Who is this article for?

If you've received an email advising you of upcoming changes to your Pentanet service with a link to this page, you're in the right place and the information on this page is for you.

If you're simply looking for information on how to configure your device for the Pentanet network, check out the hardware configuration section in our help centre. 

What are the upcoming changes?

Pentanet is preparing to enable support for DHCP (also sometimes referred to as IPoE) on its network.
Supporting DHCP means that subscribers have a simpler and easier way to connect to and use their Pentanet services.
 
Ahead of making this change, we've identified a small number of services where we believe there is the possibility of some disruption or impact after DHCP support is enabled.

We are proactively communicating with subscribers who may be impacted, and providing information to help them prevent any impact to their service.
 

If you're received an email advising of potential impact once these changes are made, this article explains the changes and what you can do to avoid any disruption to your service.

What is DHCP? What is PPPoE?

Today, most Pentanet subscribers use a technology known as PPPoE to connect to the Pentanet network. 

For PPPoE to work, a username and password (which we provide to you) must be entered in to your router's settings. These PPPoE credentials are used by our network to identify your service and provide access to the Internet.

DHCP (also occasionally referred to as IPoE) is an alternative to PPPoE. DHCP allows a router to connect to the Pentanet network without needing to enter credentials at all, making most setups 'plug and play'.

Pentanet is currently preparing to enable support DHCP across its network. By enabling support for DHCP on our network, we will make it faster and simpler for customers to connect to our services and to upgrade or swap their hardware.

Why have I been sent a notification advising me of potential service instability?

While Pentanet prepares to support DHCP across its network, we have detected that a small number of 'BYO' devices (i.e devices not supplied by Pentanet) are currently configured in a way that will likely result in some service instability.

The technical reason for this instability is that these devices may be configured to attempt to use both DHCP and PPPoE simultaneously, which isn't supported.

If you have received an email notifying you that your service is amongst those impacted, you'll need to make the following changes to ensure your device remains compatible with the Pentanet network once support for DHCP is enabled.

What do I need to do to avoid potential disruption to my service?

There are two options, outlined below, that will help you avoid any impact or disruption to your service:

• If you'd like to make changes now, then you will need to log in to your device's management interface and change the main Internet connection type/WAN type from 'Auto' to 'PPPoE'.

  ⚠️ Instructions for specific router hardware types are coming soon. In the meantime, please reach out to our team if you need specific or detailed advice.

• If you'd prefer not to make any changes now, you can wait until the activation date (mentioned in the original notification email) when your service may become unstable and stop working, then reconfigure your device for DHCP only.

  To reconfigure your device for DHCP only, log in to its web-interface and change the main Internet connection type/WAN type from 'Auto' to DHCP. All other settings can generally be left to 'auto' - and if there's an option to enable IPv6, we strongly recommend enabling this option too.

  ⚠️ Instructions for specific router hardware types are coming soon. In the meantime, please reach out to our team if you need specific or detailed advice.

What if I have more questions or need more help?

More questions? No worries! Just reach out to our friendly, local team - we'll be happy to help with advice and suggestions.