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[jstallan]

Went live on PlusNet fibre yesterday. I was using the PlusNet One Hub (multipurpose) but picked up a second user ZyXel VMG8924 that got setup today. Works fine and gives more stats than  the PlusNet offering   

The only downside I've noticed for the ZyXel is the User Interface is a little slow. Updated to the latest firmware and it's still slow, but works better in IE than Chrome.

[Geekofbroadband]

How does the ZyXel VMG8924 work on ECI cabinets? I know theyre not matching chipsets but does it still give good sync rates? If the Hub One doesnt work too well with Plusnet we'll probably try one 

Also whats the difference between the VMG8924-B Series and VMG8924-B10A

[digitalnemesis]

How does the ZyXel VMG8924 work on ECI cabinets? I know theyre not matching chipsets but does it still give good sync rates? If the Hub One doesnt work too well with Plusnet we'll probably try one 

Also whats the difference between the VMG8924-B Series and VMG8924-B10A

VMG8924-B10A gives me consistently 2Mbps+ higher sync rates on an ECI cab compared to the HG612.

The model suffix "-B10A" is for PSTN and "-B30A" is for ISDN.

[Geekofbroadband]

Does it matter which one I get?

[digitalnemesis]

Does it matter which one I get?

Yes get VMG8924-B10A for PSTN which xDSL runs on.

[j0hn]

The only difference between the 2 is
WAN:
One RJ-11 (VMG8924-B10A) interface for VDSL (over POTS)
One RJ-45(VMG8924-B30A) interface for VDSL (over ISDN)

xDSL can run on either, but we use POTS (plain old telephone service) so you need the B10A
The rear of both versions are shown here: http://www.zyxel.com/uk/en/products_services/vmg8924_b_series.shtml?t=p

I haven't come across any B30A's, just double check though.

[Geekofbroadband]

Is there a reason why people buy this modem/router? I'm mainly looking for stability, high syncs, and bug free firmware. Wireless doesnt have to be the best but just decent. 

[mlmclaren]

I should be taking delivery of a Billion 8800NL R2 tomorrow, will be using it on my 300-400m Huawei connected line, I'm hoping it works rather well.

[j0hn]

Is there a reason why people buy this modem/router? I'm mainly looking for stability, high syncs, and bug free firmware. Wireless doesnt have to be the best but just decent. 

The ZyXEL? It's given me the best mix of high sync/low error rates compared to any other modem I've tried. It's passed OpenReach's MCT. I really like the simple webui it has. It has a decent Broadcom chipset and telnet isn't locked down, giving native access to the Broadcom CLI. You can pick them up pretty cheap new on EBay, I paid £40 for my 8924. For features, stability, modem efficiency and performance, nothing comes close at this price imo. I also quite like the styling of it. It comes with both a stand and a wall mounting bracket, and the all black finish matches my setup. If you need 5ghz ac then get the 8924, if 2.4ghz wireless n is enough or if using in bridge mode with your own router then the 8324 should do. The 5ghz ac Wi-Fi card inside is the only difference between the 2.

I haven't tried it personally but recent reviews of the Billion 8800NL R2 suggests that the Broadcom chipset used doesn't perform as well as the chipset used in the previous R1 version. The HG612 syncs a little lower on my line than the ZyXEL, with similar error rates.

I'm on an ECI DSLAM, around 700-800m from the cabinet.

edit: just looked on Google Maps and taking the shortest possible route my line could take it appears I'm actually more like 900m from the cabinet. The last engineer who was out mapped my line right to the cabinet and my line actually runs in the opposite direction to the end of my street and back up the other side adding another 100m or so on to that. I sync at 50/7, that seems way too high for that distance, even with a brand new line.

[Geekofbroadband]

Thanks