8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Discussions for BiPAC 8900 series: 8900AX-1600, 8900AX-2400, 8900X
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harry66
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:08 pm

8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by harry66 »

Hi all,
I am currently using my 8900AX R2 with a FTTC connection with the R2 connected directly to the BT Openreach faceplate.

I have just signed up for Community Fibre FTTP service which should be installed in a few days.

I understand that CF provide a 'Fibre modem' and Wifi Router.

I want to continue using my 8900AX because it has been configured with firewall rules, fixed local IPs - and it is all connected to a Mesh system.

I am assuming I would just connect the CF 'fibre modem' to the 8900AX via an Ethernet cable and change the Quick Start->Wan Interface settings to Ethernet. Is this correct? And would there be any other changes I would have to make.

Thanks in advance for any help.
harry66
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:08 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by harry66 »

I noticed this other forum post http://forum.billion.uk.com/viewtopic.p ... 940#p99652 and I can see that they are just adding an extra WAN service.

On another forum, I have been advised that I should add a 'IP over Ethernet' entry and accept the default config as show in the user manual - does that sound right? CF provide a Adtran ONT - which I would just connect to my 8900AX via port 5 (the E Gb EWAN).
Note that I have not yet cancelled my FTTC service - so for approx 6 weeks, I will have both the existing FTTC connection and the new FTTP connection.

I tried to add IP Over Ethernet - just to test, and I then see the following form:
Image

The form allows me to select add both the ppp and ipoe as Default Gateway Interfaces and DNS Server Interfaces. I can then select one of the WAN interfaces as the Selected WAN interface as the System Default Gateway, but then lower down there is another 'WAN interface Selected' - which I dont understand. How does that differ from the Selected WAN interface as the System Default Gateway?

Also, what is the significance of having both eth4.1 and pppoe as Selected DNS Server Interfaces?

Apologies if these are really dumb questions - I did try to google, but did not get anywhere

Thanks.
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harry66
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:08 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by harry66 »

Hi @billion_fan

I don't suppose you can help with the above.

The main thing I can't figure out is how to specify the primary WAN service - if I add a 2nd one? I would like to keep my existing PPPoE config present once I add the IPoE - in case I have issues with the new one and need to switch back quickly.

Thanks.
billion_fan
Posts: 5377
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:30 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by billion_fan »

harry66 wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 3:07 pm Hi @billion_fan

I don't suppose you can help with the above.

The main thing I can't figure out is how to specify the primary WAN service - if I add a 2nd one? I would like to keep my existing PPPoE config present once I add the IPoE - in case I have issues with the new one and need to switch back quickly.

Thanks.
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harry66
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:08 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by harry66 »

Thanks for the reply
Will try these out once my FTTP installed.
Much appreciated.
harry66
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:08 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by harry66 »

Hi @billion_fan.
I had the CF Fibre installed yesterday and it seems to be working fine with the ONT connected to port 5 - thanks for your help.

I added a WAN service with the default settings for IP over Ethernet and then set the eth4.1 as the Default Gateway under Advanced Setup Routing.

For the time being I have unplugged the FTTC connection as my internet connection was going up and down a bit and I was not sure what the cause was. I will plug it back in when I have more time to check.

I have a few follow up questions which I hope you can help with:
On the Status WAN page it shows:
Image
Can you please advise what the Renew and Release buttons will do?

Also, with regards DNS - which settings take priority? I can see on the above WAN Status that the DNS is 188.215.74.252 - which I beleive is the CF DNS.
However, on Advanced Setup, Static DNS I have specified 8.8.4.4 and 8.8.8.8 as my primary and 2ndary.
So, will the router use my Static DNS or the CF DNS.
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billion_fan
Posts: 5377
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:30 pm

Re: 8900AX R2 with Community Fibre FTTP

Post by billion_fan »

harry66 wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 11:53 am Hi @billion_fan.
I had the CF Fibre installed yesterday and it seems to be working fine with the ONT connected to port 5 - thanks for your help.

I added a WAN service with the default settings for IP over Ethernet and then set the eth4.1 as the Default Gateway under Advanced Setup Routing.

For the time being I have unplugged the FTTC connection as my internet connection was going up and down a bit and I was not sure what the cause was. I will plug it back in when I have more time to check.

I have a few follow up questions which I hope you can help with:
On the Status WAN page it shows:
Image
Can you please advise what the Renew and Release buttons will do?

Also, with regards DNS - which settings take priority? I can see on the above WAN Status that the DNS is 188.215.74.252 - which I beleive is the CF DNS.
However, on Advanced Setup, Static DNS I have specified 8.8.4.4 and 8.8.8.8 as my primary and 2ndary.
So, will the router use my Static DNS or the CF DNS.
The release and renew button will release or renew the WAN IP address.

If you set the DNS severs manually under the 'Advanced Setup >> DNS >> DNS' then these servers will be used. (you can see this on the status page of the router)
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