Point to Point Protocol (PPP) and Asynchronous Interfaces

Document revision 1.4 (01-Jun-2003)
This document applies to the MikroTik RouterOS V2.7

Table of Contents

Summary

PPP (or Point-to-Point Protocol) provides a method for transmitting datagrams over serial point-to-point links. Physically, it relies on com1 and com2 ports from standard PC hardware configurations. These appear as serial0 and serial1 automatically. You can add more serial ports to use the router for a modem pool using these adapters:
  • MOXA (www.moxa.com) Smartio C104H 4-port PCI multiport asynchronous board with maximum of 16 ports (4 cards)
  • MOXA (www.moxa.com) Smartio C168H 8-port PCI multiport asynchronous board with maximum of 32 ports (4 cards)
  • Cyclades (www.cyclades.com) Cyclom-Y Series PCI multiport asynchronous (serial) cards
  • Cyclades (www.cyclades.com) Cyclades-Z Series PCI multiport asynchronous (serial) cards
  • TCL (www.thetcl.com) DataBooster 4 or 8 port High Speed Buffered PCI Communication Controllers

    Specifications

    Packages required : ppp
    License required : Any
    Home menu level : /interface ppp-client, /interface ppp-server
    Standards and Technologies : PPP (RFC-1661)
    Hardware usage : not significant

    Related Documents

    Software Package Installation and Upgrading
    Device Driver Management
    IP Addresses and Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
    Log Management
    Authentication, Authorization and Accounting

    Serial Port Configuration

    Submenu level : /port

    Property Description

    name (name) - port name
    used-by (read-only: target) - shows the user of the port. Only free ports can be used in PPP setup
    baud-rate (integer; default: 9600) - maximal data rate of the port
    data-bits (7 | 8; default: 8) - number of bits per character transmitted
    parity (none | even | odd; default: none) - character parity check method
    stop-bits (1 | 2; default: 1) - number of stop bits after each character transmitted
    flow-control (none | hardware | xon-xoff; default: hardware) - flow control method

    Notes

    Keep in mind that baud-rate, data-bits, parity, stop-bits and flow-control parameters must be the same for both communicating sides.

    Example

    [admin@MikroTik] > /port print
      # NAME                             USED-BY                          BAUD-RATE
      0 serial0                          Serial Console                   9600
      1 databooster1                                                      9600
      2 databooster2                                                      9600
      3 databooster3                                                      9600
      4 databooster4                                                      9600
      5 databooster5                                                      9600
      6 databooster6                                                      9600
      7 databooster7                                                      9600
      8 databooster8                                                      9600
      9 cycladesA1                                                        9600
     10 cycladesA2                                                        9600
     11 cycladesA3                                                        9600
     12 cycladesA4                                                        9600
     13 cycladesA5                                                        9600
     14 cycladesA6                                                        9600
     15 cycladesA7                                                        9600
     16 cycladesA8                                                        9600
    [admin@MikroTik] > set 9 baud-rate=38400
    [admin@MikroTik] >
    

    PPP Server Setup

    Submenu level : /interface ppp-server

    Description

    PPP server provide a remote connection service for users. When dialing in, the users can be authenticated locally using the local user database in the /user menu, or at the RADIUS server specified in the /ip ppp settings.

    Property Description

    port (name; default: (unknown)) - serial port
    authentication (multiple choice: mschap2,mschap1,chap,pap; default: mschap2,mschap1,chap,pap) - authentication protocol
    profile (name; default: default) - profile name used for the link
    mtu (integer; default: 1500) - Maximum Transmit Unit. Maximum packet size to be transmitted
    mru (integer; default: 1500) - Maximum Receive Unit
    null-modem (no | yes; default: no) - enable/disable null-modem mode (when enabled, no modem initialization strings are sent)
    modem-init (text; default: "") - modem initialization string. You may use "s11=40" to improve dialling speed
    ring-count (integer; default: 1) - number of rings to wait before answering phone
    name (text; default: ppp-inN) - interface name for reference

    Example

    You can add a PPP server using the add command:
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> add name=test port=serial1
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> print
    Flags: X - disabled, R - running
      0 X  name="test" mtu=1500 mru=1500 port=serial1
           authentication=mschap2,chap,pap profile=default modem-init=""
           ring-count=1 null-modem=no
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> enable 0
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> monitor test
                status: "waiting for call..."
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server>
    

    PPP Client Setup

    Submenu level : /interface ppp-client

    Description

    This section describes PPP clients configuration routines.

    Property Description

    name (text; default: ppp-outN) - new interface name
    port (name; default: (unknown)) - serial port
    user (text; default: "") - P2P user name on the remote server to use for dialout
    password (text; default: "") - P2P user password on the remote server to use for dialout
    profile (name; default: default) - local profile to use for dialout
    phone (integer; default: "") - phone number for dialout
    tone-dial (yes | no; default: yes) - defines whether use tone dial or pulse dial
    mtu (integer; default: 1500) - Maximum Transmit Unit. Maximum packet size to be transmitted
    mru (integer; default: 1500) - Maximum Receive Unit
    null-modem (no | yes; default: no) - enable/disable null-modem mode (when enabled, no modem initialization strings are sent)
    modem-init (text; default: "") - modem initialization string. You may use "s11=40" to improve dialling speed
    dial-on-demand (yes | no; default: no) - enable/disable dial on demand
    add-default-route (yes | no; default: no) - add PPP remote address as a default route
    use-peer-dns (yes | no; default: no) - use DNS server settings from the remote server

    Notes

  • Additional client profiles must be configured on the server side for clients to accomplish logon procedure. For more information see Related Documents section.
  • PPP client profiles must match at least partially (local-address and values related to encryption should match) with corresponding remote server values.
  • Example

    You can add a PPP client using the add command:
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> add name=test user=test port=serial1 \
    \... add-default-route=yes
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> print
    Flags: X - disabled, R - running
      0 X  name="test" mtu=1500 mru=1500 port=serial1 user="test" password=""
           profile=default phone="" tone-dial=yes modem-init="" null-modem=no
           dial-on-demand=no add-default-route=yes use-peer-dns=no
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> enable 0
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> monitor test
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> monitor 0
               status: "dialing out..."
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client>
    

    PPP Application Example

    In this example we will consider the following network setup:

    For a tupical server setup we need to add one user to the R1 and configure the PPP server.

    [admin@MikroTik] ppp secret> add name=test password=test local-address=3.3.3.1 \
    \... remote-address=3.3.3.2
    [admin@MikroTik] ppp secret> print
    Flags: X - disabled
      0   name="test" service=any caller-id="" password="test" profile=default
          local-address=3.3.3.1 remote-address=3.3.3.2 routes=""
    
    [admin@MikroTik] ppp secret> /int ppp-server
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> add port=serial1 disabled=no
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server> print
    Flags: X - disabled, R - running
      0    name="ppp-in1" mtu=1500 mru=1500 port=serial1
           authentication=mschap2,mschap1,chap,pap profile=default modem-init=""
           ring-count=1 null-modem=no
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-server>
    
    Now we need to setup the client to connect to the server:
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> add port=serial1 user=test password=test \
    \... phone=132
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> print
    Flags: X - disabled, R - running
      0 X  name="ppp-out1" mtu=1500 mru=1500 port=serial1 user="test"
           password="test" profile=default phone="132" tone-dial=yes
           modem-init="" null-modem=no dial-on-demand=no add-default-route=no
           use-peer-dns=no
    
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> enable 0
    
    After a short duration of time the routers will be able to ping each other:
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client> /ping 3.3.3.1
    3.3.3.1 64 byte ping: ttl=64 time=43 ms
    3.3.3.1 64 byte ping: ttl=64 time=11 ms
    3.3.3.1 64 byte ping: ttl=64 time=12 ms
    3.3.3.1 64 byte ping: ttl=64 time=11 ms
    4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
    round-trip min/avg/max = 11/19.2/43 ms
    [admin@MikroTik] interface ppp-client>
    

    Additional Resources

    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2138.txt?number=2138
    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2138.txt?number=2139

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