option on the Giga Hub's admin page? ADMZ is a feature that is accessible via the Giga Hub's admin page, it does not require any additional hardware, it does not require any sort of hacking or other unauthorized access to enable, and yet it's broken.  Broken by Bell, and they refuse to fix it.

[Furbs]

You and the other Bell allstars keep repeating this line. No one is asking for support. Anyone posting in here had their third party router working just fine without anyone from Bell walking us through it. We just want what was previously working to be restored. I don't even want some script reading tier 1 tech trying to support it - if I have a network issue, the first thing I'd do is remove my router from the picture as yes, its unreasonable to expect Bell to factor that in to their troubleshooting.

If Microsoft removed the ability to run third party browsers because its not their product, they couldn't just handwave it away saying "we dont support that". 

I'm at the point where I will be looking at alternatives because my connection with my router (which was rock solid three years) now needs a reboot every day because of a change Bell made with no notice.

[BoringPlodder]

Calling 1-877-779-1575 got my internet working.  No issues since then.

[RickyB]

I've called Bell several times to get this issue resolved, and they were finally able to push a new firmware update to my Giga Hub 2.0. I've tested everything, and all my problems are now fixed!

You can also ask them to put the Giga Hub 2.0 into true bridge mode and use PPPoE authentication directly on your own router.

I have no idea whether the ADMZ IP drop issue has been fixed or if speeds are any better in ADMZ mode, but I now have my public IP directly on my router, and my speeds are great!

I think I've spent over 7 hours on the phone trying to explain the problem, not to mention all the time I've spent reading through forum threads about it.

IMPORTANT: ONLY THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAN HELP YOU WITH THIS!

ASK TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR AND REQUEST THAT YOUR CASE BE ESCALATED TO THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT!