I’ve been using an RB2011with a 75Mb/s FTTH service (Verizon FiOS) since it came out, and been pretty happy with it, but doing more multi-site IPSEC recently and decided to upgrade to an RB1100AHX2. After getting all my settings nailed down, cloning the MAC over for the WAN port, I tried a switchover, and got no response to the DHCP requests.
Digging further, I ran a packet capture on the WAN port of the RB1100 (running 6.35.4), and compared to a capture on WAN of the RB2011 (running 6.35.2), and the ONLY difference in the DHCP request was the RB2011 sending unicast, while the RB1100 sends as broadcast. I checked a stock Verizon router, it also uses unicast, and there are references on some forums to them being ‘finicky’ about DHCP requests - I had to spoof the DHCP hostname as ‘FIOS_Quantum_Gateway’ even after they flushed their cache, so they really want you to use their router. Wireshark dissection below
Is there any way to force the RB1100 to use unicast?
RB2011 (works):
Frame 3: 342 bytes on wire (2736 bits), 342 bytes captured (2736 bits)
Ethernet II, Src: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: 0.0.0.0, Dst: 255.255.255.255
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 68 (68), Dst Port: 67 (67)
Bootstrap Protocol (Discover)
Message type: Boot Request (1)
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x01)
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0x93716715
Seconds elapsed: 20
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0
Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0
Client MAC address: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (53) DHCP Message Type (Discover)
Length: 1
DHCP: Discover (1)
Option: (55) Parameter Request List
Length: 7
Parameter Request List Item: (1) Subnet Mask
Parameter Request List Item: (121) Classless Static Route
Parameter Request List Item: (3) Router
Parameter Request List Item: (33) Static Route
Parameter Request List Item: (6) Domain Name Server
Parameter Request List Item: (42) Network Time Protocol Servers
Parameter Request List Item: (138) CAPWAP Access Controllers
Option: (61) Client identifier
Length: 7
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x01)
Client MAC address: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19)
Option: (12) Host Name
Length: 20
Host Name: FIOS_Quantum_Gateway
Option: (255) End
Option End: 255
Padding: 00000000000000000000000000000000
RB1100 (no response from ISP):
Frame 3: 342 bytes on wire (2736 bits), 342 bytes captured (2736 bits)
Ethernet II, Src: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: 0.0.0.0, Dst: 255.255.255.255
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 68 (68), Dst Port: 67 (67)
Bootstrap Protocol (Discover)
Message type: Boot Request (1)
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x01)
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xa1fb40f1
Seconds elapsed: 38
Bootp flags: 0x8000, Broadcast flag (Broadcast)
1... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Broadcast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0
Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0
Client MAC address: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (53) DHCP Message Type (Discover)
Length: 1
DHCP: Discover (1)
Option: (55) Parameter Request List
Length: 7
Parameter Request List Item: (1) Subnet Mask
Parameter Request List Item: (121) Classless Static Route
Parameter Request List Item: (3) Router
Parameter Request List Item: (33) Static Route
Parameter Request List Item: (6) Domain Name Server
Parameter Request List Item: (42) Network Time Protocol Servers
Parameter Request List Item: (138) CAPWAP Access Controllers
Option: (61) Client identifier
Length: 7
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x01)
Client MAC address: VerizonB_a5:5b:19 (c8:a7:0a:a5:5b:19)
Option: (12) Host Name
Length: 20
Host Name: FIOS_Quantum_Gateway
Option: (255) End
Option End: 255
Padding: 00000000000000000000000000000000