Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: youngsyp on June 19, 2017, 11:18:55 AM
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Hi all,
After getting slightly frustrated with the inconsistency of the functionality of my ZyXel VMG8924, I sourced a Billion BiPAC 8800AXL. Going into it, I expected the 8800 to perform as well on my ADSL2+ line as the ZyXel does (18.7Mb/s on a line with 25.5dB Attn at 3.2dB SNRM). However, the 8800 syncs at around 700-800 kb/s lower (circa 17.9Mb/s).
As far as I can see, all WAN settings are identical even down to PhyR, SRA and Bit Swap being enabled (by default in the 8800).
The other thing I've noticed is that the SNRM sits at 3.0dB +- 0.2dB constantly with the 8800. With the ZyXel, this would drop to circa 1.5dB during the day and bounce back up to circa 3.0dB +- 0.2dB at night. And I'm convinced the first night the 8800 was in service SRA bumped the sync by around 200kb/s as it had increased but the up time was consistent with when I first plugged the 8800 in.
UAS errors seem very high with the 8800 too whereas I don't remember seeing the ZyXel report any...
My thoughts are that there's something functioning within the 8800 to maintain the SNRM at 3.0dB (SRA? Bit swapping?) and that although the ZyXel shares this functionality, for whatever reason, it doesn't work with the ZyXel.
Overall I prefer the 8800 as it just seems to work (bar the lower sync). One specific issue I had with the ZyXel was the inability to create guest SSID's that performed as they should. That's not an issue with the 8800. Web access seems generally snappier too.
If any of you have any thoughts or advice, it would be very welcome.
Cheers,
Paul
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I've not used any Billion kit, but from the various makes I have used the Zyxel is certainly one of the faster ones sync-wise.
Are you sure the UAS are not just from the time spent gaining sync? If the Billion is a bit slow to sync then you'll get a lot of UAS initially but they don't actually matter.
:)
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It's an interesting point. The ZyXel replaced a Billion 7800N and I remember that the ZyXel gained around 600-800kb/s on the downstream sync but at the time, I put it down to the ZyXel having a more 'modern' BCOM chipset. Maybe ZyXel just have that magic ingredient for eeking out that bit extra?!
I'm expecting to be upgraded to FTTC soon so we'll see how the Billion compares to the ZyXel then, that's why I bought it after all. In the meantime, I may factory reset the ZyXel to try and rid it of the sporadic config issues I see with it.
Paul
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Well it would seem there have been some changes between my gateway and my ISP! Exactly what, I guess I'll never know.
I reinstated the ZyXel after a factory reset on Thursday evening and it's now syncing at the same rate as the Billion and showing the same SNRM characteristics too. So I've 'lost' around 700kb/s in downstream sync but the line appears to be more stable, as SNRM only fluctuates by 0.1 to 0.2 dB now where as before, it would fluctuate by around 1.5 to 1.7 dB like clockwork.
The 'issues' I had with the flaky ZyXel functionality before seem to have disappeared with the factory reset also. So I'm confused, dismayed and happy in equal measure. ??? :( :)
Fingers crossed my cabinet goes live for FTTC shortly.
Paul
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I think I remember reading kitz said the zyxel devices have a noise filter built in which may be why they achieve the impressive speeds.
Pretty much anyone on kitz who has tried a zyxel has seen their highest ever speeds, including myself, I only ditched it as in my case the ES also went up.
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Chrys is correct, the VMG8324/8924 does have an inbuilt noise filter which appears to give it the edge over some others.
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It would appear that something has changed again...
I checked my gateway for the DSL stats on Wednesday as I often do and noted that SNRM on the downstream had gone from around 2.9dB, which it had been at for weeks, to 4.7dB. As a result, the attainable downstream data rate had increased by about 1Mb/s. So last night re-synced the gateway. SNRM was now 3.3dB (as set by myself) and I'd gained around 900kb/s in downstream rate, so it is around the same as I'd been used to for the last 2 years, prior to the recent 'change' that has been made by someone.
ES counts have also decreased quite markedly since before 'the original change'.
My cabinet is due to be fibre enabled and they've been doing dribs and drabs of work recently but, nothing has been visible (via roadworks.org) for the past 3 weeks or so.
Tempted to re-connect the Billion now just to see how it performs...
Paul