Getting DHCP directly from Sonic ONT

[kevinburkesf]

I have Sonic Gigabit internet. The ONT is plugged into a 4-way switch. I have two routers in two different rooms hooked up to that switch. I tried plugging in my Macbook Pro directly to the third port on the switch via Ethernet. However, the Ethernet cable only reported "self-assigned IP", it couldn't negotiate DHCP.

Should the Sonic ONT box be able to give out DHCP directly to my Mac? Are there manual settings - IP and gateway - that I can input to get an Internet connection?

I called support and they said my MAC table only had two entries left out of ten. However, it seems like I should be able to use one more entry to get DHCP on my laptop (which might already be in the MAC table honestly).

Another solution would be to put a DHCP capable device between the ONT and the 4-way switch. I would prefer not to do that because the only DHCP capable devices I have also broadcast wifi and it would be a waste to put one of those in the garage, or to buy a new one.

Thoughts on how I can resolve this?

Thanks,
Kevin

[kevinburkesf]

Ah, turns out the MAC table was it - clearing the old entries made room for my laptop, and it was able to connect, no problems!

[dane]

The design of the network assumes a residential gateway or router connected directly to the ONT. The number of IP addresses is limited, and the MAC table doesn’t clear automatically, so equipment swaps or more than a single device can result in an unconnected device.

We recommend the Sonic gateway solution, and you can deploy a switch behind this if you need more Ethernet ports. For whole-home WiFi, our mesh solution from Eero is ideal. Both of these setups support wire-speed access are full gigabit speed, and provide NAT firewall.

(I would not recommend directly connecting a computer to the ONT, it’d be subject to the constant barrage of intrusion attempts from the internet. The residential gateway provides protection.)

[PeterK]

Dan, is this direct to ONT connection available for
Your resold ATT connection? Or for that I need the stupid Pace RG? If required is the RG on your firmware with offers real functioning bridge mode?

[dane]

No, AT&T requires their RG. But yes, it does have a DMZ pass through or bridge mode.

[PeterK]

Dan,
So sorry. Dmz and bridge mode are different the DMZ mode nearly works on pace with att and they have no true bridge mode. Do your pace devices on att fiber have their own firmware? Att firmware has no bridge mode. Again Dmz has so many issues it is not funny.

Thank you

[klui]

If you subscribe to resold AT&T you will get an AT&T-branded RG as you're actually on their network, not Sonic's. Sonic-branded RGs can't authenticate and get on AT&T's network.

[ngufra]

So to summarize to Kevin: the recommended and supported use case is to connect ONE router (be it the one from sonic or your own into the ONT and it gets to communicate directly to sonic network. The other devices at your residence (wifi or wired) will communicate to the internet through that router.

If you put a switch and attach multiple devices, they would each get a public ip from sonic and sonic only has a limited number of ip to allocate so it is preferred that you don't do this.

If you must run services on your device, you can still put it behind the router and set some port forwarding in the router tables so traffic arriving at the router for a specific port or port ranges get forwarded to your device.

[ewhac]

So, just to be clear: The DHCP server handing out IP addresses is running on Sonic's FOAM (Fiber Optic Access Multiplexer, a term I just made up), and not on the ONT, correct?

[ngufra]

Not sure, i would think so.
The ONT also acts as a ATA so you can connect your analog phone; so it may be that it's more than just a "modem" and may have some basic routing inside.