PPPoE issues - time to ditch the AEBS I think!
When I bought the AEBS (5th Gen) there were a couple of things that interested me about it over and above the (suggested) improved wifi performance. One was its ability to set up a Guest Network and the other was ease of configuration for access control etc using the Airport interface. Sounded good but of course for these to work you need to have the AEBS in NAT/DHCP mode. And there's the snag because come what may I cannot connect to my ISP here in Malaysia through a modem in bridged mode (and I've tried a few!!) and the AEBS in PPPoE mode.
Whether it's Apple's particular approach to PPPoE or the fact that the ISP here, TM Streamyx, is behind the times (likely!!) I don't know, but it just doesn't work. Other devices can access the net with the modem in bridge mode a PPPoE credentials entered, just not the AEBS.
All in all I'm not that impressed with the AEBS and certainly wished I'd been able to 'try before you buy'. The device is not cheap and for what exactly? A The main benefits of the device I can't use and the wifi performance I find not much different to the modem / router supplied by the ISP. Difference now is I have two boxes in the mix instead of one (the AEBS and a Modem).
There is a part of me that thinks that with the AEBS I'll likely have fewer issues with wifi using the iPhones, iPad, Mac and Apple TV but I'm not sure that's me trying to convince myself that the cost of the AEBS was money was well spent and perhaps trying to convince myself to stick with the two box / aesthetically pleasing white box solution. But I'm not sure it is any better?
I'm pondering it more now because I was tempted to upgrade to the 6th Gen but, as the PPPoE protocol it uses won't have changed, and I doubt I'll realise the blazing performance improvements that the AEBS allegedly gives, if I do spend again I think it'll be time to look at alternatives, and go back to one box.
AirPort Extreme 802.11n (5th Gen)