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What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

LordFox
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Registered: ‎10-03-2008

What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

I really need to know what I'm doing before I upgrade my ADSL to fibre. I don't want too long an outage while I 'fiddle' - SWMBO says so.

Does anyone else have an IP block and do something similar to me? I need some advice on choosing a modem/router to replace my Bintec. Something that can do the PPP connection itself, and then work in a bridge mode. I'm guessing that the 'free' router's best use for me is a doorstop.

My current config is a little complex, although what I'm asking regarding the modem/router is quite straightforward:

  • I have a /29 IPv4 block, say xx.xx.xx.16/29
  • A Bintec ADSL modem/router does the PPP connection itself and routes to the WAN but is otherwise completely dumb. It is in a bridge mode where the WAN and LAN interfaces are bridged together, with the Bintec internally taking a single public address which I statically assign as xx.xx.xx.17/29. Effectively I suppose it's working like a L3 switch with a bonus PPP dialer.
  • With this, I can set IP address xx.xx.xx.18-22 on other devices connected to the Bintec, with default gateway as .17.
  • My main router is a Cisco 1841, connected to the bridged LAN port on the Bintec. It handles another (transparently filtered) bridge to a server with a public IP address, some static NAT to other devices, terminates VPN and IPv6 (from Hurricane Electric) tunnels and basic firewalling, interVLAN routing and NAT for my VLANs. Plus some other stuff.
  • I don't want the Cisco to do PPP duty as well, because when I've tried that before it never works right. I could never get the other tunnels to terminate properly like that. It's complex enough as it is!
  • The above is connected to a L3 Cisco gig switch which does a little more stuff to take local load off the router.

I'm not necessarily asking someone to hold my hand setting things up, rather just advice on a modem/router that can fulfil my needs.

8 REPLIES 8
SpendLessTime
Hero
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Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

@LordFox

 

This thread (to which I naively contributed to) was discussing this issue of multiple static external IP's

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Re-Help-setting-up-Hub-One-with-multiple-static-IP-Addresses...

The OP hasn't got back since I pointed her to kitz's website where there would be better help so I don't know if she has found a working solution. Might be easier for you to ask there

http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/board,5.0.html

 

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
LordFox
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Registered: ‎10-03-2008

Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

Thanks for that. I discovered kitz in my searches last night - don't know how I've missed it before.

Unfortunately (for me) it also occurred to me to check the max throughput of my 1841 - it won't cut the mustard on 80Mbps fibre. Max of 38MBps routing. Looks like I need more of an upgrade than I had realised... I might have to rethink the whole setup.

 

Lurch
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Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

Unless there is some specific reason to keep the Cisco router (I was typing this as you were replying above, so looks like the Cisco is going anyway!) I would swap that for a MikroTik (which does PPP very well) and then use any vDSL modem (I think all my sites happen to have an Openreach ECI modem, which are available on eBay). I think DrayTek also do a vDSL modem.

LordFox
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Registered: ‎10-03-2008

Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

The 1841 does a heck of a lot of work unfortunately. It's not so easy to replace with something different.

At the moment I'm looking at a bigger Cisco ISR, but that's £200 (second hand) and I still don't have a modem. It's a bigger job than I had realised. I have other Cisco ISRs I could use, but it needs to go in the loft rack and my misses wouldn't be impressed with the jet-engine-like fans of a 2851 above her head. Or the threat of it all landing on her head in the middle of the night!

I've not looked at MikroTik for a while though - I'll have a read and see what they can do. I have an HG612 on my watch list, just in case.

I used to run an OpenBSD box for my routing, but then learned Cisco and found it a better and smaller solution.

ETA: I've just found a Zyxel VMG8324 for fifty quid, so I'm sorted with a modem at least. Looks like people have good opinions of it. I'll see what I can persuade it to do when it arrives...

Lurch
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Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?


@LordFox wrote:

I've not looked at MikroTik for a while though - I'll have a read and see what they can do.


I'd seen some of the larger units a while ago and then ignored them as being too big and expensive but I needed a cheap router for a multi tenancy site and found an RB750G for around £30 new so grabbed that. Turns out they did everything I wanted and solved a few other problems on other sites so I swapped pretty much everything over to them, I've got a mixture of RB750's and RB2011's doing various very non-standard things here and there and they give me no trouble. Certainly a lot less hassle admin wise than the Cisco kit and a lot more reliable than most similarly priced consumer grade routers.

LordFox
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Registered: ‎10-03-2008

Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

I've just been testing RouterOS on an ESxi server. It certainly looks well featured. Unfortunately so far it's failing at the first, critical step. I'm hoping I'm missing something (I've asked on MikroTik's forum).

It seems that it cannot route and bridge on the WAN port simultaneously. No matter how I try to do it, either the software sets itself to Bridge mode and loses my WAN, or it disables the WAN port on the bridge if I re-enable routing mode. I seem to recall hitting exactly this limitation before in what I tried out, when I very first set up my kit and ended up using the Cisco router which could do IRB.

I'll keep playing in the hopes I am missing a way to do it.

Lurch
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Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

What else are you putting in the bridge with the WAN?

ISTR having some similar issues somewhere, I have ended up with some sets of several bridges cascaded as adding differing types of interfaces to bridges together breaks some rule but adding both interfaces to separate bridges and then adding those to another bridge works, or something like that!

I must admit I have had to relearn a few things after switching to MikroTik but I think you get that with any manufacturer, of just about anything.

LordFox
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Registered: ‎10-03-2008

Re: What VDSL router for half-bridge with an IP block?

I have a server who's applications work best without NATing the address. Actually two, sometimes, on my ESXi host.

Anyway, I had an answer on MikroTik and it can be done... I just needed to find the place to assign an address to my bridge and continue from there. I expected that to be on the 'add bridge' dialogue. Nope! That got me all confused.

Basically, it's a learning curve on the web interface. I'm used to Cisco's wonderfully intuitive command line Huh