Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: Mick on May 24, 2008, 07:42:21 PM
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Hi All,
As it happens we have ended up with a spare 2WIRE 1800HG at work and I was thinking of using it at home to improve my connection. I am around 2.5km from the BT exchange and with 39dB attenuation I am touch & go to hold onto 6976 kbps when the weather gets wet. I can sync up to 7616 kbps, but come night time and a bit of rain and down it comes. Sync-ing at 6800-6900 seems to hold much longer (weeks on end, if not months) using a netgear DG834 with the latest firmware.
From your experiences which device do you think will perform better and hold the link live under adverse conditions?
Please note that either device will be used in bridged mode (as an adsl modem only) and therefore the router features and facilities are not relevant in this case.
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the likelyhood of getting a noteable change in speed by swapping kit is unlikely but certainly worth a try. a
As good as the nnetgear is the 2wire is a nice bit of kit. It's very easy to see and play with all the settings. You can tell the router to only allow kiddy or teen access to a specific pc li's linked to and you have the week calender where you can make sure if your little darlings have their own pc's then they loose their internet when they shoould be tucked up in bed
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It's very easy to see and play with all the settings. You can tell the router to only allow . . .
Which you can't see and can't play with, when you set it in bridged mode and use it as an adsl modem for the atm encapsulation only. Which is just how I intend to use it.
I'd rather I didn't bring it home from work though, unless it is going to hang onto the connection better than the Netgear.
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I'd rather I didn't bring it home from work though, unless it is going to hang onto the connection better than the Netgear.
You won't know unless you try really - they do get a good reputation for hanging onto lines, so maybe have better quality / more sensitive components. So in theory you may see a more stable connection, and then again you may not. It's impossible to tell, due to the number of variables that can occur in several km of twisted pair copper wire!
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Thanks, I'll have to give it a go and see how it compares. Would anyone know if the 2WIRE 1800HG is ADSL2+ capable?
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I think it's compatible with ADSL1 only, according to Appendix D (Technical Specifications) of the Installation Guide (http://www.2wire.com/pages/pdfs/1000_series_Gateway_Install_Guide.pdf)
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Thanks for this mr_chris,
Just raised a ticket with 2WIRE to see if they have firmware available to upgrade the 1800HG and make it compatible with ADSL2+.
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Sorry for not replying sooner...
Firmware upgrade to ADSL2+ ... I wouldn't have thought so - ADSL/ADSL2+ capability is usually down to what the hardware can do. I've not personally heard of any ADSL-only routers that can be firmware-upgraded to support ADSL2+, but then again there's a lot of hardware I haven't seen!
I hope you get a positive response, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
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As you guessed! 2WIRE kindly advised that:
To get the necessary firmware update you will need to contact BT directly. They should be able to publish the firmware update to your gateway.
When I told them that I am not with BT anymore (and with their Phorm shenanigans it's unlikely I would want to go back!) they responded: The ISPs have complete control of distributing the firmware to their 2WIRE models.
So much for that. I don't know if the ADSL2+ technology is a hardware, or a firmware implementation issue. I guess if the chipset is too basic it may not have the necessary instructions to perform the programmatic functions required to process the ADSL2+ signal.
All this quest started in the hope of finding a modem that will hold the signal at my relatively long/noisy line better than my DG834 can do. I have read that some people had success with the Thomson Speedtouch (http://www.hmmm.ip3.co.uk/adsl-snr/) and others with the billion bipac routers (http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=1875.0). I don't need to reduce my noise margin (it's already set at 6dB with an attenuation of 39dB & a sync speed of 6976 kbps) but I am hopping to find a device which will hold the sync speed above 7392 kbps so that I can notch up my IP Profile to 6500. Meanwhile, I thought that getting the best sync speed and SNR stability was a matter of matching your router chipset with the BT exchange chipset. My local exchange DSLAM currently has a STMicro Alcatel chipset but I have no idea which routers work best with these.
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Hi, my current stats are atten 55db snr margin 9db sync rate 4567 kbps speedtouch st585v6.
Using routerstats with a netgear dg834v3 my graphs were identical to those on http://www.hmmm.ip3.co.uk/adsl-snr/ . I recently tried a Billion but it was far too fast?? for my long line, frequent reboots so it's had to go too.
The ST 585v6 however is rock solid, a graph would show an almost straight line 24/7 with only a 2db swing at most in the evening.
Pretty sure local exchange is alcatel chipset.
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I recently tried a Billion but it was far too fast?? for my long line, frequent reboots so it's had to go too.
Interesting! It seems to me then that as long as your line can hold a positive Noise Margin the Billion performs well and its key characteristic is that it will force a Noise Margin of 6dB despite what the exchange thinks, which for some longer/noisier lines is not viable. I guess I'll have to buy one to try it out - tomorrow I'll bring home the 2WIRE to see how that performs compared with the Netgear DG834.
Regarding your local exchange, can you see anything like this code in your router stats:
ATUC Vendor Code: 414C4342
Thank you for your help.
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Speedtouch reports Vendor ID Local/Remote TMMB/ALCB and yes the snr margin was 6db with the Bipac no matter what. Not enough for my line, 9db does it for me. Hope that helps.
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Yes, I've got a Billion 5200G too, and had to stop using it when my line went unstable a couple of days ago. When the line fault is fixed I'll put the Billion back.
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I've been reading of your experiences with the Bipac and mine were similar except my line couldn't sustain 6db which the router wouldn't budge from. Just noticed there's an urgent firmware update for the 5200G, maybe it "fixes" it's ability to maintain 6db?
Just found some stats from the Bipac:
Atten 57.5
SNR margin 6 db
Sync rate 5312
Certainly was fast!
Note: Firmware on mine was 2.9.8.1(RUE0.C2)3.6.0.0
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The new firmware for the 5200G is to deal with this problem. (http://apcmag.com/router_crashes_blamed_on_windows_xp_sp3.htm)
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I have been running the 2WIRE 1800HG for the last two days now. Significant sync speed increase! I now get 7424 kbps (@ 6dB Noise Margin) against Netgear's 6976 kbps (also @ 6dB Noise Margin). It's running firmware version 3.7.5, but in bridged mode it will not pick up any updates (there's no update button there).
Also, the DG834 used to drop its Noise Margin as low as 2dB at night time. The 1800HG appears to be more stable, although I need to wait for some wet weather to see what it does.
As long as it is ADSL2+ compatible I'll be well pleased. ;D