Kitz Forum

Broadband Related => ADSL Issues => Topic started by: aesmith on July 27, 2018, 05:43:11 PM

Title: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on July 27, 2018, 05:43:11 PM
Hi,

Our router's dead so I'm looking for recommendations.  We had a Billion 7800DXL but would welcome suggestions.  Must haves include ..
- Decent performance on a long line
- Ability to over-ride target SNR, and save the setting
- Compatible with DSL Stats
- At least four Ethernet switch ports
- Some QoS capability would be nice as well

Any suggestions welcome,  thanks,

Tony S
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: burakkucat on July 27, 2018, 05:59:27 PM
Let's reduce the field somewhat by only considering those devices using a Broadcom chipset.

My reflex suggestion would be to suggest one device out of the ZyXEL VMGnnnn-B10x ranges. (Where nnnn is four digits and x is either A or B (not D).)
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on July 27, 2018, 07:07:17 PM
Cheers, I'm not familiar with Zyxel at all so need to look at some specs.  I see from comments on here that the "D" suffix is considered to have a poorer DSL chipset which I assume is the reason for your suggestion there.   Can I ask, is the SNR adjustment persistent on the Zyxels, meaning it stays in place after a reset or power off?   It does on the Billion which was really essential when we were on 20CN, maybe less so now we're on 21CN and the profile updates straight away.  It would be preferable.   
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: burakkucat on July 27, 2018, 08:02:20 PM
I wasn't aware of that ability of the Billion. In the case of the ZyXEL devices the target SNRM tweakage is not persistent. I'm unaware of any devices which have that feature.  :-\
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: hacktrix2006 on July 27, 2018, 11:29:14 PM
I have a Billion 7800 as well and I can confirm that SNR tweaking was in the webgui and thus was persistent however if your going to run dslstats 24/7 for example you can always set that to do the adjustment.


As for router the Zytel one suggested should do well.

Not sure if the Drytek routers are any good but some do have SnR tweaking built in not sure about access to telnet or should though

Sent from my LLD-L31 using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: kitz on July 28, 2018, 06:21:22 PM
Quote
I see from comments on here that the "D" suffix is considered to have a poorer DSL chipset

Nothing actually wrong with the 'D's and they perform on a par to the HG612s and perhaps slightly better in my personal experience.   The 'A' versions have an additional inbuilt noise filter which tends to eke out a bit more line performance.  I'm not aware of any other modems which have these.   
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on December 12, 2018, 06:52:44 AM
Sorry to bump an old thread, but could you confirm if any VMGxxxx-B10A is effectively equal at the DSL/Modem level?  My reason for asking is that it looks like there are some quite cheap models for example VMG8324-B10A and I was thinking of picking up one of these to see how it works.  It would be to test the DSL side and to keep as a spare. For these purposes it doesn't matter if it's lacking higher level router functions or the wireless isn't brilliant (although it will need the SNR tweak).   

Thanks, Tony S
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: kitz on December 12, 2018, 11:44:44 AM
Quote
some quite cheap models for example VMG8324-B10A

The 8324 (& 8924) are actually my modem/router of choice.   They weren't particularly cheap (I paid full price for mine when they first came out), it's just that the model is now a few years old so you can pick them up cheaper on the likes of ebay.   It performs well on my line giving me a few extra Mbps plus my error rate is lower compared to say the HG612.

Quote
it doesn't matter if it's lacking higher level router functions or the wireless isn't brilliant

It is fully functional on a par to SME business routers as the GUI was based on the popular business grade router SBG3300-N which has a similar chip.
Wireless is restricted due to it being 802.11n but it's decent enough.  If you want better wi-fi look out for the VMG8924 which is practically the same but has dual band 802.11ac   
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on December 12, 2018, 01:00:06 PM
Thanks.  I've just ordered a VMG-8924-B10A off Ebay, "new other" and dated Jan 2018.   It was only £30 so not worth worrying about the price difference from 8324.  It will be interesting to see a direct comparison with the Billion in the first instance, and worst case it will be a better spare than the ex-Plusnet Technicolor that I have at the moment. 

Thanks again.
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on December 19, 2018, 07:15:40 PM
Got my new 8924 in service.  It doesn't seem to show better sync speed than the Billion which is a little disappointing I suppose.   I won't know about stability until it's been running for a few days.   One thing I noticed is that even though ADSL 2+ is disabled in the web configuration, when the line drops in service it always comes back as ADSL 2+.   I don't know if that's a known bug, or if there's another setting I've missed.
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: jelv on December 19, 2018, 10:14:26 PM
Why do you want to disable ADSL2+?
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: aesmith on December 20, 2018, 11:57:32 AM
Why do you want to disable ADSL2+?
I understood that this was generally recommended on lines that are too long to benefit from the higher frequencies.   I can't actually say it runs faster at ADSL2, but it's certainly not slower.   Line attenuation reports differently - 53dB on ADSL or ADSL2,  57.5dB on ADSL2+
Title: Re: Recommendations please - ADSL "one box" router
Post by: jelv on December 20, 2018, 02:27:48 PM
As you've changed the modem I'd suggest letting it run ADSL2+ for a while to see how it goes.