EE TV not working with Eero 6 Pro on FTTP (PPPoE works, live channels don’t)

[Shulab]

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone here has managed to crack this, as I seem to have hit a wall.

I’m on EE / BT Full Fibre 900 (FTTP). When I connect my Eero 6 Pro directly to the ONT using PPPoE, everything works perfectly from an internet point of view:

• PPPoE username/password entered on the Eero
• Full speeds (close to 900 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi is fast and stable
• All normal internet traffic works as expected

However, the issue is with EE TV (formerly BT TV).

The EE TV box:

• Connects fine to the network (wired or wireless)
• Apps such as Netflix, YouTube, etc. work perfectly
• Live / aerial channels do not load at all (they just fail to start)

I’ve tried:

• Wired Ethernet from the Eero to the TV box
• Wireless connection to the Eero
• Setting Uplink VLAN IDs I see on google on the Eero
• Restarting everything multiple times

I contacted Eero support, who advised that this is likely due to multicast / IGMP limitations, which Eero does support but needs help from the ISP 

I also contacted BT / EE support, who said they don’t support VLAN or multicast configuration on third-party routers and only recommend using the BT Smart Hub 2.

Because of this, I’ve currently reverted to the “supported” setup:

• ONT → BT Smart Hub 2
• Disabled 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi on the Hub
• Eero connected to the Hub and used purely for Wi-Fi
• EE TV box wired directly into the Smart Hub

This setup does work, including live TV, but I’m not a fan of it:

• Occasionally the connection feeding the Eero from the Hub drops briefly and reconnects
• It feels like a compromise compared to running PPPoE directly on the Eero

What I’m trying to find out is:

👉Is there any way to run EE TV live channels while keeping PPPoE directly on the Eero, without relying on the Smart Hub 2 in the chain?

Has anyone successfully got EE / BT TV working with:

• Eero
• Or any third-party router
• On FTTP using PPPoE

Any insight would be massively appreciated.

Thanks in advance 👍

[bobpullen · Accepted solution]

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@Shulab wrote:

Is there any way to run EE TV live channels while keeping PPPoE directly on the Eero, without relying on the Smart Hub 2 in the chain?

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I'm going to go out on a whim here and say the answer is probably "no". I've no personal experience with Eero but you'll find plenty of anecdotes by searching Google for something like "Eero BT Multicast".

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Has anyone successfully got EE / BT TV working with:

• Eero
• Or any third-party router
• On FTTP using PPPoE

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The last bullet isn't going to be an issue. Pretty much any device that supports PPPoE can be used on the EE/BT network.

For the second bullet, there are devices out there that will work but it's definitely on a best-effort basis and YMMV. In the past I've personally had Netgear and Asus devices working but it was an uphill struggle on both counts. The former required me hassling Netgear to apply software tweaks and provide me an updated firmware image, and with the latter - I was only able to get things working over the wired network. Both were far from 100% reliable, even when 'working'.

If you're wanting something more capable than a Smart Hub 2 then maybe look at one of the newer EE hubs/extenders which are WiFi 6/7 and probably not a million miles away from the Eero in terms of spec.

[Shulab]

Helloooooooo just an updateee

just received an email from Eero support saying :

“I found out on our side that we don't support the Multicast IPTV with your ISP BT. 

I'm leaning towards since the current setup is working for you to leave it as is, now that we were able to get the speeds working better for you. I don't know of any other way we could get the IPTV working on the eero network.”

[Jacob_]

I’d just disable the radios on the EE hub and set the EERO to bridge mode (disable DHCP and NAT) and connect that via another spare Ethernet port on the hub. The EE Hub will do the routing anConnect your EE TV via Ethernet as it’s clearly doing the IGMP/multicast for the EE TV. Just avoid putting the EERO in to router mode as you’ll end up for a double NAT and can cause issues. 

afaik the ONT does  the  vlan tagging, you usually set  the vlan to 101 on and that was for VDSL(FTTC), but you’re using FTTP. Does  eero have an option for IGMP snooping? I know it was an option that needed to be done for the BT TV when using OpenWRT firmware on 3rd party routers.