Fibre PPPoE Session

Hi,

Where do the PPPoE sessions terminate in the BT Network? VDSL2 kit or on MSANs behind them? Who manufactures the MSANs that BT are using?

Thanks,
TT

In reply to a post by _TT_:

Where do the PPPoE sessions terminate in the BT Network? VDSL2 kit or on MSANs behind them?

The PPPoE session terminates at your ISP's routers. Nothing at all to do with the BT Wholesale network or the Openreach (fibre) link between your cabinet and the exchange.

FTTC is handed over by Openreach at the exchange to a "wholesaler"'s network. Currently the three being BT Wholesale, Sky and TalkTalk. It is an Ethernet handover, (Openreach Generic Ethernet Access - GEA), and the PPPoE session is carried through on that.

VDSL2 only exists in FTTC between you and the cabinet.

The MSANs in the cabinets are Huawei or ECI.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

FTTC is handed over by Openreach at the exchange to a "wholesaler"'s network. Currently the three being BT Wholesale, Sky and TalkTalk.

Four. Zen have their own network in around 200 exchanges (and use BT Wholesale on exchanges where they have no presence).

In reply to a post by _TT_:

Where do the PPPoE sessions terminate in the BT Network?

To add to the answer Bob gave you, it's important to note that Sky use DHCP with options for authentication (sometimes called MER) rather than PPPoE.


In the PPPoE case, the DSLAM in the cabinet acts as an Intermediate Agent, inserting various tags about the line into the PADI before it reaches the ISP.

In the DHCP case, the DSLAM in the cabinet is a DHCP Relay, inserting the same information about the line in Option 82 of the DHCP Discover before it reaches the ISP.

BT SIN 498 contains a lot of background information.

Thanks for the reply.

With BT ADSL connections you could track which devices your PPPoA sessions went through before they terminated at your ISP. I'm trying to see the same down a fibre connection. I can't see the full detail for some reason, presumably because it is different architecture. Reading SIN498 as I type. The MAC address says Ericsson, which I presume is a Redback at Zen? Or is my first PPPoE hop an Ericsson MSAN operated by BT?

TT

There's a further layer of gloss to add to the information you've got so far. For those ISPs using BT Wholesale WBMC, including Zen customers on those exchanges where Zen don't have their own presence, the PPP session terminates on a BT Wholesale BRAS before the traffic is passed to the ISP using PPP passthrough over an L2TP tunnel from the BRAS. Section 4.1 of BT SIN 471 refers.

The BT Wholesale BRAS identifies itself in the PPP negotiation, which may be visible on your router. On my pfSense box, I see:

ppp: [wan_link0] Name: "bras-red5.mqd"

Discussion following a recent fault reveals "mqd" to be Milton Keynes.


Zen customers can check in the Line Data screen of the Customer Portal whether the line is on WBMC or the Zen network.

Five? Does C&W supply FTTC?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

C&W

Vodafone Enterprise

When you try and access the former C&W website:
http://enterprise.vodafone.co.uk/welcome-to-vodafone/