Alphion ONT can't connect to internet but ASUS router can when bridged.

[pr0m3th3u5]

All this time I have used Alphion ONT (ASEE-1444) to connect to the internet using PPPoE mode. But I wanted to try out the bridged mode so I turned Alphion into a bridge and use Asus router (RT-AC53) to connect to the internet. Everything worked well.


A few days later, I was messing with some stuff (to get IPv6 connectivity) and decided to use Alphion ONT in PPPoE mode to connect to the internet. But something happened. Alphion ONT simply doesn't connect to the internet but ASUS router can always connect to the internet!

Logs from Alphion ONT:

Jan 1 05:30:33  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:30:33  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 948
Jan 1 05:33:03  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:33:03  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 5671
Jan 1 05:35:34  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:35:34  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 1979
Jan 1 05:37:35  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:37:35  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 414
Jan 1 05:40:05  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:40:05  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 4062
Jan 1 05:42:36  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:42:36  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 2544
Jan 1 05:44:37  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:44:37  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 5968
Jan 1 05:47:07  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:47:07  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 404
Jan 1 05:49:38  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:49:38  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 2759
Jan 1 05:51:39  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:51:39  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 2591
Jan 1 05:54:09  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: AC MAC address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Jan 1 05:54:09  user    info    spppd: spppd: ppp0: PPPoE Session ID 1209

Is Alphion ONT even trying to initial PPPoE connection? Compared to this ASUS router logs show it's immediately establishing a PPPoE connection:

Aug  1 05:30:37 pppd[276]: pppd 2.4.7 started by admin, uid 0
Aug  1 05:30:37 pppd[276]: Connected to xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx via interface vlan2
Aug  1 05:30:37 pppd[276]: Connect: ppp0 <--> vlan2
Aug  1 05:30:38 pppd[276]: CHAP authentication succeeded
Aug  1 05:30:38 pppd[276]: peer from calling number xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx authorized
Aug  1 05:30:38 pppd[276]: local  IP address 117.xxx.xxx.xx
Aug  1 05:30:38 pppd[276]: remote IP address 117.xxx.xxx.x
Aug  1 05:30:38 pppd[276]: primary   DNS address 218.248.112.1

So, how to connect to the internet using Alphion ONT in PPPoE mode?

 

[pr0m3th3u5]

The worst thing happened. The Asus router has stopped working and now I can't connect to the internet.

Looks like this is a case of "PPPoE MAC address lock".

So how to "unlock"? I called the BSNL Customer Care and they are clueless. They promised to send the "technician" in "24 hrs".

Anyone successfully worked out this kind of situation?

 

[pr0m3th3u5]

Late Update: The Asus Router started working again. In fact when I said it didn't work it actually said in the router page: "Network cable unplugged". After a couple days it connected normally and the internet is working.

Also no "technician" visited but couple days after internet started working I got an SMS from BSNL saying my ticket is "resolved".

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This "Network cable unplugged" message on my router could be the ONT "rejecting" my router. Maybe. Interestingly my router mourns two such states: "Disconnected" & "Network cable unplugged". I wonder what's the difference between the two.

 

[sloj]

They can remove the MAC binding from their end and doesn't require a visit to your place. Disconnected is when your PPPoE session isn't up. Network cable unplugged is self-explanatory.

 

[phattunit]

Asus routers stopped working few days back with network cable unplugged was issue with faulty signature auto update and affected many devices. Even I was affected and my GT-AX11000 Pro couldn’t connect with network cable unplugged issue. It made me think that my router was faulty.