A PPPoE uplink#
You will end up with a PPPoE connection running over a port or a VLAN, carrying a default route, and masqueraded. Once it is up, the Uplinks tab ranks and health-checks it like any other uplink.
Before you start#
- The operator role and a licence.
- The username and password from the provider, and whether it wants a VLAN tag (many fibre providers do).
- The port the modem or ONT is on, with no address of its own: PPPoE runs over the port, and the port needs no IP. If the provider wants a VLAN tag, add the VLAN on that port first.
Step 1 — Add the uplink#
Network → High availability → Uplinks → Add uplink. Choose the port or the VLAN, then PPPoE as the connection.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Connection name | pppoe0, or the next number if you have one |
| Username, Password | The provider's |
| MTU (bytes) | 1492 unless the provider says otherwise: PPPoE costs eight bytes of the 1500 |
| Service name | Only if the provider asks for one |
| MSS clamping | On: fits TCP to the smaller MTU, so large downloads do not stall |
| Use the provider's DNS servers | On unless you run your own resolvers |
| IPv6 address | On if the provider offers IPv6 |
| Priority | The suggestion puts it behind the uplinks you have, which is what you want while testing it |
| Source NAT | Leave it on Masquerade |
Step 2 — Make the firewall admit the session#
PPPoE traffic to the router arrives on the PPPoE connection, not on the port under it, so a firewall rule that named the port needs to name the connection. Check the input rules on the Firewall page before you apply.
Step 3 — Apply with auto-revert#
Check it worked#
The Uplinks tab shows the connection's addresses, the gateway it learned, its priority, its status and its health. A connection that is up and Standby is one whose priority puts it behind another uplink; lower the number to make it the primary.
Changing it later#
Click the uplink: every field above can be changed there, and Connects over moves it to another port or VLAN. Leave Password empty to keep the one the router has.
When it does not come up#
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| No connection at all | The port. The Interfaces page shows whether its link is up |
| Connects, then drops | The credentials. The Logs page carries the PPP daemon's own messages |
| Up, no traffic | The priority: another uplink with a lower number wins, and the Uplinks tab says which |
| Large downloads stall, small ones work | The MTU, and MSS clamping |
| Provider wants a VLAN tag | Move it to the VLAN with Connects over |
Undoing it#
Click the uplink and Stop using as uplink, then delete the connection on the Interfaces page. If it was the only uplink, have the replacement in the same pending changes.