Getting 2 public IP addresses on Purefibre. Can this be done with a single cable into the ONT?

[George1234]

Telus fibre advertises 2 public IP addresses, although getting information about how to configure and obtain them is really hard.  The tech support people assured me that it wasn't possible.  I told them that's it's an advertised feature, but they insisted I was mistaken.

Anyway, I eventually got them by plugging an unmanaged switch into port 1 of the ONT, and then plugging two separate routers into that switch.  One router is the one supplied by Telus (T3200M), the other is a 6-port hardware firewall (Protectli Vault).  This kind of works, but is clunky and is causing problems with other stuff.  For example, I want to set up various VLANS where some devices would connect to the internet via public IP1, and others via public IP2.  I'm not sure how to do this with the current setup since the T3200M doesn't support VLANs. 

Ideally, I'd like to have 2 interfaces of the protecli vault connected to the ONT that would get the 2 public IP addresses.  The Protectli Vault would then set up the VLANs appropriately.  I'd then like the Telus T3200M router to get it's public IP address from the Vault instead of directly from the ONT.  I would then hope that from the point of view of the Telus router, nothing would be different than before.  It would also just keep providing the network for all my TVs and PVR as if nothing had changed (we have a bunch of wireless TV digital boxes and a PVR).  I would make sure that things were set up so the Telus router keeps providing the same subnet as before. 

Is such a setup possible?  I would call Telus, but it seems that it's impossible to get in touch with someone who actually knows what's going on.

[George1234]

In the title, I meant to say "a single device" instead of a single cable.  (so using the protectli to get both IPs).

[NFtoBC · Accepted solution]

As far as I know, any device would need to be connected through an unmanaged switch, as you have discovered, and appear to the ONT as independent routers.

Telus staff will not provide the detail you are asking on residential accounts, as their service plan is a simple single connection through their supplied equipment. Please share what you learn in your exploration.

[kamak]

It is interesting that the domestic Telus PureFiber service plans allow for two public IP addresses, but that the Telus technical support team does not offer support to the customer for it.

Sorry late to the party, but just as interested to find this out, only now. I had no idea that we were allowed two public WAN IP address.

Did you ever get this sorted out?

[George1234]

Sorry for the late reply... Yes, Telus PureFiber does indeed offer 2 public IP addresses.  Most of the people you would talk to at tech support don't know this.  I had one tech insist that they have been working at Telus for years and that Telus most certainly did not offer 2 public IP addresses! 

In any case, they do indeed offer this (it used to be advertised right on their website, but I can't seem to find it now).  I'm currently using the two public IP addresses.  All you have to do is put an unmanaged switch on the ONT (optical network terminal---the white box that the fibre goes into) and connect your two routers to that.  So the setup goes like

ONT port 1 -> unmanaged switch -> device 1 in one of the switch ports (for example, the Telus router) + device 2 in another port of the swich (for example, your own router). 

Each device gets its own public IP.  No configuration needed. 

The problem that I have is that I want to get rid of the Telus router and use my own devices.  I can't figure out how to get the TVs and PVR to work without the Telus router.

[kamak]

"I'm not sure how to do this with the current setup since the T3200M doesn't support VLANs. "

Instead, a managed switch might have been your answer, with onboard VLAN capabilities.

[George1234]

Hmm... I suppose that might be possible.  Ideally, I want one server + TM3200M with one of the public IPs and another router on the other public IP address.  I could plug these three things into my managed switch and configure it appropriately.  The only thing is that I am slightly uncomfortable with connecting my server directly to the internet without going through a router/firewall first. 

[kamak]

"The problem that I have is that I want to get rid of the Telus router and use my own devices.  I can't figure out how to get the TVs and PVR to work without the Telus router."

I've been doing this now myself for weeks. I too have been using a unmanaged switch for now, but want to change to using a managed switch, with VLAN capability, for other purposes, I just haven't set the managed switch up for the job. 

You can get routers with IPTV/multimedia capability, you just have to set them up for Telus. It's been done. You just have to find one that is known to work well. Some people have tried this with cheaper/lesser capable routers and have had them die, due to stress. If I were you I'd keep the "Free" Telus router just for this purpose, as it is very good at what it does. What are your needs that you want to get rid of the Telus router?

I, personally, love the use of two physically separate networks for just the redundant nature of them, firstly. Everything else about it, is gravy.

One Nokia G240G-A ONT is connected, the other is just a spare, left behind by Telus, when we hade two fully separate 1Gb fiber installed connection. I bought a cheap T3200M off Craig's for $30, just because I'm so used to working on it, it was an easy fit as a dual network. My plans are to now expand one network at a time, without disruption to the other.

I have a WRT32 sitting up there, with DD-WRT on it, I also have a AX11000 WiFi router off of one of the T3200M acting in AP mode. The AX11000 is fully capable of doing IPTV, but I have now desire to use it as such. Too expensive to waste on TV duty. 

[George1234]

Thanks for sharing.  You have actually managed to get the TV and PVR to work without the T3200M?  That's the main issue.  I haven't actually found a report of anyone getting this to work (some seem to get it working, but only for 10 s). 

My reasons for getting rid of the T3200M is that it's performance/stability isn't sufficient for my needs.  I have two servers, each ideally requiring their own public IP.  They both process quite a bit of traffic, and I found that the T3200M was causing me issues requiring it to be frequently rebooted. 

Instead, I'd like to use my dedicated firewall device (a protecli vault 6-port i5 device, running OPNsense) to bring in the two IP addresses from the ONT.  I can easily do this, but getting a working configuration of the IPTV eludes me.  Besides protectli vault having much, much more processing power than the T3200M, it would be nice to get rid of unnecessary equipment. 

Side note: I used to have an ASUS RT-AC3100, which was really a top-of-the-line, really expensive router when I purchased it.  I noticed that it was having trouble providing me with the full gigabit speeds if I used QOS.  I also noticed that page loading would often "stutter" or hang for a few seconds.  The baby monitor was unreliable, and other issues.  After upgrading to the OPNsense box, everything runs perfectly.  

[kamak]

That's nice to here you found some alternatives to the T3200M that give you better results, I understand your want or need to not use the T3200M, but it does do a great job of at least one thing, IPTV, and that's the only thing I really want to keep it for. I'd rather not waste/tax a expensive router for something as mundane as IPTV, let alone the headache of setting it up. T3200M is free and you can still use your own router as a parallel separate physical network. You can even put the T3200 into bridge mode (port1) and use your own router off of it.

"Instead, I'd like to use my dedicated firewall device (a protecli vault 6-port i5 device, running OPNsense) to bring in the two IP addresses from the ONT."

How will you use the protecli vault 6-port i5 device to pull two WAN IP addresses? You could buy a double WAN router.

I've never gotten or attempted to get my AX11000 to run IPTV. I might try for fun, but I would never actually use it for that permanently. 

[George1234]

The nice thing about the Protectli Vault OPNsense device is that each port is it's own network interface.  So instead of having

ONT -> switch -> T3200M on port 1+ Protectli Vault on point 2

I'd just have

ONT -> switch -> Protecli port 1 + Protectli Vault port 2. 

Each port then gets it's own public IP.  I can then use firewal rules to control which devices get what public IP. 

Sure, it's a bit more complicated, but I like the idea of getting rid of unnecessary equipment (especially if that equipment isn't performing very well).

In any case, the tv complicates things and it may just not be worth the hassle.  I'll try using the T3200M to get one of the IPs again and see if it works OK.

[kamak]

"I'd then like the Telus T3200M router to get it's public IP address from[through] the Vault instead of directly from the ONT."

Wouldn't the Vault have to acting just as a NAT-less switch (transparent), for the T3200M to be able to pull the second WAN IP address? Or maybe it would NOT have to pull a WAN address and still work for the IPTV service.

You need to find a Router like the Vault that can also do IPTV service. Though there are lots of other routers that can.