pppoe - CHAP authentication failure

[ianian]

Brand new Vodafone BB customer.  FTTP.

Old service, EE, cut off at 3AM, Voda lit up at 8PM.

Service active and working on the Vodafone router, but I have a complex setup and have my own UniFi equipment, and am very competent in this field - I know what I’m doing.

I got my pppoe creds from Vodafone a few days in advance, and I am using the correct format including @Broadband.vodafone.co.uk (although tried without anyway).

No VLAN should be required for this service.  I know this is true because I do not get a response from Vodafone when using vlan 101 (as a test in troubleshooting), but I do get responses from Vodafone when I don’t enable 802.1q - I see the other ends MAC address.

When I use my own kit, I see the pppoe interface initiate a connection to a  MAC address on vodas end, immediately followed by CHAP authentication failure.  After a few attempts, I’ll start getting PADO timeouts, as you’d expect.

You'd think simple fix - Google searches are littered with stories of incompetent agents giving out incorrect/mistyped creds - I’ll just call up and ask for them again.

Except I have - 3 times in total now.  And they keep on giving me the same details.  On the last call, the guy forced me to reset my edge router to factory settings before he would troubleshoot with me further because ’that would fix it’, even though I told him exactly what the issue is.  To entertain him, I did reset it to factory (after a config backup), setup the pppoe interface, only for the same chap authentication failures to persist……….obviously.  He wants to call me back in 3 days so he can perform an ‘internal investigation’.  So that’ll be 4 days into my brand new Vodafone broadband, that I actually have no broadband. 

What am I supposed to do here.  I don’t want and can’t have the Vodafone router - I don’t want it powered on (don’t have power here - I use PoE for my router), or taking up space, and I certainly  don’t want to run it inline.  I took this service knowing I couldn’t use their router, but was told that would never be a problem.  And now it is.

Is my only option to cancel in the cooling off period, and file a formal complaint? 

What an atrocious support offering.

[ianian]

4th call with these incompetent lot this morning.  After 30 minutes, the call handler finally understood I was trying to use my own equipment.

It took a further 20 minutes, and requesting I speak to his manager, before he stopped telling me I need to speak to my hardware manufacturer for the credentials, after I kept telling him he is wrong and I need the pppoe credentials.

1 hour in, he repeated what I’ve been provided and told me if they don’t work, it’s my problem not theirs, and I should just use the Vodafone router because it’s best for me anyway.

Seriously Vodafone - what an utterly incompetent lot.

On to cancellations now - there’s no way I’m sticking with these cowboys

[Cynric]

@ianian VF have probably given you the wrong credentials. There are a number of discussions on this forum about this. You may have to ask for the credentials up-to four times before they get it right.

If you are on Open Reach leave the VLAN ID empty. This has been discussed in great length here https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Other-broadband-queries/How-to-Set-up-a-third-party-router-with-voda...

Start reading from the end of the thread as it runs to 362 replies.

The search for "UniFi" finds 53 results, so what you are looking for may be on the forum.

[ianian]

I know my config is right, and I can see the Vodafone kit I am peering with (it’s actually Nokia equipment- I can see it). But the credentials are incorrect as I see these CHAP authentication failures.

I requested the credentials 6 times.  I have explained exactly what is wrong, but they don’t understand and don’t know what to do to fix it.

Moe, the manager in cancellations said ‘if you don’t use our router we can’t help’.

So I guess that’s that.

Warning to all - avoid Vodafone if you’re using your own kit.  They’re not the ISP to use 

[Cynric]

@ianian SIX times!! They did give you a password in the format is "dsl1234567890@broadband.vodafone.co.uk" ?

When you spoke to someone did you also try https://www.vodafone.co.uk/bbservcd/ ?

[ianian]

Yep.  That’s the format.

They just kept saying my equipment must be faulty , refused to raise a complaint, and suggested I cancel my service - so that’s what I shall do.

[Cynric]

@ianian That is strange, even for VF. What about the link, it sometimes gets through to a better tech or call out to a forum moderator on here who may be able to see what the #### is going on?

[ianian]

I’ve been provided the same exact details again on chat (I also got them through chat it in the first place).

I’ve had them confirm 7 times now, mixture of via chat, sent via sms, and confirmed over the phone.

Are any Vodafone managers on here?  Not that they got me further on the phone

[Ripshod]

CHAP authentication error = bad username and/or password. 

Username must be in the format dslXXXXXXXXX@broadband.vodafone.co.uk

Is your Openreach connection via Kingston Communications (Hull)? They use a VLANID of 101.

[ianian]

Can you tell support that?  Because my only option right now is to cancel.

I know the format - I am 100% I am doing this correctly, but I know I have the wrong details and they said there’s nothing they can do about it because ’the Vodafone supplied router works fine with them’, so it must be my equipment that’s at fault