Eir FTTH Bridge Mode with VOIP.

ShiverinEskimo

Looking for some advice or to see if anyone has a similar setup:

Having had issues with wifi off the Huawei in certain parts of the house I currently have the Huawei F2000 set up in Bridge Mode and then connected through to a Google Wifi Mesh system. Because I've set the Huawei in bridge mode I've lost my SIP landline. The mobile signal at the house has recently started fading, probably after a network change with my mobile provider so I was looking at getting the landline back up and running but can't see how I can have SIP and Google Wifi running side-by-side.

Does anyone know if it's possible to set the Huawei to bridge mode with telephony or is there another work-around that someone could shed light on?

I was thinking maybe could I take the Huawei out of bridge mode and subnet the LAN for the Google Mesh system while running the SIP connection as normal. Might be a bit messy maybe though.

Any/all advice welcome.

tsue921i8wljb3

Are you on FTTH or FTTC (through the copper phone line)?

ShiverinEskimo

FTTH

tsue921i8wljb3

You have a few options then.

1) Get a cheap gigabit switch and connect it to the ONT (fibre box on the wall). Connect both the old router and the Google router to the switch. Set both to IPoE and they'll get separate IP addresses. The old router then handles the phone.

2) Connect the old router behind the Google device and use port forwarding to allow the phone to function. May not be reliable. Details here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110875525&postcount=9622

3) Leave the routing and phone to the old router while turning off it's WiFi and use the Google device as access points for WiFi.

tsue921i8wljb3

Actually can the Google mesh do VLAN tagging on WAN? I seem to recall it can't. So option 3 might be your only choice or get a better mesh system.

babelfish1990

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Looking for some advice or to see if anyone has a similar setup:

Having had issues with wifi off the Huawei in certain parts of the house I currently have the Huawei F2000 set up in Bridge Mode and then connected through to a Google Wifi Mesh system. Because I've set the Huawei in bridge mode I've lost my SIP landline. The mobile signal at the house has recently started fading, probably after a network change with my mobile provider so I was looking at getting the landline back up and running but can't see how I can have SIP and Google Wifi running side-by-side.

Does anyone know if it's possible to set the Huawei to bridge mode with telephony or is there another work-around that someone could shed light on?

I was thinking maybe could I take the Huawei out of bridge mode and subnet the LAN for the Google Mesh system while running the SIP connection as normal. Might be a bit messy maybe though.

Any/all advice welcome.

Why not use WiFi Calling on your mobile? (If your mobile is not already with Eir, you could port it over and get the €9.99 per month offer - same as GoMo, but with WiFi calling included)

ED E

Aylin Big Salami wrote: »

Actually can the Google mesh do VLAN tagging on WAN? I seem to recall it can't. So option 3 might be your only choice or get a better mesh system.

Correct.


I'd do 3 too IMO.

leex

Port forwarding for voip here from tp-link to Eir router for a number of months. No issues at all.

ShiverinEskimo

I've been doing a bit of reading and seemingly option 3 means setting the google wifi to bridge mode behind the Eir router which removes the mesh functionality and reverts all the google wifi units to standalone access points that each need to be connected to the LAN.

https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/6240987?hl=en

Not sure if relevant but worth mentioning that the Ethernet setup in the house all goes back to a cisco gigabit switch. Currently have the wired network as:

ONT -> Huawei (Bridge) -> Google Wifi Primary -> Gigabit Switch.

stefanovich

My advice to anyone considering Eir is to run. Run fast. Run as fast as you can away from this utter mess of a company.

Even reading their trustpilot reviews would give you a nervous breakdown.

ShiverinEskimo

stefanovich wrote: »

My advice to anyone considering Eir is to run. Run fast. Run as fast as you can away from this utter mess of a company.

Even reading their trustpilot reviews would give you a nervous breakdown.

I want FFTH and they supply it. I've had zero issues with the service and if I go with another provider I'll have the same issue with the VoIP.

tsue921i8wljb3

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I've been doing a bit of reading and seemingly option 3 means setting the google wifi to bridge mode behind the Eir router which removes the mesh functionality and reverts all the google wifi units to standalone access points that each need to be connected to the LAN.

https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/6240987?hl=en

Not sure if relevant but worth mentioning that the Ethernet setup in the house all goes back to a cisco gigabit switch. Currently have the wired network as:

ONT -> Huawei (Bridge) -> Google Wifi Primary -> Gigabit Switch.

The issue is the lack of VLAN tagging on the Google Mesh. Unless that has been fixed recently by Google the Mesh cannot take the place of the Huawei.

There might be another workaround, where you can keep all Mesh functionality, if you can wait a couple of days. It would involve a relatively cheap (~€35) switch. I'll test it in the next few days and get back to you.

stefanovich

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I want FFTH and they supply it. I've had zero issues with the service and if I go with another provider I'll have the same issue with the VoIP.

Service may not be an issue but customer service is. A huge issue. Largest number of complaints to comreg for any of the ISPs. Just wait till something goes wrong. Don't say I didn't warn you.

tsue921i8wljb3

I have tested it and my solution seems to work. What you do is get a cheap smart switch to do the VLAN tagging for the Google Mesh. I tried it with an ancient Linksys router that has no VLAN tagging and it connected to my FTTH connection alongside my F2000. Both got separate IP addresses.

I used this Netgear:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed-GS105Ev2/dp/B002YPJ8KM/ref=sr_1_15?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

This seems to be an updated version of the above that Amazon are doing a special on for the next few days:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-5-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed/dp/B07QF51CVQ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

If you want to go down this route I'll give you the settings to get it set up. Securing the switch will be up to yourself although I don't believe there is much risk. I take no responsibility for anything that may go wrong.

ED E

Nice solution Navi.

tsue921i8wljb3

ED E wrote: »

Nice solution Navi.

Thanks. While I have you there, just on the security side of things. The switch doesn't have a public IP so the management interface should not be reachable from the internet. The three ports used are on VLAN 10 and removed from the management VLAN (1). I can't see any real security implications but if you see anything wrong I'd value your opinion.

tuxy

Aylin Big Salami wrote: »

I have tested it and my solution seems to work. What you do is get a cheap smart switch to do the VLAN tagging for the Google Mesh. I tried it with an ancient Linksys router that has no VLAN tagging and it connected to my FTTH connection alongside my F2000. Both got separate IP addresses.

I used this Netgear:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed-GS105Ev2/dp/B002YPJ8KM/ref=sr_1_15?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

This seems to be an updated version of the above that Amazon are doing a special on for the next few days:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-5-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed/dp/B07QF51CVQ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

If you want to go down this route I'll give you the settings to get it set up. Securing the switch will be up to yourself although I don't believe there is much risk. I take no responsibility for anything that may go wrong.

I did this for a year using a very cheap dumb switch. I wasn't using google mesh but I'm sure it will work just fine once a router with vlan tagging on the wan port is used.

tsue921i8wljb3

tuxy wrote: »

I did this for a year using a very cheap dumb switch. I wasn't using google mesh but I'm sure it will work just fine once a router with vlan tagging on the wan port is used.

What advantage would this have over using the F2000 as the router and plugging google mesh into a lan port?
Aside from having no vlan tagging is the google mesh consider good for routing?
I only did it because I wanted to use a full UniFi setup and still have calls.

OP could try that also actually. They'll have double NAT but it might work.

tuxy

Aylin Big Salami wrote: »

OP could try that also actually. They'll have double NAT but it might work.

Ah can't the routing be disabled on the google mesh and still use it for mesh wifi?
I've no idea how it works.

I'd pick your solution with a cheap smart switch over double NAT

tsue921i8wljb3

tuxy wrote: »

Ah can't the routing be disabled on the google mesh and still use it for mesh wifi?
I've no idea how it works.

I'd pick your solution with a cheap smart switch over double NAT

No, I don't think so. Apparently if you disable routing they become dumb access points.

ED E

Aylin Big Salami wrote: »

Thanks. While I have you there, just on the security side of things. The switch doesn't have a public IP so the management interface should not be reachable from the internet. The three ports used are on VLAN 10 and removed from the management VLAN (1). I can't see any real security implications but if you see anything wrong I'd value your opinion.

Even if the switch were pwnd its upstream of both gateway devices so should be considered wild wild west anyways. DNS poisoning etc would be a risk but they'd still be on the public side of your network.

Acting entirely at level 2 then its completely secure from outside tampering.

tsue921i8wljb3

ED E wrote: »

Even if the switch were pwnd its upstream of both gateway devices so should be considered wild wild west anyways. DNS poisoning etc would be a risk but they'd still be on the public side of your network.

Acting entirely at level 2 then its completely secure from outside tampering.

Thanks for the input.

ShiverinEskimo

Aylin Big Salami wrote: »

I have tested it and my solution seems to work. What you do is get a cheap smart switch to do the VLAN tagging for the Google Mesh. I tried it with an ancient Linksys router that has no VLAN tagging and it connected to my FTTH connection alongside my F2000. Both got separate IP addresses.

I used this Netgear:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed-GS105Ev2/dp/B002YPJ8KM/ref=sr_1_15?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

This seems to be an updated version of the above that Amazon are doing a special on for the next few days:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-5-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-Managed/dp/B07QF51CVQ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=32O5A7NJV47IY

If you want to go down this route I'll give you the settings to get it set up. Securing the switch will be up to yourself although I don't believe there is much risk. I take no responsibility for anything that may go wrong.

Thanks a million for the efforts/advice. I've ordered the second one you mentioned above and will install it as you describe.

Am I right in saying then that I will essentially end up with two routers running off one FTTH with each being assigned a public IP address from Eir? Eir presumeably won't know/care about one customer taking two IPs? Or do I have it wrong?

tuxy

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Thanks a million for the efforts/advice. I've ordered the second one you mentioned above and will install it as you describe.

Am I right in saying then that I will essentially end up with two routers running off one FTTH with each being assigned a public IP address from Eir? Eir presumeably won't know/care about one customer taking two IPs? Or do I have it wrong?

Yes you are correct you will have an external IP for each device. Eir have yet to show any sign of caring about this since the number who do it is so low. Like I said, I did it for 12 months and they never contacted me about it. I only stopped because I moved provider.

tsue921i8wljb3

They may care in the future if they run short of IP addresses but as tuxy says this has yet to happen. It's explained here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=107894485&postcount=32

ED E

Be careful though.


I know of more occasions than I have fingers where an eir NGA node expended its DHCP pool. They're provisioning right down to the line. If you accidentally wired your LAN of 20 devices to external DHCP (bad idea anyways) you could take a chunk of your neighbours offline. Stupid that its possible, but Eir...

tsue921i8wljb3

Here is the guide to setting this up.

Set all this up before connecting any routers to the switch.

Before setting the VLAN details log into the switch and disable the DHCP client. It should be on the main System page. You can choose your own static IP or leave the default (192.168.0.239). We don't want the switch getting a public IP from eir.

Also change the default password to something stronger.

I've attached some images to guide you through this. In my example I had the ONT on port 1, the eir F2000 on port 5 and the non VLAN router (Google Mesh) on port 3. You don't have to follow this but whatever ports you use must be setup in the following way.

In image 01 you go to the VLAN > 802.1Q > Advanced then click enable and apply. In the VLAN ID box put 10 then click Add.

You should now have a setting like image 02.

Go to VLAN Membership as in image 03 then click the VLAN ID dropdown and choose 10. Originally all the ports will be blank like 2 and 4 in my image.

This is important. Whatever port you choose for the Google Mesh must have a U. You toggle through blank, U and T by clicking on the individual port.

Likewise the ports for the ONT and eir F2000 must have a T. When done click Apply.

Onto image 04 and you go to Port PVID. Click the three ports you've chosen to use in the previous step, put 10 in the box under PVID and click Apply.

Go back to VLAN membership and under the VLAN 1 dropdown click on the three ports you've chosen to use until they are blank as in image 05. Click Apply.

At the end you should be left with something like image 06. The three ports you've chosen should be in 10 with the remaining two in VLAN 1.

You should be set now. Set the Google Mesh to IPoE/DHCP and make sure it is in the correct port (VLAN 10 with U). Connect ONT and F2000 to the other two.

If you've any issues let me know!

tsue921i8wljb3

I need another post for image 06!

ShiverinEskimo

Just got word the switch arrived today so I'll tackle this this evening. Thanks a million for all this btw. Seriously appreciate your time.

tsue921i8wljb3

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Just got word the switch arrived today so I'll tackle this this evening. Thanks a million for all this btw. Seriously appreciate your time.

No problem!

tuxy

It was an interesting solution, good thinking!
Isn't it weird that google wifi still has no support for vlan tagging on the wan?
vlan tagging is used by many ISP's worldwide and It would probably only require a software update.