Draytek Vigor 2860 Settings

[Alcoraptor]

I'm trying to replace my EE Brightbox with a Draytek 2860 VDSL2 router, but am having some trouble with the settings.

I know it's not supported by EE, but I was wondering if anyone had any success getting it running.

Some background:

- I have FTTC, with the router plugged directly into the wall socket

- The EE Brightbox works fine and has no issues at all with stability

- The Draytek has no issues with the line, and reports SHOWTIME with 48,999kbps down and 13,461kbps up with a SNR of anywhere between 0 and -6db in each direction

- The Draytek automatically inserts a VLAN tag of 101

- The Draytek firmware is 3.9.1_BT (576D17)

- The VDSL firmware is 576D17_A/B/C with Vectoring support, although the syslog states that G.INP Vectoring is disabled on the line

- I have tried MTUs of 1480 and 1492, 1500

I have tried setting the Draytek up in PPPoE mode, with the credentials supplied by EE, and it occasionally gets an IP - but it does not stay connected for longer than 2 minutes. I get an error on WAN1 of PPP Shutdown, usually within about 15 seconds, and the syslog says Remote Terminated.

Usually, however, it does not get an IP at all, and the line goes into FAIL followed by TRAINING, and the connection process starts again.

I have also tried, as per the advice on other forums, setting the mode to MPoA with 1483 Bridged IP LLC Encapsulation (VPI 0, VCI 101, Modulation Multimode) , and Obtain an IP address automatically.

The line goes into SHOWTIME, but the router does not ever obtain an IP address (the SysLog states that Option 61 is enabled, but all of the DHCP IPs are 0.0.0.0), and eventually the line goes into RESET followed by TRAINING after about 30 seconds.

Has anyone had any luck getting the Draytek to work, or can shed any light on it?

[XRaySpeX]

Well done!

Where did you buy the Draytek? Is the 3.9.1_BT firmware the standard current update for it or is it something special?

[mikeliuk]

Great work! Making a note of the below to complete the record in case anyone else hits this issue.

Ironically, the fix is actually suggested in the release notes https://www.draytek.nl/wp-custom/uploads/DrayTek_Vigor2860_V3.9.1_release-note.pdf

If you're using a VDSL line, VECTOR named firmware may bring out better
performance; however, please consult your ISP to check if G.Vectoring is required. We also provide
two versions of modem codes to avoid the interoperability issue. You could just try the other one if
the one you use cannot synchronize or get the speed that you expected.

But I entirely discounted those firmware versions because of https://www.draytek.co.uk/information/our-technology/bt-sin-498

[pip11]

There are very few Openreach cabinets that have vectoring installed or active. Openreach opted for G.INP on Huawei cabs and only implemented vectoring on a limited number of BDUK funded ECI cabs.

[XRaySpeX]

So, @mikeliuk , referring to the Draytek references you provide:

1. Would you say that the 3.9.1_BT firmware is the 1 that is meant to be the BT/OR compliant version?
   1. If so, shouldn't it work on EE BB, an OR ISP?
   2. If not, why's it entitled "BT"?
2. There's a wealth of difference between "better performance" & fixing no performance at all.
3. The OP has shown that he had a BB connection with Fibre speeds but couldn't maintain connection with the Net with PPP errors, indicating authentication or at least a data link issue with the EE network rather than an incompatibility with the OR pipework. So isn't all this a red herring?

A lecture will not be appreciated!

[pip11]

"When connecting a DrayTek Vigor router directly to a VDSL2 connection on Openreach's "Fiber To the Cabinet" (FTTC) network, we recommend to use the "BT" suffix firmware. Firmware versions that end with "BT", '3.8.4.2_BT' as an example, have passed Openreach's SIN498 MCT testing."

Link

[Alcoraptor]

While the official Draytek documentation recommends the firmware with the _BT suffix, the support person I spoke to said that is not always the case, and it depends on the line / network.

The _BT suffix attempts to negotiate settings like vectoring (it will disable it if the line doesn't support it, which EE does not), but the modem code in that firmware is not compatible with the EE network (they could not tell me why; just that it wasn't).

The support person also noted that on the _BT firmware, the DSL light on the front of the router was blinking - rather than solid - indicating that the modem was having trouble keeping sync with the line, which was causing the dropouts and PPP shutdown.

The _vector1 firmware also negotiates features on the line, but it uses a different modem code which is compatible with EE's network.

While this is out of date, the differences apparently still apply:

https://www.draytek.com/support/knowledge-base/4301

[pip11]

Vectoring has nothing to do wiith the ISP It has everything to do with Openreach and as I mentioned earlier is only implemented on a small number of BDUK funded cabs.

Please note the "regardless of ISP".

[mikeliuk]

Finally found the "BT"/OpenReach firmware and release notes so leaving a note for someone who hits this some months later. URL makes it seem like the obvious first thing that would be hit. 😂

https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/downloads/vigor-2860

"nonvector" also omits G.INP so better to go for the vector variant even if not supported on the line (I guess reserving "nonvector" for debugging).

[pip11]

Pointless leaving a note containing incorrect information. There is only 1 BT firmware version of 3.9.1.

[Alcoraptor]

For clarity, I should have said EE does not support vectoring in my area.

However, to be clear for anyone else hitting this issue - it is not related to vectoring (the working firmware I used also supports vectoring); the issue was the modem code used by the firmware and its compatibility with EE's network