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[jimmyca69]

Evening,

I am looking to replace my Sky SR102 as I want dual band Wi-Fi, 802.11ac, greater Wi-Fi coverage and Gigabit ports. I also want the solution to be an all-in-one modem/router for my Fibre Pro connection.

I was looking at the Netgear D7000 but also the TP-Link Archer VR900 now that there is a compatible Sky firmware. I have also recently come across the ZyXEL VMG8924-B10A.

I did some research and turns out my local BT Cab is a Huawei and so a Broadcom chipset. I believe that the SR102 is a Broadcom based as is the D7000 but I have read conflicting reports on the VR900? Does anyone know for sure what chipset it is?

Also I have found very little on the ZyXEL VMG8924-B10A working on Sky Fibre ok so was keen for feedback if anyone has replaced a SR102 with one of these?

In addition to this, has anyone else got any other suggestions that would work well with Sky Fibre and on a Broadcom chipset?

Many thanks

[psychopomp1]

Forget the VR900, forget the Netgear D7000...its sooooo yesterday. Currently the best all-in-one VDSL2 router is the Netgear D7800. This uses a broadcom chip so ideal for those on Huawei FTTC cabs and is a 4 stream MU-MiMO router. Granted it ain't cheap at 270 notes but like with most things in life you get what you pay for...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/D7800-100UKS-Nighthawk-Wireless-Connections-Infinity/dp/B01560JKAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453492249&sr=8-1&keywords=Netgear+D7800

[ejs]

I hate to break it to you, but the Netgear D7800 actually uses the Lantiq VRX320 chip for its DSL. It's the only device I've spotted so far that uses the next generation Lantiq chip, newer than the Lantiq VRX268 chip used in the BT HomeHub 5A, ECI modems, TD-W9980, and certain DrayTek and FritzBox models.

The Netgear D7000 and the TP-Link Archer VR900 are indeed Broadcom chipset based.

[psychopomp1]

I hate to break it to you, but the Netgear D7800 actually uses the Lantiq VRX320 chip for its DSL. It's the only device I've spotted so far that uses the next generation Lantiq chip, newer than the Lantiq VRX268 chip used in the BT HomeHub 5A, ECI modems, TD-W9980, and certain DrayTek and FritzBox models.

The Netgear D7000 and the TP-Link Archer VR900 are indeed Broadcom chipset based.

I stand corrected. Do you happen to know which Lantiq chipset the Draytek 130 VDSL2 modem uses?

[ejs]

I think the Draytek 130 is probably the common VRX268. One way to tell is from the 6 digit VDSL firmware version numbers, if the first digit is 5, that indicates it is VRX-200 class.

[psychopomp1]

I think the Draytek 130 is probably the common VRX268. One way to tell is from the 6 digit VDSL firmware version numbers, if the first digit is 5, that indicates it is VRX-200 class.

Thanks, the VDSL2 fw on my Draytek 130 is showing as 574307_A/B/C so its in the VRX-200 range. Other than the D7800, do you know of any other VDSL2 modems/routers which use the newer Lantiq VRX320 chipset?

[ejs]

No, I haven't seen anything else using the Lantiq VRX320. The Netgear D7800 uses mostly Qualcomm Atheros chips for the CPU, Ethernet switch, wireless, and the Lantiq chip is just doing the VDSL2 functions. Previous devices used their Lantiq chip for most things, perhaps with the wireless chip(s) from another company. In theory, there's also the Lantiq VRX220, which is more recent than the VRX268, but I don't know if it actually exists anywhere besides on the Lantiq website.

[jasjeet]

I got the 8924 working on sky
Here are the problems:
You have to manually connect to the Internet via telnet commands. I've automated this on a raspberry pi using a simple script so when the line drops it will reconnect it for me.
If your line isn't very good any firmware after v7 gives millions of FEC per minute causing the line speeds to plummet and DLM capping the line, I've been stuck at 32mbps for a month with 37mb attainable.
Firmware v7 has a memory leak, after visiting the gui a couple of times it'll reboot/crash.
Later firmwares are needed to fix that but no good for average lines due to the FEC issue.

I ended up buying the HG612 as a modem and use the 8924 for wifi access.

If I was to do this again I would get a HG612 and the best wifi access point you can get to pair it with.

If you have a solid line with very high sync like 80/20 then the 8924 should be fine.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I think it has been and will always be the case that its better to have separate hardware for the modem and router.

There is just too much scope for bugs in all-in-one devices.  As quickly as they fix a bug in one function, they introduce a bug in something else.  Its far too common that either the modem works and WiFi sucks, or the other way around.

[jimmyca69]

I think it has been and will always be the case that its better to have separate hardware for the modem and router.

There is just too much scope for bugs in all-in-one devices.  As quickly as they fix a bug in one function, they introduce a bug in something else.  Its far too common that either the modem works and WiFi sucks, or the other way around.

Yes it does seem to be the case the more I look into it....

What would be the recommendations for a modem/router combo then? The HG612 and something like the Asus RT-AC68U or the Linksys EA6700? Also the TP-Link Archer C9 seems ok as router option?

Thanks

[psychopomp1]

I think it has been and will always be the case that its better to have separate hardware for the modem and router.

There is just too much scope for bugs in all-in-one devices.  As quickly as they fix a bug in one function, they introduce a bug in something else.  Its far too common that either the modem works and WiFi sucks, or the other way around.

Yes it does seem to be the case the more I look into it....

What would be the recommendations for a modem/router combo then? The HG612 and something like the Asus RT-AC68U or the Linksys EA6700? Also the TP-Link Archer C9 seems ok as router option?

Thanks

I'm using a Draytek Vigor 130 VDSL2 modem & Linksys EA8500 router and its a rock solid combo,and even if you replace the Draytek 130 with HG612 this will still be very good indeed
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-Max-Stream-MU-MIMO-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00X3CDX8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453895506&sr=8-1&keywords=EA8500

[jimmyca69]

I think it has been and will always be the case that its better to have separate hardware for the modem and router.

There is just too much scope for bugs in all-in-one devices.  As quickly as they fix a bug in one function, they introduce a bug in something else.  Its far too common that either the modem works and WiFi sucks, or the other way around.

Yes it does seem to be the case the more I look into it....

What would be the recommendations for a modem/router combo then? The HG612 and something like the Asus RT-AC68U or the Linksys EA6700? Also the TP-Link Archer C9 seems ok as router option?

Thanks

I'm using a Draytek Vigor 130 VDSL2 modem & Linksys EA8500 router and its a rock solid combo,and even if you replace the Draytek 130 with HG612 this will still be very good indeed
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-Max-Stream-MU-MIMO-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00X3CDX8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453895506&sr=8-1&keywords=EA8500

Thanks for info

I think I am going the HG612/RT-AC68U route after some research.

I had fibre a few years ago at my old house and thought I would check my old kit and there was a shiny as new openreach modem, checked and it was a HG612  so that helped with the decision. Was able to unlock it with the latest firmware so it is good to go.

Just waiting for a decent price on the AC68U before I commit.