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[ejs]

Bitswap is one of the requirements specified in BT SIN 498

R.VDSL2.15 The modem shall support bit swap as defined in G.993.2

I think disabling bitswap would at best be a workaround until the problem is fixed properly.

[simoncraddock]

Asus are investigating with BT I'm told.

[Ixel]

I know it's probably slightly off topic, but can someone clarify whether there's a difference between the modem chipset/functionality between the DSL-N66U and the DSL-AC68U? I already own an RT-AC68U and an RT-N66U, I know the differences between those, but obviously not the DSL variant. I assume the modem chipset/functionality is identical.

EDIT: Seem identical, firmware however seems older on the N66U, so I'll go for the AC68U rather than try to save a little bit of money.

[simoncraddock]

Apart from the extra usb port and wan port on the DSL-N66U the only real difference is maximum wifi speed. The DSL-N66U is 802.11n up to 900mbps whereas the DSL-AC68U is 802.11ac and theoretically up to 1900mbps.

Both share Broadcom wifi and Mediatek DSL chipsets.

Had I been able to get the DSL-N66U at the time I was purchasing I might have opted for the slightly cheaper N66U as I don't have anything with AC wifi to take maximum advantage of the DSL-AC68U

[Ixel]

Apart from the extra usb port and wan port on the DSL-N66U the only real difference is maximum wifi speed. The DSL-N66U is 802.11n up to 900mbps whereas the DSL-AC68U is 802.11ac and theoretically up to 1900mbps.

Both share Broadcom wifi and Mediatek DSL chipsets.

Had I been able to get the DSL-N66U at the time I was purchasing I might have opted for the slightly cheaper N66U as I don't have anything with AC wifi to take maximum advantage of the DSL-AC68U

I see. Well I too would go for the DSL-N66U but what concerns me is that it looks like the firmware might be older for the DSL (unless I'm mistaken), so I may have no choice but to either wait and hope ASUS eventually update it, or go for the AC68U.

[simoncraddock]

I'd say the DSL-AC68U is probably more future proof if BT start rolling out Vectoring on DSL.
I've seen in the tcconsole diagnostic logs mention of G.Vector

[ardsar]

 do you think it is better to disable bitswap or downgrade the firmware?

[simoncraddock]

I downgraded so that my connection was at most compliant with what bt expected. On the DSL-AC68U this was firmware version ending 693.

[Ixel]

Well I've ordered one from 'broadbandbuyer.co.uk' (used - grade b). Waiting on a confirmation email. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow as I've paid for Saturday delivery.

[simoncraddock]

For a little more PC world have them on the shelf!
I only paid £159.99 new but I think they've gone back up now to £179.99


Just to clarify if your connection is unstable try...

On firmware 2048 upwards disabling bitswap.

However on firmware 693 it's fine to leave it enabled usually, my connection has been rock solid with it on.

[Ixel]

Yeah, unfortunately PC World is quite a distance from where I am and I don't have a car . Broadband Buyer has confirmed the order and sent it to 'packing', so hopefully it'll be sent out today and arrive tomorrow (Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm Saturday).

I'll most likely upgrade the router firmware to the latest one and then disable bitswapping prior to plugging in the DSL cable. That should minimise disruptions that DLM may otherwise think is not good. I'll update here on how it goes once I've had time to run the product.

[ardsar]

PC World have raised the price to £199.99. Think the £159.99 price was a mistake!

Will downgrade the asus tonight and put it back into action. Originally it resulted in DLM reducing my profile from 30M to 20MB

[Chrysalis]

tooo pricy for me to buy will await les's results. In the old adsl days when bitswapping was new it had a huge benefit on stability on my adsl line, I remember the speedtouch 546 5.x firmware had no bitswapping and it was a new thing in the 6.x firmware.  Also in them days lots of adsl routers had a buggy implementation of bitswapping where it would cease to work after a period of time and when it did stop it was immediatly very noticeable with tones getting stuck at 0db snrm or below without bitswapping to lower the bitloading.

[simoncraddock]

PC World have raised the price to £199.99. Think the £159.99 price was a mistake!

That makes me feel lucky

[ardsar]

Well, 16hours in with using the old firmware and all seems good!  My original sync speed with the ECI modem was 27196 down, 8496 up. The initial connection with the ASUS last night was 29446 down, 8453 up. At 5am this morning it changed to 29476 and 8281.

If I had been using the latest firmware, DLM would have kicked in by now.

I have however noticed that my line attenuation figures are completely wrong - i.e 0.1db down seems a little off!

I've also sent a note to ASUS about using older firmware, so hopefully a fix will come soon.

Thanks Simon for the tip.