Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: N0STIE on October 12, 2016, 08:55:52 PM
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Hi everyone,
Currently I am owner of TP-LINK TD-W9980 which is working fine with my BT Infinity 1. I am getting very similar sync to HG612 with SnR's of ~6dB. I am on fast path as well. The stability is very good.
I used to use ethernet cable from my router to my LG Smart TV for a long time but since I moved the master socket upstairs I decided to give Wi-Fi a go. 2.4 GHz is just pointless to use no matter what channel, maximum bandwitdh is less than half of my max sync and YouTube buffers all the time on my TV. I have tried 5GHz Wi-Fi and it seems to work fine but sometimes it loses a signal and YouTube buffers every few secs or freezes and I need to reconnect to WiFi. Same happens to my phone when I use 5 GHz in the same room. Sometimes it quickly reconnects making my internet to stop for a few seconds. I tried to move antennas to the left, right, center etc didn't help. There are 2 walls between the router which is on my wall behind the monitor and very close to the case of my PC if that makes any difference. Not sure if only 300Mbps of 5GHz wifi makes any difference to 1300 GHz on different routers.
My question is if someone has tested TP-LINK Archer VR600 which seems to be better and more expensive than TD-W9980. I can easily return my current TD-W9980 and try TP-LINK Archer VR600 if it is the same or worse I can return it as well. VR600 isn't on the G.INP compatible modems list so I am wondering if it will actually work same as my TD-W9980 or will mess my connection up. What chipset does TP-LINK Archer VR600 have?
I was also thinking about ASUS DSL-AC68U but this is out of my budget.
For myself VR600 seems to be much better than WD-9980.
Thanks :)
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I was also thinking about ASUS DSL-AC68U but this is out of my budget.
I wouldn't advise taking 1 if it were free. It's the only modem we know that uses the mediatek chipset for vdsl2 and the general consensus is that it performs very poor.
As I was unable to return mine it's being used in router only mode, and I wouldn't connect the modem again.
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Thanks for reply.
Well, as I said this one is out of my budget anyway. Wondering if VR600 will help to solve my YouTube buffering issue on TV (it will only cost me £30ish). I just read that it has BCM963268 chipset which is different to one in TD-W9980.
I am on ECI cab if the lantiq or BCM963268 make any difference to latency etc. If it does I'll stick with my TD-W9980 as low latency is the most important factor for me.
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IS there no way to run an ethernet cable as that worked for you?
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IS there no way to run an ethernet cable as that worked for you?
There is but I'd rather avoid running cable under carpets and at base boards and use wifi instead.
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What about homeplugs?
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What about homeplugs?
I heard it is not recommended to use since it makes a massive interference and thus SnR drops etc. Mine line isn't in great condition so I would rather not use that.
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The VR600 should definitely be better wrt wireless as its a 802.11ac router and I *think* it uses a Broadcom xDSL chipset so sync rate should be more or less the same. However if you're willing to spend around £100 on the VR600, you might as well pay an extra 20 notes and go for the VR900 which is TP Link's best 3 stream router. The VR900 uses a Broadcom modem chipset and provides superb wifi coverage, second only to the VR2600:
Its £120 on Amazon for a brand new one or around £96 for a refurbished one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-Archer-VR900-Connections-Compatible/dp/B01132GCP0
Currently a brand new model going for £50 on ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272409321178?
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VR900 seems to be a very good router, what about G.INP and vectoring support? Does it also support cable (virgin media) and FTTH? If so, I am gonna purchase it as it will last for long time.
VR900 has 3 x 3dBi for 5GHz but VR600 seems to have 3x 5dBi for 5GHz which has a better range, doesn't it?
What happens if I match Broadcom chipset with ECI cabinet?
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The VR900 supports G.INP and vectoring and you can use it in bridge mode for router only mode, ie for cable or for FTTH services. The VR600 is a newer model so may have slightly better wifi but its firmware may be not stable. I would go for the VR900 to be on the safe side, however nothing to stop you ordering both the VR600 & VR900 from Amazon and returning the inferior model within 30 days for a full refund. You won't have any problems using a broadcom router when connected to an ECI vdsl cab.
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Ok so I ordered VR900 from Amazon, it'll be with me tomorrow by 5pm.
One more question, does it have better significantly 5GHz wifi range than TD-W9980? If so, I'll stick with VR900 unless I have any sync/latency problems with it.
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Yep you should notice better wifi on the VR900, pls do post your experience of the VR900 as it may help others looking to upgrade their router.
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Sure, I will as soon as it arrives.
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I know someone that has that VDSL modem and is loving it after i suggested to them to get it. It has been solid for them and the GUI is easier now then before more polished that's for surf
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using Tapatalk
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The router arrived.
Haven't set it up yet. First of all I tried to install latest firmware from TP-LINK website. http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-VR900_V1.html#Firmware
Downloaded Archer VR900(EU)_V1_160316 but I am getting error "Error code:4503 The uploaded file was not accepted by the device." after it has been successfuly uploaded from my PC.
The current firmware is 0.9.1 1.2 v004c.0 Build 150909 Rel.39821n
I have tried all 3 firmwares that are on TP-LINK site but neither seem to work.
And yes, I have checked the hardware version it is V1. Archer VR900 v1 00000000 - same says at the back of router on the white sticker.
The adsl lead is not connected yet as I do not want to upset DLM while setting VR900 up.
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Unzip the firmware download and then upload the .bin file?
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Have you read
How to upgrade TP-LINK Wireless AC modem Router (new UI).pdf
which is included with the download? Do NOT upgrade the fw over wireless, use an ethernet cable.
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I think some of the warnings about not upgrading the firmware over wireless are unnecessary really. The firmware is transferred over the HTTP connection, which goes over a TCP connection which should ensure it's transferred reliably, and below that layer then wired or wireless makes no difference. But we might as well do as we're told and use an Ethernet cable.
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Ok, I managed to fix the issue with upgrading firmware, factory reset helped.
Obviously when swapping routers, I followed the 30 min rule.
Upstream Downstream
Current Rate(kbps) 6948 45730
Max Rate(kbps) 7267 45746
SNR Margin(dB) 6.3 5.9
Line Attenuation(dB) 35.3 19.4
Errors(pkts) 1 150
Upstream is a little lower than it was with W9980 (about 0.5mbps less), downstream is about the same. What I noticed is the downstream attenuation dropped to 19.4 from 23.1 but for some reason sync is the same. Strange thing is that upstream attenuation went up from 33 to 35.3 causing lower througput I assume.
The worst thing I noticed it the pings went up by 2-3ms unfortunately. It is due to different chipset in router I guess? 6-7ms previously; 8-10ms now :(((
The only thing I don't like in GUI is Bandwidth Control requires rebooting the router in order to work. In W9980 I could just enable it without rebooting router.
Haven't tested WiFi on my SmartTV yet but will later. Tested it on my phone and I was shocked both 2.4 and 5GHz caught up full speed being 2 metres from the router but still. I couldn't get half of the speed on 2.4GHz being milimetres away from W9980
Will see how it goes in the next couple of days before I return W9980. I mean wifi strength, sync keeping, reliability etc.
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The ping increase could be due to the different chipsets, but it could also be due to the fact that the VR900v1 is actually two separate systems inside a single box. It contains the wireless router part based on an ARM cpu running one operating system, and the VDSL2 modem part running another operating system on a MIPS cpu.
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The ping increase could be due to the different chipsets, but it could also be due to the fact that the VR900v1 is actually two separate systems inside a single box. It contains the wireless router part based on an ARM cpu running one operating system, and the VDSL2 modem part running another operating system on a MIPS cpu.
I understand what you mean.
I thought VR900 has much more powerful CPU than W9980. If the increased ping is due to its CPU rather than different chipset.
If I use W9980 as a VDSL2 modem (will connect DSL lead to it) and the VR900 just as a wireless router? Is that possible?
So obviously I'll plug the ethernet cable to VR900 so I assume pings will be back to 6-7ms as W9980 is used as a modem and not VR900?
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I'm not sure you did understand what I said. I was thinking that the VR900 had a slightly higher ping because traffic has to go through two separate systems. So having the VR900 with a separate modem wouldn't change that, it's still going through two systems rather than one.
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Oh I get what you mean now. Thanks for explanation.
I am just wondering if there is any way to lower bufferbloat, everytime I download something my ping shots up to 150-300ms. I tried to set up bandwidth control but it eats 7mbps of my bandwidth no idea why.. My current DS rate is 45730 and US is 6948 so I set 43500 and 6500 so thereotically it should give me 43mbps/6.2mbps but it actually is 32/6 when testing any ideas why? It helped a little bit with ping but lost around 7mbps of my bandwidth somewhere.