Internet

Configure the Vodafone FTTH connection with pfSense as a neutral router

Extract Sercomm VOX router configuration

In order to configure any other router with the Vodafone operator, it is absolutely necessary to extract the Internet connection and IP telephony data from the operator’s current router. The process is somewhat complex for home users who do not have much knowledge, but following this guide step by step you will be able to achieve it without many problems. The prerequisite before continuing with the tutorial is to install the free Wireshark program, because we will use it to capture all the information that the router will provide us.

Prepare the router

In order to get all the keys from the Vodafone router, the first thing you should do is connect a computer to the LAN 1 port of the router. It is mandatory that you connect it to this port and not to another. Next, we disconnect the ONT from the Vodafone router and proceed to reset the router to factory settings, this can be done easily from the physical RESET button that we have on the router, although we could also do it by entering the Vodafone firmware and clicking on the option to restore factory settings.

When the router reboots, we have to enter with the administrator credentials of this router that are default, that is, in all routers they are exactly the same user credentials.

  • User: admin
  • Key: VF-ESvox2.5

Once we are in the configuration, we must go to the «Status & Support»And click on the option«Port Mirroring«. Port Mirroring is a functionality that routers and manageable switches have to forward incoming and outgoing traffic from a certain port to another port, to connect a packet analyzer software and check all the network traffic that we are passing through this port in concrete.

When we have entered the «Port Mirroring» section we can click on «command» and write the following: «-i ppp1»And we give«Start«. What we have done with this is that it sends all the traffic from the ppp1 interface to the LAN port 1, so that we, with the computer connected, can get all the data in clear text.

Start Wireshark

When we have done this, we have to install on the computer that we have connected to port 1 of the router the WireShark program. This program is completely free and will allow us to capture all the packets sent by the router and analyzer, it is the best-known packet analyzer in the world and multiplatform, no matter what operating system you are using on your computer because it will be compatible.

Once it is installed, we have to start WireShark, we choose the Ethernet network card of our equipment and it will automatically begin the process to capture all the data. In these moments we must connect the cable from the ONT to the Vodafone router, and we wait a couple of minutes until it self-configures itself, when it is already configured in the packet capture, all the data exchanged between Vodafone and the router will appear. Now we can log in to the router again and deactivate the «Port Mirroring», although we also have the possibility to turn the router off and on and it will also be disabled.

In these moments we can stop Wireshark so that it finishes taking all the information from the network.

Analyze the information captured with Wireshark

When we have captured all the information, we must click on the “Find Packet” option and enter our phone number, then the program will search all the exchanged packets for this chain. It is important that the search is done by “String”, and not by hexadecimal value.

vodafone_ftth_pfsense_1

Within the HTTP package that is looking for us, we have to find the following fields that we have covered in red for privacy:

  • User password «admin» (Vodafone router administration interface)

vodafone_ftth_pfsense_2

  • Vodafone SIP servers to use a VoIP phone:

vodafone_ftth_pfsense_3vodafone_ftth_pfsense_4vodafone_ftth_pfsense_5

The Vodafone SIP servers are the ones that we will use if we are going to use telephony, using a SIP switchboard of any type. In addition, we not only need the SIP data with its corresponding IMS, but we will also need the username and password to authenticate correctly in the Vodafone SIP server and to be able to configure the telephony properly.

vodafone_ftth_pfsense_6

To have an Internet connection with our pfSense, it is absolutely necessary to obtain the PPPoE data with its corresponding username and password. This data is obtained in these lines that you can see here:

vodafone_ftth_pfsense_7

Now that we have removed the PPPoE data from the configuration, we are going to show you how to configure the pfSense operating system with Vodafone FTTH.

Configure pfSense for Vodafone FTTH

Previously in RedesZone we have talked in detail about the pfSense operating system and its main characteristics, in addition, we have also taught you how to configure it with any Internet operator, always knowing the necessary connection data, logically.

The first thing we must do is create a new VLAN in the system, we are going to «Interfaces / Assignments«. In this menu we go to the VLANs tab and create a new VLAN with the identifier 100 and that hangs from the Internet WAN interface.

Once we have done this, we go to the «Interfaces / Assignments“And we choose the WAN to be” VLAN 100 on vtnet0 “, that is, the VLAN we just created. We click on apply changes, and now we enter the WAN that is assigned to VLAN 100, and this is where we must configure the following parameters:

  • IPv4 Configuration Type: PPPoE
  • IPv6 Configuration Type: None
  • PPPoE Configuration
    • Username: username that we have extracted
    • Password: password that we have extracted

Once all this is configured, and we have marked the options of “Block private networks and loopback addresses” and “Block bogon networks”, we click on “Save”. At this time we should already have an Internet connection and everything should work correctly. In case you do not go to the Internet, check in “System / Routing” that the default gateway is the PPPoE that you just configured.

At this time you should already have an Internet connection with Vodafone FTTH and using a pfSense operating system as the main neutral router.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *