Third party router with FTTP

[Don+Jukes]

Pete! It looks like you have the solution I am looking for. I have recently replaced my Sky router with a pfSense appliance and the only downside is that I have lost my Sky VOIP phone abilities. I have been playing around with several options but I am still yet to get this working. Would you be so kind as to help me? Thanks!

[kloup]

Hi all,

I'm looking at buying the TP-Link C80 AC1900 router to use instead of our sky hub. Would this be compatible?

Thank you in advance.

[mae-3]

@kloup 

Most TP-Link routers do not support DHCP Option 61, unfortunately, they are not compatible with Sky's authentication.

[jamesspr]

I've just purchased the TP-LINK Archer VR2100 and that works fine with my Sky Q box.

[mae-3]

@jamesspr 

The TP-Link VR2100 is a VDSL/ADSL2+ wireless router it is not well suited to FTTP connections and is unlikely to work with FTTP setups only with FTTC setups.

[jamesspr]

Yes, sorry I jumped in to the end of this discussion, I have FTTC not FTTP.

[JonWr]

Hi @SanjB2022, I'm using Pfsense (2.7.1-RC) and moving from BT FTTP to Sky FTTP in 2 weeks... - so looking at needed config to minimise down time... please could you confirm what you did for settings for WAN setup (IPv4 and 6) on pfsense to make it work (and ensure pfsense Monitoring shows green,...) - thanks

[Nath5988]

I've recently moved broadband (FTTP) providers from BT to Sky.

The router that I prefer to use is a NETGEAR Nighthawk X6S - what settings do I need to change/configure for the router to connect to the internet? Utilising the original settings the router is unable to connect to the internet.

Cheers 

[jamesn123]

---

@Nath5988 wrote:

I've recently moved broadband (FTTP) providers from BT to Sky.

The router that I prefer to use is a NETGEAR Nighthawk X6S - what settings do I need to change/configure for the router to connect to the internet? Utilising the original settings the router is unable to connect to the internet.

Cheers 

---

Does your router have a DHCP OPtion 61 box in its WAN config?

[PaulN1980]

@-rpnz- 

---

@-rpnz- wrote:

Hi All,

So for our FTTx products (both FTTC and FTTP), we use IPoE instead of PPPoE.

For DHCPv6, nothing special is required, if you setup your CPE router for DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (PD).  About 80%~ of Openreach's network we can authenticate DHCPv6 natively, and then DHCPv4 can piggy back on that.

The remaining 20%, will need to be authenticated based on DHCPv4 (and then DHCPv6 can piggy back on that).   For DHCPv4, we require Option 61 to be present, and this just allows us to identify that the DHCP message is coming from the Sky Hub rather than a laptop or client on your LAN.

This isn't actually called "MER", that's a misconception that often causes confusion online.   Whilst there are some 3rd party devices that reference this in relation to Sky UK, the majority won't.   You're better off just searching for what it actually is, and that's simply the ability to support custom DHCPv4 Option 61 or "Client-ID" values.

The good news is that with FTTP you're just looking for a regular router with ethernet ports, which opens up the market a lot more than those with VDSL2 interfaces.  

Hope that helps get you online with your 3rd party router.

---

Is it possible to clarify what the current state on this is?  I notice that a number of users have quoted this 80% of Openreach network (others quote exchanges which I'm not sure is actually correct).  Is the reason that some of the network don't support DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (PD) because it it older equipment, and if so are Openreach looking to upgrade it?  If you live in an area that has been upgraded in the last 2 years are you likely to be in an area that supports it?

[-rpnz-]

---

@PaulN1980 wrote:

---

Is it possible to clarify what the current state on this is?  I notice that a number of users have quoted this 80% of Openreach network (others quote exchanges which I'm not sure is actually correct).  Is the reason that some of the network don't support DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (PD) because it it older equipment, and if so are Openreach looking to upgrade it?  If you live in an area that has been upgraded in the last 2 years are you likely to be in an area that supports it?

---

Sure.  The summary is that it's basically just the old ECI kit that doesn't support Lightweight DHCPv6 Relay Agent (LDRA), which is the function on the DSLAM or OLT that inserts the information we use to authenticate sessions.

FTTP and G.Fast:

• 100% of Adtran, Nokia, and Huawei all support LDRA.
• ECI no support

FTTC isn't quite as clear cut

• Deployed as thoroughly as realistically possible
• Newer Huawei cabinets. ~71,000 DSLAMS support it. Openreach did say they might be able to push it to more last time I spoke to them.
• ECI no support

@PaulN1980 wrote:

---

If you live in an area that has been upgraded in the last 2 years are you likely to be in an area that supports it?

I'd say that's a fairly safe bet.

[pt861]

Hi @-rpnz- . I've got an Orbi Router and Satellite and I'm having problems connecting to the ONT and creating a wifi network. This wasn't an issue before when using the Orbi with BT as the ISP, which preferred PPoE access, using an '@btbroadband.com' username.

If I try and enter the static IP info instead of PPoE, I get four fields to fill in: IP, subnet mask, gateway and DNS. I can't get this to work when using the info found on the Sky router. Can you advise?

Many thanks in advance.

[-rpnz-]

---

@pt861 wrote:

If I try and enter the static IP info instead of PPoE, I get four fields to fill in: IP, subnet mask, gateway and DNS. I can't get this to work when using the info found on the Sky router. Can you advise?

---

Static configuration won't work I'm afraid, as we rely on DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 to trigger authentication.  Your WAN configuration needs to include enabling of DHCPv4 and stateful DHCPv6 clients, and they will dynamically obtain an IPv4 address and IPv6 prefix respectively.

[pt861]

Thanks for responding. I'm a compete novice at this kind of thing - is there a user guide to do as you describe below?

Thanks once again.

[pt861]

I've gone into th erouter settings and it appears that DHCPv4 & v6 are activated. How do I now use the Orbi router in the place of the Sky router?

Thanks in advance.