PPPoE Issues over wireless

[airhkg]

Hopefully I am posting in the right place..

Ok MacBook Pro (also my company computer Dell Latitude), Airport Extreme, Internet = VDSL using PPPoE. Used a Linksys wireless router to dial in on PPPoE and keep connection alive. No problem for 6 months then dead. Router can not make a connection. Got rid of the Linksys and bought an airport and same deal. In short here is what I have found. If I connect the Mac or PC directly to the VDSL modem via LAN cable (hard wire) they both dial right in and and connect quick fast and in a hurry no problem. Now we unhook the LAN from the laptops and plug into the Airport Extreme. Set airport to dial PPPoE and keep connection alive. No joy router can not connect. Now set airport to bridge mode and use the PPPoE dialer on Mac and PC laptops. Same problem except after about 10 or 15 attempts to connect it will finally hook up. I don't get it what's up? Why can I hookup via hard line instantly but, can not do the same wirelessly? Has my VDSL modem crapped out?

 

[corbywan]

It's been a while since I messed with VDSL or PPPoE so bear with me.

It seems to me that your VDSL modem should do the logging in over PPPoE. Is that not the case? Is your setup like other xDSLs where the phone line connects to a box and ethernet comes out of the box, or does your place provide you with a direct ethernet wire to connect to?

 

[airhkg]

Yes I have a telephone line the connects to the DSL modem then a LAN connection from the modem to the computer and or router. In my case hooked up to wireless router. In order to log-in to my service I must use PPPoE protocol. It is not provided for on the modem itself. Need to use PPPoE dialer built into the Mac / Airport or PC.

 

[corbywan]

Here is the first thing I would check. Your VDSL provider may have changed their setup to no longer allow their customers to use routers in order to share the connection with multiple computers. I would check with them to see if this is the case. Maybe check their website. Also see if they have a recommended router or something. Maybe they have limited it that way. If routers from two different manufacturers don't work, something is up.

 

[Cromulent]

Here is the first thing I would check. Your VDSL provider may have changed their setup to no longer allow their customers to use routers in order to share the connection with multiple computers. I would check with them to see if this is the case. Maybe check their website. Also see if they have a recommended router or something. Maybe they have limited it that way. If routers from two different manufacturers don't work, something is up.

There is no way a provider can block a connection to a router. From their end it just looks like one computer using the internet as the router handles NAT. They may get suspicious if you are connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but that is not proof .

 

[corbywan]

There is no way a provider can block a connection to a router.

They could when I worked in support at an ISP. Basically a form of MAC address filtering from the ISP end.

Another way to do it in this VDSL case is only allowing certain PPPoE clients to connect, thus excluding the ones used in routers.

 

[Cromulent]

They could when I worked in support at an ISP. Basically a form of MAC address filtering from the ISP end.

Another way to do it in this VDSL case is only allowing certain PPPoE clients to connect, thus excluding the ones used in routers.

Wow, I never realised that some ISPs were so draconian. Any idea why they did that?

 

[corbywan]

Wow, I never realised that some ISPs were so draconian. Any idea why they did that?

They wanted to limit the bandwidth use to one computer per household. This is back when broadband was relatively new. 256K DSL was like $50/mo. If you had a business it was different, but it also cost you more.

The other way to do it was to have the tech come out for the install (no self install), have him run an app on your computer that would register the MAC address of your computer with their server and link it to that physical line. (This was for cable modem.) If you tried to plug in another device be it computer, router, whatever, no joy.

Or use a proprietary box to limit access to a line. But those days are mostly over.

Any update from the original poster on this one?