PPPoe Connection problem with PFsense

[#1]

Hi All
I have just joined Plusnet Fibre and I am having problems connecting my PFsense box to the network.....
I am connecting my PFsense box directly into the open reach modem and connecting through PPPoe all appears fine connection connected first time.....
This was an existing PFsense setup and was running fine until moving to Plusnet.  I noticed that Outlook was not downloading emails correctly some of the images were not downloading, looking further into the system and I noticed that Windows update had started to fail to search for updates... In fact upon checking all programs that need to check for updates were failing, also Skype was not connecting properly to its homepage and people were showing as offline when they were online.....
All other tasks like web browsing, downloading are working fine..... 
I have looked for hours to try and find this problem and cannot see what is causing it,  I have resorted to doing a complete new install of PFsense disabling the firewall and turning off all windows firewalls and defender and still have the same problem......
If there is anyone here that has had the same problem or in fact just got PFsense to work ok through a PPPoe connection please share your comments

[#2]

I am running pfSense "2.1-RELEASE" 32-bit i386 normal install (i.e. not the embedded version) on an embedded PC motherboard.
It's WAN port is connected using PPPoE via ethernet into a bridged (PPPoE<->PPPoA) ADSL modem, and have found it amazingly stable and free from the problems you are describing.
The ONLY hiccup is that the installed 'squid3' caching proxy very occasionally doesn't start cleanly after a pfSense restart following mains power cuts - but that has been solved by powering the router via a UPS.
Do you see any clues in the "System Log" ?

[#3]

No I cant see any clues in the system logs
I just have it connected through the bt openreach modem, my old systems WAN was connected through DHCP with a bridged modem. I am wondering if the problem lies with something I have not done with the PPPoe connection. All that I could see that was needed to do was enter username/password into the settings?
I spent 40 mins yesterday with a very patient support guy that confirmed that the network was okay....
I take it that your not on fibre being as you use an adsl modem?

[#4]

Yes I'm on 20CN up-to 8Mbps ADSL, as BDUK have no interest in upgrading my exchange. 
I wouldn't have thought it makes any difference to pfSense whether the WAN ethernet modem is ADSL or fibre.
I use pfSense with 'squid3' to improve the apparent speed of my network by caching the broadband to an SSD. 

Is your FTTC modem on a different network subnet to the address that you have pfSense set as ?
as your new FTTC modem network subnet may be different from your previous modem's subnet, and could cause routing problems if it is now the same as your router.
Have you tried setting the DNS to Google and/or OpenDNS in the "System"->"General Setup" section ?

[#5]

As you are new to Plusnet,  have you checked the setting of the Plusnet 'Broadband Firewall' in your account 'Member Centre' ?
I would advise setting that firewall to 'Low' or one of the Advanced Setting options, but having it on 'High' causes Windows problems with things like updating the time !.

[#6]

No, it picks up the 2 plusnet DNS's and the localhost.  Might be worth a try though.....
The subnet mask IPv4 on the WAN interface is 255.255.255.255 but my LAN subnet is 255.255.255.0  /24 I don't know if that's the cause of the problem.
I un-installed  Squid3 when I started to see this problem, I don't know if I will re install it on this new connection as its fast enough at 73 - 74mb.  I mainly use Snort as I have a lot of ports open running a webserver and other things
I'm running it off an old 2.5 hard drive at the moment I was looking at changing it to an ssd drive like you but also wondering if I would be just as good to use an old 32gb memory stick?  The hardwares a small format dual core HP desktop that I have taken apart and screwed the motherboad and bits onto the workshop wall, it looks really cool...
Oh and I'm using the 2.1-RELEASE (amd64)

[#7]

>>As you are new to Plusnet,  have you checked the setting of the Plusnet 'Broadband Firewall' in your account 'Member Centre' ?
>>
>>I would advise setting that firewall to 'Low' or one of the Advanced Setting options, but having it on 'High' causes Windows problems with things like updating the time !.
Ahh now that sounds like it could be the cause....
Thanks I will go there now and give it a try

[#8]

Your subnet masks are OK,  but is your modem on a different subnet to your router ?
For example, if your modem address is typically 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1,  is your pfSense router on say 192.168.100.1, and your LAN on 192.168.100.xxx

You could run from a memory stick, but you would want to use the alternative embedded version, as that is optimized to minimize the number of write operations, as flash memory has limited write cycles and very poor write speeds.
If you are unlikely to reinstall squid (as I agree the effect of caching is reduced with fibre) then stick with your HDD,  but if you do want high speed caching, then a cheap SSD or a couple of WD1600BEKT or WD1600BEKX drives in RAID-0 would be better.

[#9]

I'm using the BT openreach modem and have no idea what settings that uses, as far as I know you cannot log into it  With fibre you get an openreach modem and a plusnet router, I decided to connect directly into the BT modem via PPPoe. and not use the router.
Yes raid on a PFsense box would be cool, especially with ZFS

[#10]

Quote from: Tropheus

I'm using the BT openreach modem and have no idea what settings that uses

If you navigate pfSense to "Diagnostics" -> "Routes"
you should be able to see the /24 subnets assigned to your WAN and LAN connections,
also the address that the modem DHCP assigned to the WAN port of your pfSense router.

[#11]

Hi Purleigh does this mean anything to you:
Dest                        Gateway                  Flags      Ref    Use         MTU        NetIf
default                    195.166.128.195      UGS       0      3684      1492        pppoe0
127.0.0.1                 link#5                      UH           0      18          16384      lo0
192.168.1.0/24        link#2                      U              0      6657      1500      em0
192.168.1.1             link#2                      UHS         0      0            16384    lo0
195.166.128.195    link#7                      UH          0      427         1492      pppoe0
195.166.157.59      link#7                      UHS         0        0            16384    lo0
212.159.6.9            195.166.128.195      UGHS      0      149          1492      pppoe0
212.159.6.10          195.166.128.195      UGHS      0      148          1492      pppoe0
I have turned off the Plusnet Firewall and that did not help, and added 2 Google DNS in the Gen setup like you suggested, It briefly worked after doing this but then stopped again shortly after.I cant help thinking that there is a DNS problem somewere.