I have a working OpenWRT setup which performs NAT twice and requires 2 lots of port forwarding.

Sky ADSL Broadband  ------> TD-8817   ----------> TL-WR1043ND
PPPoA 0/38 VC-Mux            Modem+NAT                 NAT
Dynamic IP                     WAN/192.168.1.1       192.168.1.100/192.168.0.1
                                       Stock Firmware            Backfire 10.03.1

I would like to fully bridge to the WR1043TD as I am running OpenVPN etc on it.

The 8817 has a mode called '1483 Bridged IP VC-Mux' which I think is what I need to bridge the connection to the TL-WR1043ND.

What I can't get right is how to setup the WR1043ND to provide the PPPoA user/password and actually connect?

I have installed pppoa packages for the WAN port but the logfile always gives a pppd error - 'device not found' I assume because the 1043 does not have a modem itself.

I have tried setting the ATM-bridge up and have nas0 pseudo interface but cant find what to bridge it to.

At the moment I am using Luci but can use the CLI if I need to.

Any guidance would be much appreciated as there is not a HOWTO for the ATM-Bridge/PPPoA that I can find.

(Last edited by olib on 6 Aug 2012, 09:27)

did you checked the wiki? http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/uci/network?s[]=pppoa#atm.bridges.ethernet.over.atm.aal5
it mentions you need to install: The package br2684ctl create a nas0 pseudo device

I have the following packages installed

atm-tools
br2684ctl
kmod-pppoe
kmod-pppoa
ppp-mod-pppoa
ppp-mod-pppoe
pppdump

Apart from your link above I can't find any other info for the ATM bridge explaining what interfaces I connect/bridge in the WR1043 to enable it successfully link to the modem.

I have an ATM bridge set up 0/38, VC-Mux, ATM device number 0,

I have tried setting the WAN interface as PPP with the modem device as : /dev/nas0 in the hope that PPP+ATM bridge will = PPPoA  but it doesn't seem to.

I have previously tried setting the WAN interface to PPPoA but this appeared to fail as there was no WAN modem on the 1043ND...

I am struggling to understand what settings in Open WRT I should start with to connect via PPPoA to a fully bridged separate modem via the WAN port.

EDIT - which PPP modem device should I select if I want to connect to a separate modem?

(Last edited by olib on 6 Aug 2012, 12:32)

So has anyone successfully connected to an ISP using PPPoA, an OpenWRT router an external 1483 bridged modem using either Luci or CLI?

What modules/settings worked for you?

Did you need to use the ATM bridge or does that have another use?

Which protocol did you use to pass the logon details - PPP, PPPoA or another protocol?

If you used PPP which modem device did you use?

If you used PPPoA how did you get the router to use the WAN port and not look for an internal ADSL modem?

Thanks for any help, advice or even just RTFM if you could tell me where to look! 

(Last edited by olib on 8 Aug 2012, 19:20)

I am having same issues as you so it seems,  I just have no idea where to turn to. Did you work it out?
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=41660

I've been using a 1043ND and an 8816 modem for over a year.

The modem needs to use PPPoA to connect to your ISP.
The router needs to connect PPPoE to connect to the modem (PPP over ethernet, and you're connecting them via ethernet, right?) so forget PPPoA on the router, you can even uninstall the module.

The PPPoE settings in OpenWRT allow you to enter the user/pass and it will send those over to the modem.

ONE MORE THING. Looks like you're using Sky via BT's wholesale since its ADSL and not cable? I'm with IDnet, who also use BT wholesale lines around here, but the week before last I had connection problem just like yours, 'no device found'. This despite the fact it'd been working fine for over a year and I'd changed nothing

After two days of trying to find out what the hell was wrong and talking to IDnet tech support (who were no real help), I saw a tip on another forum to try sing LLC encapsulation instead of VC-mux. It worked! So simple.

So despite the fact that my ISP says use VC-mux, and everything you read says use VC-mux, only LLC encapsulation works.

Personally I think BT are screwing around in the exchange and haven't told anyone...