Reliable ADSL Modem/Router recommendations please?

[VectraMan]

I had two Netgear boxess, both were rubbish for our situation because they had a chipset (called AR7 I think?) that eventually they found out wouldn't work properly with long loop length wet string type UK telephone lines. I gather that both Netgear and BT covered up this fact for a long while. Hence, I efectively was conned into buying a 2nd Netgear box when the 1st one started losing connections. Never again will I buy Netgear, thanks.

Fair enough. But most people aren't on the extremes of coverage, where different routers might make a difference. Everybody here who's given the Draytek a glowing report talks about not having to reboot it; nothing to do with how good it is at coping with marginal ADSL signals.

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

I'm suposedly about to get a free upgrade to ADSL2 and 20Mb/1Mb (thankyou Zen), so it'll be interesting to see if I need to do anything to my old Netgear router (or replace it) to get the new service.

[VectraMan]

Just been looking at the forums over on what was ADSLGuide, where people eat and sleep signal to noise ratios. They seem to be saying the aforementioned AR7 Netgears are amongst the best on longer lines, the other noteworthy router being the 2Wire.

Probably worth a look:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/dsl...line.html?vc=1

http://www.2wire.net./index.php?p=408

[lilelvis2000]

Fair enough. But most people aren't on the extremes of coverage, where different routers might make a difference. Everybody here who's given the Draytek a glowing report talks about not having to reboot it; nothing to do with how good it is at coping with marginal ADSL signals.

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

I'm suposedly about to get a free upgrade to ADSL2 and 20Mb/1Mb (thankyou Zen), so it'll be interesting to see if I need to do anything to my old Netgear router (or replace it) to get the new service.

Yes if your line is rubbish then it doesn't really matter what ADSL modem you have. When I switched from Orange to Zen - I have a 512k line as well at home - the stability of the connection improved. Orange was constantly disconnecting so my real speed was probably like 100k. It just could be your ISP.....

[Fred Bloggs]

Thanks for the perspectives. From what I've seen, opinion seems polarised about the Netgear routers with very few folk in the middle ground. My experience was bad. There's just as many folk whose experience has been exceptionally good. VISPA won't use them on marginal lines. I am confident that we'll resolve the situation with VISPA as they are a small-ish local company who do have a track record of good customer service. In fact that's the sole reason I stay with them instead of decamp to a cheaper ISP. We are on a marginally capable ADSL line and we get this kind of trouble every 12 to 18 months or so. Last time it was BT who installed a new master socket and an iPlate that solved the problems. Exactly what the solution will be this time, I don't know yet. I'm expecting a new router on loan from VISPA to be delivered Thursday morning. I expect that the Draytek kit is very good quality and usually the better the quality of the kit, the better it will cope with a marginal situation, I guess anyway.

Thanks again for the suggestions and comments.

[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...

[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?

[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]

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.

[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

[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.