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[scrappydoo]

I have recently decided to replace my BT Smart Hub. It has been flaky for a while now and I need something that gives me more granular control over my home network. I have ordered a Zyxel VMG8924-B10A from eBay, but while I wait for it to arrive, Zyxel’s VMG4005 caught my eye. It is described as a VDSL bonding bridge. I just have regular BT Halo 3, no bonded pair. I get 35Mbps up and 10Mbps down. I would estimate I am about 1.2km from my FTTC cabinet. It is Huawei, I believe.

I am just wondering whether anyone else has the VMG4005-B50A here who is in the UK? I know the WMG8924 is highly regarded, but I would like to avoid having two obtrusive routers in my living room as space is limited. I will be pairing whichever modem with a Synology WRX560 router. As the owner of a Synology NAS (which has served me well since 2016), I think it will be perfect for my needs.

If there are any VMG4005-B50A owners who could confirm that the modem is suitable, I would be most grateful. Thank you

[tubaman]

You say you have BT Halo 3 - the package with WiFi discs and a backup 4g router I believe. The VMG8924 is a great bit of kit (I have one so might be biased...) but the BT WiFi disks and the backup 4g need the Smart Hub to work so I'm not sure how you'll get around that unless you are totally changing your whole setup.

[meritez]

Only one known member:
https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,25830.msg440515.html#msg440515

[scrappydoo]

You say you have BT Halo 3 - the package with WiFi discs and a backup 4g router I believe. The VMG8924 is a great bit of kit (I have one so might be biased...) but the BT WiFi disks and the backup 4g need the Smart Hub to work so I'm not sure how you'll get around that unless you are totally changing your whole setup.

That won’t be a problem. I recently renewed my contract but sent the Smart Hub and WiFi disks back unopened. I live in an old building which is a nightmare for WiFi. The stone walls are several feet thick and there is zero coverage between adjacent rooms. It has always been a challenge. For years, I have relied on Powerline WAPs to distribute a signal. 4G coverage is also not a thing. I live in a notspot of epic proportions

EDIT: I have just checked and I have two different packages showing in MyBT. I suspect the one I am on is Fibre 1.

Only one known member:
https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,25830.msg440515.html#msg440515

Thanks for the link. I saw the post when I was searching for an answer yesterday. Unfortunately, the member hasn’t been active on the site for two years otherwise I would have asked in that thread.

[tubaman]

I'd give the VMG8924 a go as, as it really is pretty good. I'd say it's main downside now is that the last firmware version was released in early 2019 (V28) so it is out of support if that bothers you. I'm still using mine in full modem/router mode although I do use alternative WiFi as it can't reach my whole house on its own.

[scrappydoo]

I'd give the VMG8924 a go as, as it really is pretty good. I'd say it's main downside now is that the last firmware version was released in early 2019 (V28) so it is out of support if that bothers you. I'm still using mine in full modem/router mode although I do use alternative WiFi as it can't reach my whole house on its own.

Thanks for the reply! My VMG8924 arrived today. I have yet to unbox it and set it up. As I mentioned, ideally, I would prefer a more compact device. I’m not too keen on having a NAS and two routers in my living room. I will only be using the VMG8924 in bridge mode. Using an unsupported router is not something I would do as I am trying to harden my network security.

[tubaman]

...Using an unsupported router is not something I would do as I am trying to harden my network security.

I'm not overly keen either but also don't really want an extra device and also it just works so reliably!
 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Hardening network security and single-device are rather mutually exclusive.  The only chance of having long-term support on a router is an x86 box running a router OS.  The next best bet being something high-end that supports DD-WRT/OpenWRT so its not likely to become unsupported any time soon.

ASUS would have been a decent option if it weren't for their DSL routers typically being junk.

Not that a multi-box setup needs to take a lot of space.  This could be a LOT neater is I actually cared.

[scrappydoo]

Hardening network security and single-device are rather mutually exclusive.  The only chance of having long-term support on a router is an x86 box running a router OS.  The next best bet being something high-end that supports DD-WRT/OpenWRT so its not likely to become unsupported any time soon.

ASUS would have been a decent option if it weren't for their DSL routers typically being junk.

Not that a multi-box setup needs to take a lot of space.  This could be a LOT neater is I actually cared.

Thanks for the suggestions. At the moment, I have an ISP-provided modem/router. That’s why I decided to separate the modem and router functions. It’s less compact but also less restrictive. I looked at the ASUS option but, after some research, some less-than-stellar user reviews put me off.

I have considered the distro router option. In fact, I have a tiny single board computer that I bought about 6 years ago with the intention of running pfsense but never got round to it. It was reasonably beefy at the time so it should still be good.

Gotta agree with you, and no disrespect intended, but yes, your device setup could be a lot tidier. The thought of that in my living room makes my eye twitch. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Gotta agree with you, and no disrespect intended, but yes, your device setup could be a lot tidier. The thought of that in my living room makes my eye twitch. 

It used to be worse:


I will be honest, I flinched when taking the recent photo but part of the problem is I need to remove all the legacy cruft on there from the old Openreach boxes.  The plan was to re-paint the wall years ago, but paint gives me an Asthma attack.

It would be neater with the router next to the ONT, but I plan to switch to City Fibre once its available where I will ask them to put the ONT nearer the router.  The router itself is only where it is right now as I didn't want to drill new holes to mount it and wall mounting it runs cooler due to the passive cooling case.

Partly its practicality for ease of access, as I used to have the router box on the network shelf but it needs a step ladder to access.


The house is basically way too small for my needs as there is no place to stash all the network gear out of view.

[scrappydoo]

The house is basically way too small for my needs as there is no place to stash all the network gear out of view.

I hear you. You’ve got quite a bit of gear there and hiding a nest of ethernet cables is always a challenge. My ideal home would come pre-wired with nice, tidy ports and power points. I can dream, I guess.

Couldn’t help but notice the two PS Vita boxes there. I loved mine. Shame Sony abandoned it. Sigh.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah those were the free earphones with the pre-orders, which sucked so I never used them.  Figured maybe I could get a few quid for them as collectors items so they just migrated around the house then became a stand as the RJ11 cable was a bit too short for the Plusnet box.

And today is the day I learnt Jury-rig and Jerry-rig are two different terms.

Jury-rigged means something was assembled quickly with the materials on hand. Jerry-built means it was cheaply or poorly built.

[tonygibbs16]

Hello,

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but I am thinking about using a VMG4005-B50A and using it to replace my venerable VMG1312-B10D.

The thread for 2021 looks as if VMG4005-B50A is a good VDSL bridge, and Zyxel are still doing firmware updates for it.

I can then connect my Zyxel NBG7510 to it and use its PPPoE settings to bring up the WAN connection.

I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
      Tony