Configuring TPLink Archer C7 as Bell Canada Home Hub 3000 Replacement? [PPPoE]

[mazza2590]

Hi All

I am currently a Bell Canada FTTH customer (500 up / 500 down)
I have a Bell Home Hub 3000 modem/router that i wish to replace with OpenWRT on an Archer C7 v5

I'm using the 10Gtek media converter to connect the fiber sfp to the Archer C7

I may be trying too many things at once here, as i find the configuration options a bit confusing

In order to setup the PPPoE connection, i followed these steps HERE
That alone didn't work for me.

Additionally, Bell's network specifically requires that the interface is tagged as VLAN 35, as detailed HERE

I therefore tried the settings listed HERE. (I wasnt able to figure out how to make these changes via ssh, so i just used mobaxterm's file browser to download a local copy of /etc/network/interfaces and made the changes, then uploaded it back and rebooted the router)

After that didn't work, i restored the network file, and tried going to Interfaces > VLANs > Create new > called it 35 and set each interface to "off" except for WAN, which was set to "tagged". That didn't do it either.

I feel like i'm just not navigating the UI / settings properly..
Can anyone offer some assistance?

I'm also somewhat confused as to where / how i turn this router into the "192.168.0.1" gateway i need it to be. I currently have it set to 192.168.0.8 while i try and configure it, but at some point it should be re-addressed right?

Thank you.

--------Goals--------

• 192.168.0.1 - The aforementioned Archer C7 as the main Gateway / Router, which connects to Bell, with wireless enabled.
• 192.168.0.2 - A second Archer C7 acting as a dumb Wireless AP.
• 192.168.0.3 - A third Archer C7 acting as a dumb Wireless AP

I'm hoping to have my 3 Archers setup with final objective of smooth and fast wifi roaming through out my house. The AP's have seem to be working fine the past few days.. i'm just now getting stuck on the Bell Router replacement.

Thank you!

------EDIT--------
Here's what i did to finally get it working!

Network> Switch
Left Vlan 1 and 2 untouched
Created a new Vlan called 35
Have CPU (eth0) and WAN set as TAGGED. Have LAN 1 through LAN 4 as OFF.

Network > Interfaces > WAN6
Didn't touch it

Network > Interfaces > WAN > General Settings
Protocol: PPPoE
Enter username and password

Network > Interfaces > WAN > Physical Settings
Bridge Interfaces: enabled
Interface: Only have "SwitchVLAN: "eth0.35" (wan) selected

Network > Interfaces > LAN > General Settings
Protocl: Static Address
IPv4 address: 192.168.0.1
IPv4 netmask: 255.255.255.0
IPv4 gateway: LEFT IT BLANK

Network > Interfaces > LAN > Physical Settings
Bridge Interfaces: enabled
Interface: I have Switch VLAN "eth0.1" (lan), and both my 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wireless options selected

[slh]

While you should be able to get that working, the archer c7 is rather dated by now and very unlikely to reach NAT throughput of 500/500 MBit/s while also doing PPPoE (imho about half of that at best), you need (a lot!) more CPU performance for that.

[mazza2590]

Appreciate that. I definitely noticed it get stuck around 300/300 during a speed test. Did some reading and found that enabling Software flow offloading under Network > Firewall fixed that problem.

However, i am now noticing that mobile and "Chromecast with GoogleTV" kept disconnecting off the wifi every 15, 20 minutes or so. AP was maybe 10ft from me. I assumed it was doing some weird roaming thing, but maybe something else was going on? EDIT: ya the router I'm using for the pppoe gateway is just rebooting every 15-30 minutes!

[fOO223Fr]

@slh

e you should be able to get that working, the archer c7 is rather dated by now and very unlikely to reach NAT throughput of 500/500 MBit/s while also doing PPPoE (imho about half of that at best), you need (a lot!) more CPU performance for that.

i wish i had read this comment before getting a used archer c7 v2 for 20 bucks lol

[slh]

PPPoE as a protocol is rather demanding, but even without PPPoE, 500 MBit/s is quite a lot for most common 'plastic routers'. We're only slowly seeing devices entering this performance region (e.g. mt7622bv or filogic 820/ 830 might be able to do this, ipq807x is probably very borderline).

While it is getting a tad old, this post is still correct and on topic:

So you have 500Mbps-1Gbps fiber and need a router READ THIS FIRST

It's such a frequently asked question over the last few years that we really need a post we can point people to. So your cable company rolled out 500Mbps or 1Gbps download speeds, or you have 1Gbps symmetric fiber (GPON/EPON) from ATT or Centurylink or Orange or whoever. You realize your old all in one router from 2009 is not up to the task of handling this, but hey by now stuff should be cheap and available that will handle your new fiber connection right? So you want advice about a router for…

Personally I am using x86_64 (old Atom j1900) for 400/200 MBit/s (without PPPoE, but using sqm/cake) - and it's a breeze, as everything just works and has plenty of performance to spare (today I'd probably look at ).

[frollic]

@slh

Atom j1900

@fOO223Fr, you can get an Advantech ARK-1123 for ~$30 on US eBay.
Atom J1900, 4GB RAM, only two ethernet ports though.
Storage can vary, but an USB flash drive is good enough for Openwrt.

No wifi, but you've already got a c7 v2

In polish, but at least you'll see what's inside

Komputer kompaktowy ARK-1123

[fOO223Fr]

I am now thinking in the lines of (software) pfsense or openwrt in a VM in my rusty rack server. any gotchas you have experienced along in that route?
what i was thinking:

[frollic]

Can't say anything about VMs, never used them.