ASUS DSL-AC68U with Spark UFB

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SirAzANZ

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Wannabe Geek

#219094 25-Jul-2017 21:28

Anyone successfully got an ASUS DSL-AC68U working on a Spark (Telecom Xtra) Fibre connection?

Background:

The provided device is a Huawei HG659b, which has some good modern features and tech specs, but under the demands of heavy users - it can't cope, and maxes out its tiny little processor, resulting in extreme reduction of traffic throughput (until you power-cycle the device). The ASUS on the other hand is a very expensive device with slightly improved tech specs and functions, and seems to handle heavy lifting with ease.

ASUS says my device supports Fibre:

asus.com/Networking/DSLAC68U/overview/
- "Compatible with ADSL2/2+, ADSL, VDSL2, fiber and cable services".

Re-purposing a LAN port:

The idea is that you provision one of the LAN ports as your WAN port
This LAN (WAN) port connects directly to the ONT (optical network terminal)

VLAN tagging:

According to online posts, its simply a matter of tagging the traffic with VLAN ID 10.
As far as I can see, a long time ago you had to set the VLAN ID via "LAN > IPTV", but have since released better support VLAN tagging WAN traffic to better support ISP's that have that setup.
Apparently this works easily with the Router/Non-DSL version of this model (RT-AC68U), due to the native support of WAN VLAN tagging.

Google-Foo:

I have reviewed many posts on the subject, but over the years, no new reliable source of information has come to light.
I have tested with 3 different versions of the firmware, included the latest (v3.0.0.4.380_7712).
I've setup my device as per these easy to follow screenshot instructions, which I found here: pbtech.co.nz/ASUSISPSettings#SparkAC68U (tested using 2 firmware versions which are newer than the one in the post, and one firmware which is older than the one shown in those screenshots).

Any users out there got this to work successfully?

Any Spark techs know how to get this to work?

-Az

michaelmurfy

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#1830385 25-Jul-2017 22:26

Thread here: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39&topicid=160038

Long story cut short it doesn't allow for VLAN tagging on the WAN port - only the xDSL port. You need a new router.

Edit: I just spent some time tonight updating my router guide: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=66&topicid=197871

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FuerstiNZ

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#1836950 4-Aug-2017 08:23

Sorry mate, but that's no longer current.

I managed to hook up the ASUS DSL-AC68U with Spark UFB yesterday and am getting the full speed.

Asus updated their firmware recently which enabled VLAN tagging over WAN.
Basically follow the settings on PBTech or Spark's website.
Don't forget to untick theVPN und DHCP further down the Internet setting tab.

Power cycle the ONT and also the ASUS...
Try different LAN ports...
I also did a factory reset of the ASUS before (more out of desperation) and let the whole setup sit for a while.
Eventually it worked.... Not sure which part ultimately did the trick though....

Cheers
Fuersti

SirAzANZ

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1841159 8-Aug-2017 14:19

Ya, I finally got it to work! So Happy :)

I followed a similar process to what you described. It failed to connect on many configuration attempts, until finally it just "worked".

My steps are roughly:

I did another reset on the ASUS, with the LAN1 connected directly to the ONT.
Let the ASUS wizard perform an automatic internet connection detection (which took takes ages to fail). It then gives you 2 DSL choices to proceed (Annex A / Annex B) so I choose A and continued.

I then setup the PPPOE settings with VLAN 10.
I re-tested with the WAN set to each LAN ports. Sometimes rebooting both ASUS & ONT, other times just the ONT.
I tested the WAN connection type as automatic, then switched back the correct PPOE settings, and set the WAN Port back to LAN1, and patched accordingly.
Then after some time it just worked.

Other notes:

I found that the system logs were giving me errors on the connection, but had nothing to do with the WAN port, as it was logging the same modem hangup issues, even when I unplugged the Ethernet cable - so it seems it's logging DSL errors when it wasn't set to use DSL. If it was previously set to use DSL, you may need to Wizard or a hard reset before changing to WAN?

I'm not sure what the "Magic" part of the process was, but it took a couple of hours of waiting on it to do reboots, before it was happy to use the settings which I started off with (and have tried on other occasions).

ASUS DSL-AC68U: Logs of a successful connection (Spark UFB Fibre):

Aug 1 00:07:43 WAN Connection: Ethernet link down. {I rebooted the ONT}
Aug 1 00:07:53 WAN Connection: No response from ISP.
Aug 1 00:08:00 pppd[2401]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Aug 1 00:08:00 pppd[2401]: Connection terminated.
Aug 1 00:08:00 pppd[2401]: Modem hangup
Aug 1 00:08:45 pppd[2401]: Timeout waiting for PADO packets
Aug 1 00:09:00 pppd[2401]: Connected to 00:23:e3:88:xf:xf via interface vlan10
Aug 1 00:09:00 pppd[2401]: Connect: ppp0 <--> vlan10
Aug 1 00:09:30 pppd[2401]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Aug 1 00:09:30 pppd[2401]: Connection terminated.
Aug 1 00:09:30 pppd[2401]: Modem hangup
Aug 1 00:09:40 pppd[2401]: Connected to 00:23:e3:88:xf:xf via interface vlan10
Aug 1 00:09:40 pppd[2401]: Connect: ppp0 <--> vlan10
Aug 1 00:10:10 pppd[2401]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Aug 1 00:10:10 pppd[2401]: Connection terminated.
Aug 1 00:10:10 pppd[2401]: Modem hangup
Aug 1 00:10:25 pppd[2401]: Connected to 00:23:e3:88:xf:xf via interface vlan10
Aug 1 00:10:25 pppd[2401]: Connect: ppp0 <--> vlan10
Aug 1 00:10:55 pppd[2401]: LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
Aug 1 00:10:55 pppd[2401]: Connection terminated.
Aug 1 00:10:55 pppd[2401]: Modem hangup
Aug 1 00:11:21 pppd[2401]: Connected to 00:23:e3:88:xf:xf via interface vlan10
Aug 1 00:11:21 pppd[2401]: Connect: ppp0 <--> vlan10
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: PAP authentication succeeded
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: peer from calling number 00:23:e3:88:xf:xf authorized
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: local IP address 102.57.185.222
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: remote IP address 210.80.70.1
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: primary DNS address 122.56.237.1
Aug 1 00:11:48 pppd[2401]: secondary DNS address 210.55.111.1
Aug 1 00:11:48 rc_service: ip-up 2903:notify_rc start_firewall
Aug 1 00:11:49 wan: finish adding multi routes
Aug 1 00:11:49 miniupnpd[2701]: shutting down MiniUPnPd
Aug 1 00:11:49 rc_service: ip-up 2903:notify_rc stop_upnp
Aug 1 00:11:49 rc_service: waitting "start_firewall" via ip-up ...
Aug 1 00:11:49 start_nat_rules: apply the nat_rules(/tmp/nat_rules_ppp0_vlan10)!
Aug 1 00:11:52 Admin: sh /opt/S50asuslighttpd.1 firewall-start
Aug 1 00:11:53 WAN Connection: WAN was restored.
Aug 1 00:11:53 rc_service: wanduck 460:notify_rc start_apps_update
Aug 1 00:11:53 rc_service: waitting "start_firewall" via ip-up ...

michaelmurfy

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#1841164 8-Aug-2017 14:21

Ahh nice to know the firmware has finally been fixed! Glad it is working.

SirAzANZ

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1841169 8-Aug-2017 14:28

I think they added this feature to the firmware several revisions ago.

I wonder if it's just a matter of waiting 5mins+ for it to sync up properly and get a DHCP address. If so, that's a really long time.

It would be great it we could identify the exact issue for others wanting to do the same - this device has an amazing feature set, which is continuous getting more features every time I look, and because of its high end internals, it can easily cope with the additional workload. Definitely recommended for advanced users.

I'm now getting full wifi range coverage with the ASUS which I couldn't get from the Huawei.

yitz

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#1841175 8-Aug-2017 14:32

How long does it typically take to power cycle an ONT?

michaelmurfy

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#1841204 8-Aug-2017 15:16

yitz: How long does it typically take to power cycle an ONT?

To answer your question: about 1-2sec depending on where the power point to the ONT is and how you power cycle it.

From what I think you're meaning: about 5mins for the ONT to fully boot / reconnect after a powercycle.

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yitz

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#1841210 8-Aug-2017 15:23

Sorry yes I meant time taken to for GPON and layer 2 bitstream connection to come up. So it does take a little while.

BarTender

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#1841832 9-Aug-2017 13:24

I suspect if you have other handshaking protocols apart from PAP (ie CHAP/MSCHAP etc) enabled on your router then that will cause the PPPoE negotiation to take a while.

I've seen CPE come up in sub 5 seconds from plugging the cable in to LCP Open as long as it doesn't try anything stupid and then back off because it's not supported by Chorus or Spark.

Username / Password using only PAP over PPPoE over VLAN 10 with a .1p tagging of 0 for Best Effort and it should come up straight away.