topic Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall in Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc

HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

dustymiller259 — Sat, 30 May 2020 10:18:10 GMT

I've just got hold of aHG612 as I want to connect using OPNSense software firewall that is in my VMWare cluster., however when i put the PPPOE settings into OPNSense it does not connect out to Plusnet and acquire my static IP address. The DSL light on the modem goes solid green, and it is configured in bridge mode so should work, yet for some reason it doesn't.

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom on what I've missed, or tried this before ?

Cheers in advance for any assistance.

Dusty.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

RealAleMadrid — Sat, 30 May 2020 11:58:41 GMT

@dustymiller259 Just a possible reason, have you configured a Vlan ID on OPNsense? FTTC connections use Vlan 101 but if you are using a separate Openreach modem this is done in the modem so you only need a plain PPPoE connection with Username (username@plusdsl.net) and your member centre password. Is the modem unlocked so you can look at the stats? You could also try a factory reset of the modem just to make sure it is in default bridge mode. I believe a long press on the reset button will do it.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

dustymiller259 — Sat, 30 May 2020 12:25:08 GMT

No VLAN tagging in OPSense,

The HG612 is configured thus:

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

RealAleMadrid — Sat, 30 May 2020 15:24:01 GMT

@dustymiller259 My bridge type was IP_Bridged but PPPoE_Bridged also works for me so it's not that. Apart from that your WAN config is the same as mine.

I know very little about OPNsense, except that it has endless configuration options. Have you ever set up a working PPpoE connection before. I had a quick look in the OPNsense forum and saw a long thread about getting a PPPoE connection working. There were probably many others on the same subject! Do you not see any error messages from OPNsense when attempting to connect? I don't know what else to suggest.

I use a commercial router made by Lancom which is also very configurable and I had a problem when first connecting to PlusNet. I had changed a setting in the CHAP authorisation protocol which made the authorisation fail. I can't recall the details now but by rolling back to a previous config I got it to work. Sorry but this is probably of no help to you at all.😐

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

dustymiller259 — Sat, 30 May 2020 15:26:15 GMT

Its all good, thanks for the assistance, I am kinda of the idea that its an OPNSense issue, so just need to work it out. ill get there eventually, and then share the love of the issue when I get it sorted.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

jgriffith — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:08:36 GMT

Appreciate this is a 6 month old thread but wondered how you're getting on. I have been using opnsense with PPPoE modems (both ECI and Huawei) for years and am happy to share config/tips etc.

I have noticed that connecting to Plusnet in this method takes anywhere between 10 and 60 attempts before the connection is established, but after that is rock solid. Haven't quite got to the bottom of that one yet. I suspect it is the HG612 being rubbish.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

Rockyuk — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 20:06:00 GMT

I know this is an old thread, but i wanted to know if you managed to get this to work. I am having the same issue on my end?

Thanks

Rockyuk

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

dustymiller259 — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 07:28:22 GMT

Yes i got it working. I had to insert the PPPoE loigin details into the connection settings to allow PfSense to get the IP address from Plusnet / BT. Left Plusnet a while ago sorry, so dont have the setup anymore.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

OsoPolar — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 19:13:03 GMT

HI @Rockyuk & @dustymiller259

Did you guys get the BT Huawei Modem HG612 working with Opesense with the PPPoE login?
If so could you share how to do it and the settings you used.
I can connect and i see my static IP address but no connection to the internet

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

Rockyuk — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:05:38 GMT

Hi,
Yes I did it took quite abit of work but I got there in the end. Firstly, I had to unlock BT Huawei Modem HG612 with custom firmware. Once I did that and added my ISP login details it connected straight away.

The hard part was configuring Pfsense to see the traffic. I installed a cheap managed switch to setup VLAN's and separated the network. Then I focused on the configuration of Pfsense. I could not get OPNSense to work for some reason.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

OsoPolar — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:12:30 GMT

I bought my modem unlocked.

Can you add your Plusnet PPPoE login details inside the actual modem?

I have no VLANs to configure but i would like to use Opnsense.

I have a staic IP from Plusnet but i think you still have to use PPPoE login
Would you have a sceen shot from within your modem ?

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

Rockyuk — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 21:32:45 GMT

I will need to login to the modem direct for you tomorrow. Hopefully I will remember and I will take a screenshot for you.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

OsoPolar — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 07:58:02 GMT

That would be great just just to clarify so you add your Plusnet login details in here?

This acts like adding your PPPoE credentilas in a router which you no longer need to do now.

So in a router or OPNsense/pfsense you then pick DHCP!

Have i got it right?

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

MisterW — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:52:14 GMT

Whilst that may work, your Opnsensecfirewall will not get your public static IP. The hg612 will get that and will allocate Opnsense a local private Ip. You will have an double nat situation whereby both the hg612 and opnsense are applying nat translation..You needbto ensure that the lan subnet onnthe opensense is different to that of the hg612.

You'd be better advised trying to determine (from any logs ) why opnsense is failing to connect via pppoe.

can connect and i see my static IP address but no connection to the internet

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

OsoPolar — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:57:39 GMT

Well when we entered our PPPoE into OPNsense initally i could see my PLusnet static IP in OPNsense.
But i had no internet connection so with some bad tinkering i lost connection all together.
But some people from OPNsense say PPPoE is flaky from PLusnet on OPNsense.

I was advised to get the modem to grab it and pass to OPNsense and set it to DHCP!
So i am a bit of a noob by IP range will be outside my modem and routers range.

I dodnt even know you could add it in this modem i was going to use the HUB 1 as i have 2 unused but i have read they cannot be made into bridge only mode!

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

MisterW — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:45:52 GMT

I was advised to get the modem to grab it and pass to OPNsense and set it to DHCP!

The HG612 will only support doing PPPoE when it is in router mode. In that mode it will not pass the public IP to Opnsense.

Well when we entered our PPPoE into OPNsense initally i could see my PLusnet static IP in OPNsense.

If that was the case , then a basic PPPoE connection must have been established, that's the only way it would have received the static IP.

But i had no internet connection

that suggests that the gateway IP is not being set correctly.

some googling indicates problems in the past with opnsense not assigning the gateway/default route correctly, are you running the latest version ?

This https://github.com/opnsense/core/issues/2186 may be worth a read

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

Rockyuk — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 11:10:09 GMT

Ok,

I have not been able to get back into my modem at the moment but I have attached my WAN settings for my Pfsense. I have my Plusnet login details within the appropriate boxes etc.

This is my home setup

Plusnet Fibre with Static IP
BT Openreach Huawei EchoLife HG612 3B FTTC VDSL Fibre Modem
Fujitsu Futro S900 with Dual Nic Card
NETGEAR GS105E 5-port

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

OsoPolar — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 11:16:52 GMT

As you probably guess i am a noob re networking what would you suggest best way to configure and get max performance from OPNsense. Many on the forums do not like PPPoE as the connection in OPNsense.

Here is my ISP entry graph into network

https://i.imgur.com/LUuHRQO.png

Do you think if PPPoE is set correctly it would perform as well as DHCP connection grabbing the PPPoE from another device?

Would you disreguard the modem and buy something else to get the static IP from PLusnet or is that not possible ?

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

Rockyuk — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 11:33:39 GMT

My setup works like this

Internet - HG612 Modem - Pfsense (Dual NIC for in and out) - Switch

Then all my network connectivity goes into switch including Wifi (MESH), Server and CCTV via VLAN's

I just could not get OPNSense to work hence why I went back to Pfsense and it all work pretty much straight away. The thing that took some work was the VLAN's as I did not want all the devices/connections talking to each other should there be a compromise on the network.

Re: HG612 & OPNSense Firewall

MisterW — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 12:40:46 GMT

@OsoPolar what are the reasons for adding the Opnsense and changing the r7800 from a router to a wap ?