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!

[Vanadiel]

What he's stating is that you can use PPPOE at full speed, using the supplied Bell Home hub. Bell does not support any equipment after the home hub, like other routers or switches.

Once you start adding your own equipment, there's no guarantee it will operate properly. 

Seems like this specific PPPOE issue is related to the home hub as I have no issues with PPPOE on my own router. I use the GPON only, so I have no home hub in my network chain.

If you have the home hub 4000 there is a 10 Gigabit port available on the unit.

[chend]

Wrong again, it used to work properly. Bell literally did something to break what was already working. If it wasnt working from Day 1, I wouldnt be complaining here about a service that was never working. No one here changed anything on their infra. 
For another political discussion, Bell has a very high priority over the network here in Qc, I have no other choice sadly, thats the main issue IMO. All the competition is stuck at 1G at higher pricing. 

[Vanadiel · Accepted solution]

That is correct. That is why I mentioned that there's no guarantee third party equipment will work properly.

As long as the home hub is working properly, there's technically speaking "no issue". That is why I am thinking it will be a while before this get's resolved, because it only affects a small portion of the customer base and is not "officially" supported.

[dks]

Yes. It has been this way with Bell since they opened their internet service as Sympatico. I agree with your perspective.  

[TechBoyJL]

They have already stated they have escalated this issue to the modem manufacturer.  Why be so negative?

[Chris_p]

Hi All, I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring, I'm having the same issue as everyone else here.

PPPoe passthrough on my UDM-pro has been working for years getting full connection speeds 1.5Gb down-1Gb up. After a power outage I am stuck at 400Mb down - 600mb up

I get full speeds direct from my Gigahub.  Unfortunately Advanced DMZ isn't stable for me so im stuck waiting for a fw update.  Please fix this Bell 🙂

Cheers - Chris 

[NinjaNet]

Hello All,

It seem that the problem is affecting a lot more users, by the time some realize they are not getting proper speed when using PPPoE, around 375 mbps down to 450 mbps up. This is also affecting large files transfer and monitoring a lot of packet lost.

Like others, I was able to test a second router with DHCP double NAT with the same modem and the speed is normal, no issue. 

Bell, Please provide an update and fix your Modem configuration.

Thanks,

[Vanadiel]

Because previous issues often took many months to get resolved and they affected way more users.

[NinjaNet]

I understand PPPoE passthrough isn't officially supported, but it worked flawlessly for years before the recent firmware update. As of today, the issue is still not resolved. I'm experiencing frequent PPPoE connection drops, and Fibe 1.5 Gbps service is now limited and which strongly suggests the issue is with the passthrough path. I hope Bell engineering can provide an update soon, I called many times but the agents are not aware of the issue, they said they opened a ticket on their side, but refused to share more information with their customers.

[dks]

Thank you for your concern. You will find the current status of the issue you raise in the helpful replies with a green checkmark. It has been referred to both Bell and third party providers. As soon as something is known, it will be shared with the community. There is no information on when that will be, however. 

[AxelBest]

I would like to report that everything is working fine for me now. My PfSense has PPPoE connectivity. I didn't change my second router from advance DMZ back to PPPoE, but since the PfSense is working, I can consider that the router will work too. 

[Cylac]

Has your Giga Hub firmware changed or been updated? Mine is still showing 3.11.6.2.

I’m glad it’s working for you, but I’m a little hesitant to switch my setup back from the current workaround just to test PPPoE again, especially since Bell mentioned they would update this thread once there’s an official update or ETA.

Just trying to confirm whether something actually changed on Bell’s side or if this may only be working for some users right now.

[dks]

Thank you for sharing your news. Much appreciated! 

[NinjaNet]

On my side, the GigaHub firmware version is still 3.11.6.1 and even after a reboot it's not updating to 3.11.6.2 for some reason. The PPPoE throttling issue is still not resolved and causing significant headaches with my current operation. The Customer service today transferred me to an Senior Technician but he was not aware of that issue again, very interesting... But he said you should contact the Bell Management team to escalate my concerns, I did a request and now waiting for them to contact me back, if this could also help anyone else. Thanks!

Here is the link: https://support.bell.ca/Unresolved_concerns  

[Chris_p]

I'd advise you guys not to reboot and force an update. PPPOE passthrough was working for me on 3.11.6.1 with reduced speeds connected to a udm-pro.  Before the new fw it has been working fine at line speeds for years. I just rebooted and was updated to 3.11.6.2. Pppoe passthrough is now completly broken.  No changes on my end just the gigahub fw update and I'm dead in the water.

Seriously bell! Come on.  Time to start looking for another isp at this point I'm done.