Reply to: Reliable ADSL Modem/Router recommendations please?

[Fred Bloggs]

Thanks all. Indeed the Draytek is good kit. I have been able to demonstrate that the line has deteriorated to the point that ADSL is almost unusable. The line attenuation often exceeds 70db and the SNR margin often drops to 0. It is worse when it rains. No wonder we have a bad service. I am now awaiting a visit from BT who hopefully will do something to help us.

[BolshieBastard]

Buffalo have a good reputation for qualatee router \ modems.

[Board Game Geek]

The DrayTek Vigor range have a good reputation for reliability, but that comes at a price premium.

I'll second that as well.

Had my Vigor 2600G for several years now and it just works and works and works.

When it first went in, I noticed some weirdness with connectivity to the ADSL line. Poor signal etc. In the end, the Draytek showed up my ADSL line as being sub-standard, and I used the reports to get BT to fix my lines. All ok now.

Fantastic bit of kit, and it came on recommendation from a friend who said "Drayteks built for techies by techies".

100% right.

[Fred Bloggs]

Jury is still out on Draytek.

Well, I set up the Draytek Vigor 2700g last night. The borrowed cheapo £20 Thomson ADSL modem has performed faultlessly the last few days. So.............. imagine my frustration when I connected the Draytek and entered all the config info.... Then it worked just fine for about 10 minutes before it lost its ADSL connection........

Upon reconnecting the el-cheapo Thomson modem, it worked fine again.

Anyhow, I noticed that in the control panel of the Draytek the signal to noise ratio was swinging around wildly and the poor old Draytek was continuously handshaking and dropping the connection. Why this was happening I do not know and why the Thomson was unaffected, I equally do not know. Anyway, about 10.00pm last night I just left the Draytek connected and this morning at 6.00am it had stayed connected all night. Mrs Bloggs said it lost the connection briefly at lunchtime and it has dropped the connection again 20 minutes ago but instantly reconnecting. So for whatever reason, it does seem far more stable today. Presently the "Loop attenuation" is 61db and the "Signal to noise ratio" is 11db, it is stable, but I gather that these figures are terrible? Yesterday, the ADSL line was unusable on the Draytek, and OK on the Thomson. Weird.

So, is the Draytek worth the cost? The jury is still out.

The Thomson? Well, as it stands, I think it looks like I'd have been better off connecting a WiFi/4 port LAN switch to the cheap Thomson modem with a LAN cable and forgotten all about the Draytek. Ho hum.

[Fred Bloggs]

They're worth the money..the question is whether it will make a difference. Good luck. keep us posted.

Cheers, I've already bought 2 x Netgear and 2 x BT routers in the last 4 years and all have been poor, especially the Netgears. If the Draytek is reliable, it will be well worth the money! I will report back once I have the Draytek working, probably by tomorrow afternoon I think.

[lilelvis2000]

Well, the modem that VISPA lent me connects to t'interweb no problem. I'm afraid it really does look like my 4th modem/router failure in ~4 years.

I've just ordered a Draytek. Cripes, I hope it is going to be worth the money..............

They're worth the money..the question is whether it will make a difference. Good luck. keep us posted.

[Fred Bloggs]

Update.............

Well, the modem that VISPA lent me connects to t'interweb no problem. I'm afraid it really does look like my 4th modem/router failure in ~4 years.

I've just ordered a Draytek. Cripes, I hope it is going to be worth the money..............

[Fred Bloggs]

I also used the solwise SAR-600ew to great success on my marginal line. This is a very reasonably priced ADSL2+ router. It wasn't compatible with my Be*Pro service so I got the Vigor.

I think the model I had got discontinued but it seem to have been replaced with this one. http://www.solwise.co.uk/adsl-sar605ew.htm

Thank you.

[lilelvis2000]

Oh dear, I think it is a Thompson that VISPA are lending me.............. Hmmm, I'm still attracted to the Draytek, but the £90 one maybe, though the all singing version @ ~£140 is very, very tempting. The expensive one supports a 3G phone as a back up to ADSL. Neat. Except I can't get any mobile signals when I live

I also used the solwise SAR-600ew to great success on my marginal line. This is a very reasonably priced ADSL2+ router. It wasn't compatible with my Be*Pro service so I got the Vigor.

I think the model I had got discontinued but it seem to have been replaced with this one. http://www.solwise.co.uk/adsl-sar605ew.htm

[lilelvis2000]

I'm on Be* Unlimited - I thought the default INP for that was also 2, but might be wrong (this assumption is based on fairly old info now, so things might have moved on). Do you know if you're on Interleaved or Fastpath?

Yeah, I still on my second Thompson. Better than the first, but still requires rebooting occasionally. I think the NAT implementation is a bit flakey.

No clue really. I have set myself on "Optimise for Speed" which I know lowers the SNR and other settings to try and crank out a bit more speed. Working okay so far, but I may go back to "Standard" as my SNR Margin is only 2!

I found that the wireless was flakey. The router was stable before I had to turn on the wireless to allow my wife to work in the office down the hall. Try turning that off, if you can and see how it goes. I find those thomson go really hot..which can't help.

[Fred Bloggs]

Oh dear, I think it is a Thompson that VISPA are lending me.............. Hmmm, I'm still attracted to the Draytek, but the £90 one maybe, though the all singing version @ ~£140 is very, very tempting. The expensive one supports a 3G phone as a back up to ADSL. Neat. Except I can't get any mobile signals when I live

[voodooflux]

No. I didn't have to do that at all. I'm getting 2.5Mbps up and 20Mbps down.
Which plan are you on? I'm on the Pro plan....and also lucky that my office is just around the corner from the CO.

Are you still struggling with your thomson kit?

I'm on Be* Unlimited - I thought the default INP for that was also 2, but might be wrong (this assumption is based on fairly old info now, so things might have moved on). Do you know if you're on Interleaved or Fastpath?

Yeah, I still on my second Thompson. Better than the first, but still requires rebooting occasionally. I think the NAT implementation is a bit flakey.

[lilelvis2000]

I recall you're with Be, as I am. Did you have to request an INP change to get the Vigor above 8Mbps?

No. I didn't have to do that at all. I'm getting 2.5Mbps up and 20Mbps down.
Which plan are you on? I'm on the Pro plan....and also lucky that my office is just around the corner from the CO.

Are you still struggling with your thomson kit?

[voodooflux]

The 2820 handles the Annex A which O2 and BeThere are using to acheive those fast speeds. I get 20Mbps down and 2.5Mbps up. But if you are on a standard ISP you won't need that, so yes the 2700 should manage.

I recall you're with Be, as I am. Did you have to request an INP change to get the Vigor above 8Mbps?

[Flubster]

Just count yourself lucky you don't have one of those Orange LiveBox thingies.

I suspect I'm in the minority of Orange customers, but my Livebox has been faultless since I started using it about 5 years ago. I'm getting about 6Mb down and about 500k up. The only time I had a problem was about a year ago when the power adaptor quit working. Orange sent me a new one the next day.

The only bad thing I can say about it is the wireless range....barely reaches from where it is at the the front of the house, to the back of the house...