Eircom F1000 eFibre Modem in Bridging Mode

mac.the.hat

Does anybody have the procedure for getting the Eircom F1000 eFibre Modem into Bridging Mode?

I've seen a number of other posts and suggestions on the subject, but none with a categorical answer.

Although it's something that should be reasonable straightforward, I've tried it on numerous occasions and I've had everything from complete modem resets, right up to the well known booting loop. I've tried talking to Eircom and of course, it's like a scratched record with the old "We don't support Bridging Mode" line.

As a workaround, I tried port forwarding which isn't exactly rocket science itself and that doesn't work either. Another quick (hour long) phone call to Eircom got me the same "We don't support Port Forwarding" line and no surprises there.

After complaining, Eircom told me to contact Zyxel, who tole me to contact Eircom, who told me to contact Zyxel, who told me to contact Eircom. Yep, another loop there and still nobody to sort the issues.

Can anybody point me in the right direction on this please?

M@c

MBSnr

I have a F1000 bridged and I used PPPoE from a client to get the internet working and therefore the static IP directly on the device. I think mine was using IPoE orginally and now uses PPPoE (after the change below in step 7 below) when I reverted back to routing and not bridged.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This was sent to me. Skip through the obv. bits you know like logging in... ;-)

Hi ,

1 : ) Connect laptop into one of the Ethernet ports on the eircom router .

2: ) put in http://192.168.1.254 into the address bar of internet explorer .

3 : ) Username : admin
Password : The password is the key on the underside of the eircom router . Once entered it will prompt you to change the routers password .

4 : ) Go to the Connections / Settings Tab at the bottom and select Broadband connections .

5 : ) Select the modify icon to the right of the connection called “ VDSL “, don’t go near the ETHWAN connection .

6 : ) Change the connection type in VDSL to PPPOE and enter the username and password provided by eircom: DSL telephone number with hyphen after area code and password is account number (use 1492 for mtu size)


7 : ) Reboot the router and make sure the dsl and internet lights sync green . Once done go back to the modify section of the “ VDSL “ connection and change from “ Router “ to “ Bridge “ . The router should restart and connect successfully.




There is also a separate issue which has been identified by Zyxel whereas after approximately nine days of being continuously connected the router may drop and a reboot is required. Zyxel have released a firmware upgrade to address this issue, the installation instructions are below;

Please see below link to the bin file. Download the file to a folder on your pc, then when you are logged onto the router via 192.168.1.254 click on the Maintenance icon on the bottom right then click Firmware Upgrade from the menu. From here click Choose File and browse to the folder where the bin file is located.

http://broadbandsupport.eircom.net/download/zyxel/firmware/F1000-Firmware/

mac.the.hat

Thanks a million for your help. It really is very much appreciated.

mac.the.hat

I tried this and it wouldn't work at all.

In the process, I checked with Eircom and they said that it's fine just to use eircom@eircom.net and broadband1 as the password for logging in.

When I loaded the firmware, the modem restarted a couple of times and put the original firmware back, just the way it was.

Everything seemed to be going fine until I tried changing the config on the VDSL connection to "Bridge" and when the modem restarted, it reset the configuration right back to day one. This happened a few times and I have seen this happen before on a number of occasions.

I tried changing the VDSL connection to "Bridge" again numerous times and it did eventually take it without resetting the configuration completely. The thing then proceeded to log onto the Eircom service without anything connected to provide a username and password. Yep, doing the impossible and no surprises there any more. I couldn't get the router to connect, presumably because the thing was already logged into the Eircom service.

I eventually had to do a manual reset and leave it connected as it is while I rethink.

One thing for sure is that there is some seriously strange firmware in these things.

Bog Standard User

mac.the.hat wrote: »

Does anybody have the procedure for getting the Eircom F1000 eFibre Modem into Bridging Mode?

I've seen a number of other posts and suggestions on the subject, but none with a categorical answer.

Although it's something that should be reasonable straightforward, I've tried it on numerous occasions and I've had everything from complete modem resets, right up to the well known booting loop. I've tried talking to Eircom and of course, it's like a scratched record with the old "We don't support Bridging Mode" line.

As a workaround, I tried port forwarding which isn't exactly rocket science itself and that doesn't work either. Another quick (hour long) phone call to Eircom got me the same "We don't support Port Forwarding" line and no surprises there.

After complaining, Eircom told me to contact Zyxel, who tole me to contact Eircom, who told me to contact Zyxel, who told me to contact Eircom. Yep, another loop there and still nobody to sort the issues.

Can anybody point me in the right direction on this please?

M@c

log onto modem

got to network settings > broadband

click on the pencil icon to modify vdsl

change mode from routing to bridged

click apply and your done.

next go to your 3rd party router's wan connection settings

choose encapsulation pppoe

use ppp username: eircom@eircom.net
use ppp pasword: broadband1
use mtu size: 1484

click save and connect

Bog Standard User

MBSnr wrote: »

I have a F1000 bridged and I used PPPoE from a client to get the internet working and therefore the static IP directly on the device. I think mine was using IPoE orginally and now uses PPPoE (after the change below in step 7 below) when I reverted back to routing and not bridged.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This was sent to me. Skip through the obv. bits you know like logging in... ;-)

Hi ,

1 : ) Connect laptop into one of the Ethernet ports on the eircom router .

2: ) put in http://192.168.1.254 into the address bar of internet explorer .

3 : ) Username : admin
Password : The password is the key on the underside of the eircom router . Once entered it will prompt you to change the routers password .

4 : ) Go to the Connections / Settings Tab at the bottom and select Broadband connections .

5 : ) Select the modify icon to the right of the connection called “ VDSL “, don’t go near the ETHWAN connection .

6 : ) Change the connection type in VDSL to PPPOE and enter the username and password provided by eircom: DSL telephone number with hyphen after area code and password is account number (use 1492 for mtu size)


7 : ) Reboot the router and make sure the dsl and internet lights sync green . Once done go back to the modify section of the “ VDSL “ connection and change from “ Router “ to “ Bridge “ . The router should restart and connect successfully.




There is also a separate issue which has been identified by Zyxel whereas after approximately nine days of being continuously connected the router may drop and a reboot is required. Zyxel have released a firmware upgrade to address this issue, the installation instructions are below;

Please see below link to the bin file. Download the file to a folder on your pc, then when you are logged onto the router via 192.168.1.254 click on the Maintenance icon on the bottom right then click Firmware Upgrade from the menu. From here click Choose File and browse to the folder where the bin file is located.

http://broadbandsupport.eircom.net/download/zyxel/firmware/F1000-Firmware/

this 9 day disconnect issue is fixed in 1.00(aaha.4)do firmware which all new modems should have.

mac.the.hat

I've tried it a hundred times at this stage and it will not work. There's no problem at all changing the setting to "Bridged" bit most of the times I've tried, the thing does a complete configuration reset on a power cycle (or reboot) and goes right back to day one config. The other times it just would not connect at all using PPPoE.

The only time I've seen an exception to the not connecting is on one occasion where it actually logged on to the Eircom service without anything to give it a username and password, which fairly left me scratching my head.

I'll give it another shot later today and see what happens.

I've been at this lark for years and this thing is starting to drive me nuts.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it.

MBSnr

Bog Standard User wrote: »

this 9 day disconnect issue is fixed in 1.00(aaha.4)do firmware which all new modems should have.

Not mine which was installed on 21st March.

MBSnr

mac.the.hat wrote: »

I've tried it a hundred times at this stage and it will not work. There's no problem at all changing the setting to "Bridged" bit most of the times I've tried, the thing does a complete configuration reset on a power cycle (or reboot) and goes right back to day one config. The other times it just would not connect at all using PPPoE.

The only time I've seen an exception to the not connecting is on one occasion where it actually logged on to the Eircom service without anything to give it a username and password, which fairly left me scratching my head.

I'll give it another shot later today and see what happens.

I've been at this lark for years and this thing is starting to drive me nuts.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it.

Just at the web interface now and have selected "Bridge Mode" on the VDSL WAN interface. DSL light remains green - Internet light off. Modem did not reboot.

Using an Ubuntu client, connected via Ethernet, I just created a DSL connection using eircom@eircom.net/broadband1 and it connected with my lines static IP directly on the client.

mac.the.hat

Tried again and still the same. Firmware Version is 1.00(AAHA.4)D0 by the way.

I had to change the IP address to 192.168.0.1 , so I did that first, restarted and logged back into the modem. No problems there and all was fine.

I changed the VDSL interface to Bridge as usual and the modem stayed connected, despite the fact that there was nothing to provide a PPPoE username and password. I had expected it to disconnect and the Internet light to go out, so I figured a restart was in order.

I then disconnected everything from the modem and turned it off and back on again. When it restarted, I was intrigued to see the Internet light was red for a few seconds and then changed to green (with nothing connected to the modem apart from the Eircom connection). I connected the laptop using a cable, logged in to the modem and discovered that the modem was in Bridge Mode and was logged into the Eircom service, without anything to provide a PPPoE username and password - it had an IP address and I was able to surf perfectly. How it was authenticating is still a mystery.

I tried the firewall and needless to say, it wouldn't work because the thing was already connected to Eircom.

It ain't making sense.

MBSnr

^^^
Did you try "back to factory" defaults?
Maintenance
Configuration
Reset

Then repeat the procedure. The only difference my line has is a static IP. It gets a 95.x.x.x IP with IPoE before reverting to PPPoE for the static. But once I switch to Bridge Mode it 'sticks'.

mac.the.hat

MBSnr wrote: »

^^^
Did you try "back to factory" defaults?
Maintenance
Configuration
Reset

Then repeat the procedure. The only difference my line has is a static IP. It gets a 95.x.x.x IP with IPoE before reverting to PPPoE for the static. But once I switch to Bridge Mode it 'sticks'.

I've reset the thing countless times and nothing changes. I did manage to speak to a sympathetic guy in Eircom's Tech Support and he didn't seem surprised at any of the problems I've been having, including the staying connected in bridge mode without anything to provide the credentials. He gave me a list of alternative modems and some other stuff. He also said not to bother with port forwarding.

What's really getting to me is the fact that other people can get these F1000 modems to work in bridge mode. There are obviously some serious issues with the firmware.

What should have been a simple swapover has turned into a nightmare with no end in sight.

Not sure where to go from here.

Bog Standard User

mac.the.hat wrote: »

Tried again and still the same. Firmware Version is 1.00(AAHA.4)D0 by the way.

I had to change the IP address to 192.168.0.1 , so I did that first, restarted and logged back into the modem. No problems there and all was fine.

I changed the VDSL interface to Bridge as usual and the modem stayed connected, despite the fact that there was nothing to provide a PPPoE username and password. I had expected it to disconnect and the Internet light to go out, so I figured a restart was in order.

I then disconnected everything from the modem and turned it off and back on again. When it restarted, I was intrigued to see the Internet light was red for a few seconds and then changed to green (with nothing connected to the modem apart from the Eircom connection). I connected the laptop using a cable, logged in to the modem and discovered that the modem was in Bridge Mode and was logged into the Eircom service, without anything to provide a PPPoE username and password - it had an IP address and I was able to surf perfectly. How it was authenticating is still a mystery.

I tried the firewall and needless to say, it wouldn't work because the thing was already connected to Eircom.

It ain't making sense.

to properly reset an f1000 you need to hold the pin in the reset hole until you see all lights flash on then the power light will flash green and red. (about 60 seconds)

if you dont see the power light flash green and red your not resetting it fully

also you bridge another router in make sure you first disconnect the eth cable coming from 3rd party router to f1000 then put f1000 in bridge modem... wait until the f1000 has sync then plug in your 3rd party router and connect using the following pppoe settings

PPPoE
PPP username: eircom@eircom.net
PPP password: broadband1
MTU Size: 1484

MBSnr

Bog Standard User wrote: »

PPPoE
PPP username: eircom@eircom.net
PPP password: broadband1
MTU Size: 1484

Why MTU of 1484? I checked the MTU on my PPPoE client and it connected with 1492 (the standard MTU size of PPPoE)

mac.the.hat

I've already reset the thing more times than I could count and I always reset using the pinhole.

I was wondering about the different MTU figures myself. I would have expected the 1492 but I've tried both and neither work.

There would not have been anything else connected to the f1000 when I was putting it into bridge mode apart from the laptop being used to do the reconfig.

Doodah7

Sincere apologies for dragging this topic back up but was grappling for half the night trying to bridge my F1000 modem and connect an Apple Time Capsule.

I got as far as being able to get on the internet through the Time Capsule network via an ethernet cable to the F1000 router but could not connect wirelessly.

Does anyone have a definitive step-by-step for doing this?:o:confused:

diarmaidol

There are a few things to consider before you do this.

1. The Management IP for the F1000 must be static (192.168.1.254/24 [or subnet 255.255.255.0] by default) , and if you want access to the F1000 after you put it into bridge mode then you need to connect to F1000 on an eth port using an appropriate IP address in this range. The DHCP client is disabled when you do into Bridged mode. At least it should be and I've not experienced anything to the contrary. Personally I have a second static ip (internet is DHCP) configured on my router connected to the F1000. This is 192.168.1.253. But this might be a little complicated, so an easier option might be simply connect a laptop with the IP 192.168.1.253 subnet 255.255.255.0 to any Ethernet port on the F1000 and access the management page via the web address 192.168.1.254

2. Eircom are using IPoE now for Subscriber access. So when you go bridged mode, anything connected to the F1000 and requesting an IP address via DHCP, even via wireless will get a public IP. I've not tested how many DHCP leases Eircom will let you take but do be careful when putting the modem into Bridged mode. Make sure you only connect your 3rd party Router/Firewall to the F1000 and for safe measure disable the WiFi on the F1000 "Network Setting > Wirelless and select the Disabled Radio Button. Apply.

a) To put the F1000 into bridge mode, Select "Network Setting > Broadband"

Here I disabled the VDSL WAN interface and created a new "VDSL-Bridged" interface. So you can swap back and forth with out resets and all that bother.

Disable the VDSL profile,

b) click the Edit icon beside the profile , unselect active and click apply.

You internet will drop.

Back in the Broadband window

c) Click "Add New WAN Interface"

A new window pop's up

d) configure as below

Active = ticked

Give the profile a name "VDSL-Bridged"
Type = ADSL/VDSL over PTM
Mode = Bridged

VLAN

Active = ticked
802.1p = 0
802.1q = 10

Leave everything else as is.

e) Click Apply.

Now you should be in Bridged mode.

If you don't have a Static IP address then you can just connect your new router to the F1000 set it's WAN to get it's IP address via DHCP and you should be off.

If you have a static IP I think you need to use a PPP tunnel.

I've never used a Time Capsule , but it should be trivial enough to configure the WAN port to get it's IP address via DHCP. Read the apple docs for how to get the internet sharing working.

Doodah7

In a word: magnificent!!!

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. This is of tremendous help to me and I expect will be to many others!!

Followed your steps and connected the Time Capsule no problem. A HUGE jump in speed. Just tested on my iPad upstairs from the router and a ping of 12ms with a download speed of 86.05 Mbps over wi-fi!!! (My theoretical limit according to the f1000 stats page is 102.89Mbps...).

Paul Thomas Rowland

There is an excellent guide to bridging the VMG8324-B10a, aka Eircom F1000, on the kitz site in the Uk. It is written by the gurus there. Naturally they recommend updating your F1000 firmware for best performance. You can find the guide here:

kitz (dot) co (dot) uk / routers / zyxel_VMG8324-B10A_bridge.htm

diarmaidol

Has anyone documented getting a faster sync speed in a repeatable manner with different FW loads?

In the end you are against the laws of physics on your line.

Most peoples issues are actually the last 10 meters aka the wifi connection. If this is the case. Just get a decent WIFI router / move to 5GHz ac with a good spec CPU for pushing the packets through.

I get 70Mbps down 20Up on eFibre off a wired connection through a reasonable 3rd party router and the F1000 in bridge. Why you need more speed than that for 3-4 users I'm bereft.

MickH503

diarmaidol wrote: »

There are a few things to consider before you do this.

just want to add my thanks ... these instructions worked perfectly for me too!

diarmaidol

Glad to see it's helping a few people.

MarkR

I am trying to get one of these set up with Eircom now, same modem. We are trying to use it in a business environment, with an eircom fixed ip and the modem in bridge mode, with our own firewall. As mentioned above, in bridge mode, it seems to ignore the fixed ip we have. One of our guys in on the phone to Eircom now. I do not envy him!

diarmaidol

AFAIK , for a fixed IP you need to use PPPoE , not IPoE which is using DHCP off your firewall. I've not actually implemented it but it's noted on another thread in this forum.

ED E

Yep, need to run a pppoe session from your router/firewall like ADSL. It'll be pppoe on ptm vs pppoe on ATM.

martin_g

Mine says Vlan id 10 already in use, Vdsl disabled and Ethwan not touched

runswithascript

diarmaidol wrote: »

There are a few things to consider before you do this.

1. The Management IP for the F1000 must be static (192.168.1.254/24 [or subnet 255.255.255.0] by default) , and if you want access to the F1000 after you put it into bridge mode then you need to connect to F1000 on an eth port using an appropriate IP address in this range. The DHCP client is disabled when you do into Bridged mode. At least it should be and I've not experienced anything to the contrary. Personally I have a second static ip (internet is DHCP) configured on my router connected to the F1000. This is 192.168.1.253. But this might be a little complicated, so an easier option might be simply connect a laptop with the IP 192.168.1.253 subnet 255.255.255.0 to any Ethernet port on the F1000 and access the management page via the web address 192.168.1.254

2. Eircom are using IPoE now for Subscriber access. So when you go bridged mode, anything connected to the F1000 and requesting an IP address via DHCP, even via wireless will get a public IP. I've not tested how many DHCP leases Eircom will let you take but do be careful when putting the modem into Bridged mode. Make sure you only connect your 3rd party Router/Firewall to the F1000 and for safe measure disable the WiFi on the F1000 "Network Setting > Wirelless and select the Disabled Radio Button. Apply.

a) To put the F1000 into bridge mode, Select "Network Setting > Broadband"

Here I disabled the VDSL WAN interface and created a new "VDSL-Bridged" interface. So you can swap back and forth with out resets and all that bother.

Disable the VDSL profile,

b) click the Edit icon beside the profile , unselect active and click apply.

You internet will drop.

Back in the Broadband window

c) Click "Add New WAN Interface"

A new window pop's up

d) configure as below

Active = ticked

Give the profile a name "VDSL-Bridged"
Type = ADSL/VDSL over PTM
Mode = Bridged

VLAN

Active = ticked
802.1p = 0
802.1q = 10

Leave everything else as is.

e) Click Apply.

Now you should be in Bridged mode.

If you don't have a Static IP address then you can just connect your new router to the F1000 set it's WAN to get it's IP address via DHCP and you should be off.

If you have a static IP I think you need to use a PPP tunnel.

I've never used a Time Capsule , but it should be trivial enough to configure the WAN port to get it's IP address via DHCP. Read the apple docs for how to get the internet sharing working.

Thanks for posting, of the various methods recommended this is what worked for me.

Can you please elaborate on the steps to set up forwarding so that we can still login to the F1000's WebUI router config without having to directly connect an Ethernet cable?

There has been a power cut here, and I have rebooted everything a few times, but still we have no service (currently tethered to my phone). I can see DD-WRT is not picking up a WAN IP address, but I cannot tell without connecting something up if the modem is authenticated. DSL is synced, but there is no Internet light, which I think is normal considering how it is set up.

Mr. Tezza

I'm trying to log in to my wifi router, its an efibre F1000, I tried eircom@eircom.net/broadband1 but that didn't work, any ideas?

ED E

Mr. Tezza wrote: »

I'm trying to log in to my wifi router, its an efibre F1000, I tried eircom@eircom.net/broadband1 but that didn't work, any ideas?

They're the PPPoE details.

Logins are printed on the label on the back.

Mr. Tezza

ED E wrote: »

They're the PPPoE details.

Logins are printed on the label on the back.

The default wasn't working, was onto efibre customer support and all, in the end I had to do a hard reset to get into it.

KpsCowley

Bringing this post into 2018

Ive set my F1000 to Bridge mode as advised, but I am stuck on the next step, configuring the third party modem.

Im using a TP-link 4G LTE Router (TL-MR6400) which is a modem/router, currently using this to give Wifi to one part of my house. But need the F1000 (bridged) to extend range.

Im having trouble doing this
"
choose encapsulation pppoe
use ppp username: eircom@eircom.net
use ppp pasword: broadband1
use mtu size: 1484
"

Am I supposed to change these settings in my TP-link modem? Will this stop my TP-link from being a router? There are no options in my TP-link modem configuration for WAN settings.

Any help much appreciated

ED E

Why are you bridging?

KpsCowley

ED E wrote: »

Why are you bridging?

Hi ED E, thank you for your reply,

I need to extend my current WiFi. My LTE modem/router provides wifi but it stuck to one end of my bungalow house (due to external antenna and cable losses), the wifi does not reach the other side of my house. I had an old Eircom F1000 (this threads topic), so wanted to use that (bridged) at the other end of the house to extend the wifi. Any I approaching this in the wrong way?

ED E

You want a wireless access point, no bridging involved at all.

- If you can provide homeplugs or ethernet cabling in between this will work
- If you want to just repeat the signal, not possible

KpsCowley

Thank you for your help ED E. Yes I can connect by Ethernet cable. I thought I could use the F1000 as an access point by putting it into bridge mode? Will I need to buy a separate access point?

ED E

No, bridge mode is not related.

DHCP off
IP in range of the TP
Default gateway is the TP
Connected with LAN not WAN port