UC320w PPPoE WAN connection problem

[andybuchan]

Hi

I'm trying to connect my UC320w to my BT broadband using PPPoE(DLS) but i'm having no luck. I've been told by BT business broadband that i should be using PPPoA instead but there doesn't appear to be an option for that in the config utility.

Can anyone help??

Thanks,

Andy

[Matthew Needs · Accepted solution]

Hi Andy,

The Uc320 is designed to be used in conjunction with a router (ADSL) in your case.. Yes the Uc320 does have a WAN port but it is basically an Ethernet interface with basic firewall features. As BT quite correctly advised, their broadband is PPPoA, not PPPoE which is mainly used in the US and central Europe. The ADSL router will effectively convert the UC320's Ethernet media to PPPoA(or ATM). You should connect the uc wan port to your routers Ethernet port and configure accordingly.

Hope it helps

Matt

[andybuchan]

Ah ha! That's so much for your help Matt. Is there an ADSL router you'd recommend? I was thinking of the 877.

[Matthew Needs]

My pleasure Andy. Id stay away from the 877 to be honest. Some BT DSLAMs are not fully compatible with its Alcatel-Lucent DSL chipset. Try the SRP527w(small business web GUI router) or the 887va(full blown Cisco ios). Depends what features you need really? Please note, the (va) part is important! Standard 887's have the same DSL chipset as the 877.

Good luck

Matt

[andybuchan]

Thanks again, i noticed that the SRP547w has the same chassis as the UC320 which will probably swing it. Also given that i'm almost certain i won't use the 887va to it's fullest. However it only looks like the 887va has better security and VPN?

[Matthew Needs]

There are quite a few additional features on the 887va such as routing protocols, failover, security mechanisms, management & monitoring, etc etc. But to be honest most of the 887's value add features would be used in an enterprise WAN solution rather than a small SOHO rollout.

As long as the SRP547w supports the features you need you should be good to go. It's a feature rich DSL router.

Matt

[cameronalan]

Hi

As I found out the hard way the SRP527W doesn't support pppoa on a bt line either. and I ended up using it as a standard router with the 320 in the DMZ., I am still looking for a solution but was on the phone with Cisco for 4 hours with it today.

Cheers

Alan