MX67 won't stay connected to PPPoE

[Brian-VAS]

Ongoing issue with a new MX67 installed at a remote site. Site gets their internet through Bell Canada with an HH2000 modem in passthrough mode. The Meraki is replacing an older Cisco firewall which has been working fine. Issue is I couldn't get the MX to connect at all initially. Just wouldn't connect after the connection information was entered. Bell says their equipment is connected and can't help any further. For a short time, the MX would show as connected, but drop after a few seconds. Finally, I factory reset the MX, connected it to the internet via another device and it pulled it's configuration back down. I reentered the PPPoE info, connected it to the modem and it stayed up. Hours later, I got a call that it had disconnected again.

Moving the WAN cable from the Meraki back to the Cisco and their internet comes right back up.

Are there any specific issues with PPPoE that might cause this, should I be pushing the ISP for more help, or is there really nothing they can do?

[alemabrahao]

It’s important to note that PPPoE on the MX is only supported in NAT/Routed mode. If you’re using Passthrough mode, this could be causing the issue.

Support for PPPoE on Cisco Meraki Devices - Cisco Meraki Documentation

[Brian-VAS]

Thanks. The Meraki is running as a router. I did update my question though to clarify that the Bell modem is running passthrough.

[alemabrahao]

I've seen some cases where setting the modem in bridge mode solved the problem, have you tried setting the modem in bridge mode?

[Brian-VAS]

Thanks! The modem does not support bridge mode, only passthrough. This configuration worked with the old Cisco, and the Meraki also works for a time before it disconnects. Which is why I wondering if this was a specific Meraki / Bell issue.

[PhilipDAth · Accepted solution]

Is it using a stable or better release of the firmware?

If so, you are going to need to open a support case.

[Brian-VAS]

Wasn't able to get to the site until today. Managed to get the unit online long enough for Meraki support to see it was throwing a panic code and then resetting. Meraki is going to RMA the unit.

Not closing this yet until we see for sure if that help. Meanwhile we did have another MX67 that we are trying, but it seems to have the same issue. Can't install at for this site though as it's registered somewhere else.

[Brian-VAS]

Different problem with this other unit. Meraki support says this one is experiencing a known error upgrading from 17.x to 18.107.2. Solution is to do the upgrade manually.