Vumatel Trenched : Eliminate the CPE

Hi

I would imagine the GPON serial is a bit like a MAC address - they really don't want duplicates on a network, so it will be either hard, or not possible.
 
The Raycore CPE is only acting as a bridge, DHCP public IP is assigned to your router by the ISP
Actually a little more complicated than that; the CPE does act as a bridge, but the IP is allocated by Vumatel's own DHCP platform. The ISP has little control in this regard.
 
This is a post about how to replace the function of the Raycore (CP9) CPE supplied with Vumatel trenched installs.
There are a few reasons why:
  • One less device to keep powered
  • One less point of failure
  • Fewer cables
  • Easy to perform and automate SFP module resets
  • Access to SFP module stats
  • Easy to extend or move fibre with standard cable/flyleads/connectors
If you have already done something like this, please post your experiences here.

Inside the top section of the Raycore is a SPF cage containing a standard BiDi module, in my case a DirekTronik 1.25G 20km Tx=1310 Rx=1550 (the same as this generic pair available from Scoop)

The module can be unplugged and used in an SFP port of any router, switch or media convertor.
If fitting to an SFP+ port, it may be necessary to force manual negotiation at 1Gbps full duplex.

Enable DHCP client to obtain the ip address, depending on your router, a masquerade nat rule may need to be set as well.

You should now have a functional fibre internet link directly into your router!
View attachment 1184736

**Update**
After a few attempts, a factory reset was achieved with the button next to the SFP cage. After reset, the managed switch can be accessed via VLAN 296 on both the SFP and LAN9 ports. IP for the management interface is obtained by DHCP, the power light will stop flashing once it has obtained an address.

Login via http or ssh, username is admin, no password.
View attachment 1225500
 
Bypassing the CPE may make supporting an issue impossible, what's the reason for wanting to bypass it?
 
Bypassing the CPE may make supporting an issue impossible, what's the reason for wanting to bypass it?
For me the benefit has been an overall better connectivity experience.
Over the past 3+ years since connecting directly, I don't recall having to ever restart my equipment when the link had an issue.
Compared to the past - if the link would bounce or return from an outage the CPE almost always required a restart.
 
Bypassing the CPE may make supporting an issue impossible, what's the reason for wanting to bypass it?
Might be the frequent sentiment that the the Provider installed CPE might be impacting the connection quality... Of cause all this pretty much only applies to trenched Vumas? no? 😶

Still, with solid ISP support this should not be an issue and mostly it's not going to be a great solution for the typical user.
 
For me the benefit has been an overall better connectivity experience.
Over the past 3+ years since connecting directly, I don't recall having to ever restart my equipment when the link had an issue.
Compared to the past - if the link would bounce or return from an outage the CPE almost always required a restart.
If that was a common case we would be aware of it, it sounds more like a flaky CPE.

My house was Vumatel installation #60 odd and I basically never had to reboot anything over many years.
 
Might be the frequent sentiment that the the Provider installed CPE might be impacting the connection quality... Of cause all this pretty much only applies to trenched Vumas? no?

Still, with solid ISP support this should not be an issue and mostly it's not going to be a great solution for the typical user.
You can also do so with anything PON as well. My issue with it, is that we've come across situations where it complicates support if you mess with the normal model.
 
You can also do so with anything PON as well. My issue with it, is that we've come across situations where it complicates support if you mess with the normal model.
Yup, yup, yup! Technical issues are typical as much as we wish they wouldn't be, this complicates the fault resolution process.

Might not be worth it overall.
 
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