Connecting my router to my ONT & ISP

lit · January 7, 2023, 12:19pm

Hi,

I recently bought GL-AXT1800 to replace the one provided by my ISP (MEO/Altice Portugal). My ISP also provides a terminal (ONT) since it is fiber internet.
I am trying to make my new GL-iNet router works with the ONT terminal.

           +-------------+                       +---------------+  
           |             |                       |   Wireless    |  
------------   ONT-SFU   ------------------------|   Router      |  
     Fiber |             |  WAN              WAN |               |  
           +-------------+                       +---------------+

I have no idea so far how does those things work (protocols, network, authentication, etc.).
I researched the ONT terminal model nothing really useful came up.
There are useful information the back of the ONT such as the MAC, EAN, Client Code, Data Code
Logging into the admin panel of the router provided by my ISP, I see the GPON standard & IPoE are used, plus the VLAN ID is 12.

I searched on this forum & I see that:

IPoE is not yet supported out of the box

Do you need IPoE? It is under discussion, but there is no definite date for development yet.

But there is probably a way to configure it in Luci ?
- Setup WAN port as tagged VLAN 10 for fiber IPoE/DHCP - Network and Wireless Configuration - OpenWrt Forum

Also

I can’t find the configuration for my current ISP in the OpenWRT ISP configurations database

Ok at that point I start to feel a bit lost & wonder if I might have bought the router a bit too quickly without doing research if it might work in my setup.
Could someone guide me on how to progress in my understanding on how to configure my router?

Many thanks for your help

jdub · January 7, 2023, 12:28pm

Who is your ISP? Cutting out the ISP supplied router in a fiber setup is usually not straightforward. You can do a passthrough fairly easily.

lit · January 7, 2023, 12:54pm

Thanks for the quick reply.

My ISP is MEO (Altice) in Portugal.
The only thing I could find is at least this user might have got pretty close to making it work? I am not sure.

My networking skills are quite limited, but is making it so difficult? the use of IPoE, the network configuration? or just the lake of information we usually have with those ISP setup?

If you mean connecting the ONT terminal with the ISP provided router and then connecting the GL-iNet router to the ISP provided one this is what I did as a temporary solution but it is really ugly

jdub · January 7, 2023, 1:03pm

At least for my ISP there is an authentication piece which you can proxy, but you still have to have the router. Unless you’re running into issues with filling up the NAT table (generally small on most ISP routers) just using IP passthrough is usually the way to go. (Again, at least with AT&T here in the US)

See also: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/gqcb7l/on_att_fiber_ont_can_i_connect_my_router_directly/

danbratu · January 7, 2023, 6:29pm

in LUCI/Interfaces/Devices
create new device:
device type - VLAN 802.1q
base device - eth0
VLAN id - 12
MAC Addr - MAC from ISP provided router
this will create eth0.12

in Interfaces WAN select protocol DHCP and device eth0.12

restart router and it should work

i have same type of internet conexion except mine vlan id is 911. took me a while to figure it out but it works

lit · January 8, 2023, 6:42pm

it works perfectly !
many thanks

Sergio · January 9, 2023, 8:36am

I am in a similar situation in Spain and this worked for me

danbratu · January 9, 2023, 7:27pm

@Sergio what you posted works for PPPoE, not for IPoE

danbratu · January 14, 2023, 1:28pm

@alzhao maybe it’s a good idea to add this workaround into future features or on your support page (new section of how to replace ISP modem/router for Internet conexion with ONT over IPoE and specific VLAN Id). just saying… it will help a lot of people.

in LUCI/Interfaces/Devices
create new device:
device type - VLAN 802.1q
base device - eth0
VLAN id - 12
MAC Addr - MAC from ISP provided router
this will create eth0.12

in Interfaces WAN select protocol DHCP and device eth0.12

restart router and it should work

alzhao · January 17, 2023, 9:56am

This vlanid should be specific for different operators.

danbratu · January 17, 2023, 6:01pm

sure. upper post is for @lit.

as a general workaround for IPoE with VLAN id:

in LUCI/Interfaces/Devices
create new device:
device type - VLAN 802.1q
base device - eth0
VLAN id - xxx (your specific vlan id. Eg. mine is 911, @lit is 12)
MAC Addr - MAC from ISP provided router
this will create eth0.xxx (mine is eth0.911, @lit is eth0.12)

in Interfaces WAN select protocol DHCP and device eth0.xxx

restart router and it should work

Nosferatu · September 14, 2023, 10:50pm

thank you for your share, it worked for me, in my case I set the vlan related to my provider location ( Orange Spain ) found from this page: https://wiki.bandaancha.st/Identificadores_VLAN_operadores_FTTH

sudheera · October 2, 2023, 9:50am

Using (odido)T-mobile in The Netherlands and this worked for me with VLAN : 300 . Thanks a bunch

snobs · March 27, 2024, 4:14pm

Hi,

I’ve managed to successfully replace MEO’s ONT with a UFiber Nano G, however I appear to be getting subpar performance and packet loss.

On a 1Gbps service I’m getting ~250Mbps DL and <1Mbps UL.

I believe these issues are to do with the calibration of the laser, I’ve ordered a SFP+ GPON Module and will test in the coming weeks.

MEO are authenticating ONT’s based on the Serial Number of the ONT, simply spoofing the Serial Number will authenticate successfully with the OLT.

VLAN 12 appears to be the data VLAN, spoofing the original router’s MAC address however results in a private 172. address to be given, otherwise you’ll be given a public IPv4 address, not sure why this is the case.

Below is a screenshot of the power stats.

admon · March 27, 2024, 4:16pm

I would not agree here. The great thing about fiber is that it works, or it does not. It’s not like with Ethernet where interferences cause data loss.

snobs · March 27, 2024, 4:20pm

Hm, any idea why I’d be getting subpar performance? I get severe packet loss when running a speed test/put load on the network.

I suspected the TX gain was too low.

I’ve ordered a SFP+ Module with the hopes it’ll fix the issues, I’ve always wanted to terminate the edge PON link directly into my router.

admon · March 27, 2024, 4:25pm

I did not completely understand what you did about the MAC addresses. Are they duplicated within the network now?

snobs · March 27, 2024, 4:30pm

I think what they’re doing is if the MAC is default, it’ll give you an internal IP, this works with their IPTV etc.

Otherwise you’ll get a fully public IPv4 address, so far the issues remain the same regardless of the MAC, I’ll keep mine spoofed because I’d prefer MEO not know I’ve replaced anything, tho they’d be able to tell because TR069 wouldn’t be reporting in anymore.

I think the issues I’m having with performance are to do with some sort of laser calibration, it’s either that or there’s a different VLAN that’s being used.

Edit: Yeah just confirmed the MEO TV Service still works perfectly.

Sergio · March 28, 2024, 7:45am

Hello, good morning. It is possible that you need to clone the serial number, in addition to the mac.
In the Ufiber ONT there are also connection profiles, you can also try different connection profiles.
In Spain, depending on the ISP, you need one profile or another, apart from the VLAN used by your ISP.
Regards

snobs · March 28, 2024, 11:16am

I’ve cloned both the Serial and MAC, the network works as expected, however I just appear to be getting packet loss when the network is under load, also my UL should be ~500Mbps, but I get <1Mbps.

DL should be 1Gbps but I get ~250Mbps, I feel it’s being shaped somewhere.