Cisco RV345 PPPoE on WAN Connection Problems - Bad, Repeatable

[ARA-Jn-AK]

Recently while installing a set of RV345 routers, on one site that has an ISP using PPPoE WAN connectivity, the connection would come up, but the download speed was less than 5% of nominal, and the connection also exhibited massive timeouts on various Web addresses, always repeatable but with no obvious pattern. This makes the router practicably unusable at that location.

I have since put a Cisco RV325 in as a temporary substitute (actually that model had been in place there previously), and with the same ISP connection, that works fine. -I can also to note that a simple Windows laptop plugged into the ISP PPPoE modem connects to the same PPPoE account with no auto setup modifications or problems.

-So, I know that the RV345 implementation of PPPoE WAN connectivity has additional options other than automatic configuration (which should work by the ISPs information, and does on all other devices tested), -has anyone experienced the same issue and found any workarounds using the optional settings, or is this just a bug?

Additional info: All the Cisco gear tested was using the most recent firmware (v1.0.03.15 on the RV345), and 2 RV345 units were tried, one even reset to factory defaults and no other settings applied other than default pw and basic WAN configuration. Results were always the same with each unit. The ISP was not able to offer any advice, as using automatic setup for a PPPoE connection is all they offer (and it works anywhere else). If it matters, that particular connection is also a static IP account, which again, works on other devices just fine. - Does anyone here know of any workarounds for this problem?

[Jo Kern]

Can I ask which ISP are you using ? Have you used PPPoE on Rv345 with a different ISP or the same in a different location ?

Thx

[ARA-Jn-AK]

Thanks for the inquiry. The ISP used at the problem location is https://www.mtasolutions.com/ - they are well established, have a wide customer base, and we have used them for many years. So far, that is the only ISP for us where using the RV345 requires a PPPoE connection. We are running several other RV345 units at different locations, using a different ISP with cable modem service, and all are working fine.

As stated earlier, we are able to use an older RV325 unit with the same PPPoE service in the same location, and it works fine. All units are at the most current firmware revision. -The only thing to add, is that the PPPoE connection assigns a static IP (correctly so for the account), but again, that service works fine on an RV325 or a generic Windows laptop. It is only the RV345 that errors out. We have tried 2 separate units, both with the same result.

[Zhaoqiang Wang]

Hi, have you tried smaller MTU size on WAN interface?

[ARA-Jn-AK]

Thanks - I did initially ask the ISP support about MTU sizes and other options, but they could not give any recommendation, other than auto settings which is their default. -After that, while the unit was still connected, I actually did experiment & try several smaller MTU size settings on the RV345 interface, and the connection then became worse or completely broken. -But, it was worth a try!

[Jo Kern]

Thanks, our support team would be try to log in remotely to gather info on what could be wrong

[ARA-Jn-AK]

I appreciate that thought, however disconnecting the working RV325 unit, and re-applying one of the RV345s, all while having someone else trying to remote in on a bad connection, would seem rather difficult at best.