[HowTo] - PPPoE, VLAN & RFC4638

[netnut]

PPPoE, VLAN & RFC4638

Most modern Internet Broadband connections (VDSL, Fiber) are based on ethernet instead of ATM, but still using PPP for connectivity and subscriber management. Many ISP's also offering extra services (besides IPv4 & IPv6 Internet) like IPTV and VOIP, most of the time provided via different VLAN's.

A PPP header is 8 bytes, so when you're using PPP over Ethernet your (usable) MTU size will be slightly lowered from it's default (1500) to 1492. I'm not going to explain here why this might be problematic or at least suboptimal in a standard Ethernet network, DuckDuckGo is your friend ;-). Try: "MTU and Fragmentation" if you like to learn more about this topic.

Now the good news is that configuring PPPoE with VLAN's is extremly simple using OPNSense. Even better, if your ISP supports RFC4638 (Baby Jumbo's) on it's PPPoE connection, things get really awesome.....


“To Whom It May Concern”:

The instructions below are for OPNSense configurations that are DIRECTLY connected to an ISP infrastrucure and terminate the PPPoE connection at the OPNSense box itself or using a CPE (modem) that provides PPPoE passthrough functionality.

MAC Spoofing:

If you need to use a custom MAC Address, configure it on the physical interface (01:01:01:01:01:01 in this example). When you don't know if you need a custom MAC, you probably don't need one, just leave this item blank.

MTU Size:

If your ISP supports RFC4638, configure the MTU size on the Physical NIC (1512) and the PPPoE VLAN (1508), otherwise leave these two settings blank. If your ISP supports RFC4638, but it doesn't work, first configure everything WITHOUT custom MTU settings, this should work anyway. Double check if your physical NIC supports custom MTU (>1500) sizes.

[netnut]

1 - Configure your WAN interface
    - Unnumbered
    - Custom MAC Address (if needed)
    - Custom MTU Size (if supported by NIC & ISP)


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2 - Add Service VLAN (IPTV)
    - Use WAN Interface as parent
    - My ISP is using VLAN4 for IPTV
    - Check YOUR ISP instructions for the right VLAN id

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[netnut]

3 - Add Service VLAN (IP)
    - Use WAN Interface as parent
    - My ISP is using VLAN6 for regular IPv4 & IPv6 Internet
    - Check YOUR ISP instructions for the right VLAN id

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[netnut]

4 - Both Service VLAN's configured

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5 - Assign the configured Service VLAN Interfaces

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6 - Configure the VLAN (IP)
    - Configure IPv4 Configuration Type: PPPoE
    - Custom MTU Size (if supported by NIC & ISP)

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7 - Configure the VLAN (IP) - PPPoE
    - Provide username & password for the PPPoE configuration
    - A Service Name is not required in most cases

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8 - OPNSense Automagicly configured your PPP Interface

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9 - Check, Check, Double Check

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[netnut]

10 - Configure the VLAN (IPTV)
    - If needed configure the other Service VLAN
    - My ISP is using DHCP for the IPTV Service VLAN, with some custom request settings
    - Check YOUR ISP instructions for the required DHCP options
    - I don't use IPTV, so no futher details

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[netnut]

Really, that's all...

Check your PPPoE Connection from "Interfaces -> Overview -> PPPOE-INTERFACE"
If everything went well, you see a MTU size of 1500 and an active IPv4 address.


Validated with OPNsense 21.1 - It works for Me!!!

[hushcoden]

Thanks for the guide, very useful. Quck one: why don't you set the physical WAN at 1508 too? Why 1512?

Thanks.

[netnut]

Quick one: why don't you set the physical WAN at 1508 too? Why 1512?

Extra 4 bytes for the 802.1q VLAN

[fd0]

Great HowTo

-fd0