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[zaphron65]

As the title says, I am looking for a robust multi WAN router which is suitable for a long line distance (about 3 miles) from the exchange so that i can get best possible sync speeds as i work from home. There is a 4G connection available which i wish to load balance with so i can use those speeds for when i really need it.

I have seen from other forums that Broadcom chipsets is supposed to be best for long distance lines, i was looking at a DrayTek Vigor 2860ac but am unsure as to what chipset these use? has anybody had any experience of using these routers on a long line? I did have an Asus DSL-ac68u, infact i had two of them but they just kept playing up everytime so have completely given up on them.

I am currently on sky broadband and with the asus dsl-ac68u that i had to get rid of i was getting speed of about 3Mbps, but with the sky hub sr102 connected it gives me speeds of 4.5mbps both with a down snr of about 7db which seems a bit odd to me, maybe the Asus router isn't very good for long lines?

Anyway if anybody could help me on finding an appropriate router, or has any experience on the DrayTek or possibly any other multi wan AC router, it would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks.

[Weaver]

I can strongly recommend the Firebrick 2700. Needs DSL PPPoE modems to go with it. The Firebrick can also can be connected to a 3G/4G USB dongle for a backup Internet connection.

See http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,15858.30/wap2.html

I use my Firebrick with three DLink DSL-320B modems. These seem to me to be strong performers  on my ultra-long line, 4.6 mi long by road, 63.5 dB d/s attn (which equates to 'off the scale').

[kitzuser87430]

@zaphron65....Welcome to the forums.....many of us here would recommend as weaver has multiple devices for your scenario....adsl modem....multi wan router....and a wap.

To find one device that excels in all three functions is a difficult task.

Ian

[burakkucat]

. . . i was looking at a DrayTek Vigor 2860ac but am unsure as to what chipset these use?

Welcome to the Kitz forum. 

If you require the best possible performance, then a Firebrick 2700, as recommended by Weaver, would have to be at the top of your shopping list.

As for your query about the DrayTek Vigor 2860ac, I believe it uses an Infineon chipset.

[Weaver]

If you are considering a Firebrick, notice there are two software options. If you are in doubt, choose the "fully loaded" option. Although the fully loaded version has a massive load of stuff that you will never need, one thing you very well might want is combined upstream bandwidth, where the device binds your n outgoing pipes into one and so sending stuff genuinely goes n times as fast. You have to have the fully loaded version if you want to get the upstream-combining feature.

With the basic version, you will still get downstream-combining, so even one single download will be n times faster, you don't have to have n lots of activity going on in parallel to get the benefit.

I don't believe there is an after sales upgrade option (why not?) to turn a basic into a fully loaded. That doesn't make sense. But anyway, if in any doubt, be safe and get the fully loaded version.

[zaphron65]

Just looked up the Firebrick. It does look absolutely great  but unfortunately my funds won't stretch that far as of yet. But I will deffinitley be keeping my eye on their website for future plans to the network.

I can stretch to a budget of around about £250 - £300 at this stage. The DrayTek 2860ac caught my eye but was wandering if anyone had any experience on it for long lines. I did find another by 'Billion' which is supposedly good for long lines as it has snr tweaking inbuilt capabilities, but i was put off due to it not having ac wireless as i have a couple of devices with ac network adapters.

I'm just worried if i get a router which isn't suitable for my line then i will have a decrease in speed like the Asus ac68u did.

Thank you for the replies by the way 

[zaphron65]

I have decided I am going to give the DrayTek a bash and see how it goes. I have phones them and have been informed that it is a Lantiqchipset they use. Does anyone know how good these are on long lines?

[burakkucat]

. . . I have phones them and have been informed that it is a Lantiqchipset they use.

Infineon absorbed by Lantiq and Lantiq absorbed by Intel in a very nebulous chain of activity! 

So it really depends which way the wind is blowing (and the state of the tide in Deptford Creek) as to which chipset name may be declared as present in Draytek devices. 

[zaphron65]

Are you saying that Infineon has become Lantiq and now Lantiq has now turned into Intel, or been bought by Intel?

Either way, do you know if they are good on longer lines? just wanna see if anyone has any experience with them before spending. Why do people say that Broadcom is better on longer lines, I don't quite understand it to be honest?

[burakkucat]

Are you saying that Infineon has become Lantiq and now Lantiq has now turned into Intel, or been bought by Intel?

The whole situation is still rather murky. Perhaps a search of Wikipedia may illuminate the current state of "who owns which & what" . . .

Either way, do you know if they are good on longer lines? just wanna see if anyone has any experience with them before spending.

Sorry, no. I have no experience of Infineon / Lantiq chipsets on longer lines. 

Why do people say that Broadcom is better on longer lines, I don't quite understand it to be honest?

Because, generally speaking, that is the case. But there will always exceptions . . . as you have noticed. 

[ejs]

I expect the Lantiq chipset would be fairly stable but perhaps a little slower. The DrayTek Vigor 130 probably has the same or similar DSL chipset - the VRX268 or VRX288.

I did test my TP-Link TD-W8970v1 on my line for about 24 hours. This is also based on the VRX268 chip (as is the TD-W8980 and TD-W9980). Slightly lower downstream speed, slightly higher upstream speed, fairly good stability (in terms of CRC / FEC rate), however the results from that test may have been affected by it establishing the connection under worse than usual conditions.

[Chunkers]

I have a long noisy line and have tried most of the common modem chipsets :

Trendchip : I attempted to use an Asus N55U and it was very unstable, un-useable on my line
Infineon / Lantiq : I bought a TP-Link TD-8980 with an Infineon  / Lantiq chipset I could get stable connection but slower than a Broadcom based modem
Broadcom : I have a Billion 7800N which I now use in bridge mode as a modem with an Asus RT -AC68U router. Is by far the most stable.

Why don't you buy a cheap broadcom based modem and bridge it to your DSL-AC68U in router-only mode?  You could probably pick up something on ebay for next to nothing and give it a try.  People are selling 7800N's for £20 on ebay.

Personally I wouldn't have another Infineon based modem on my line.  I know this doesn't give you your load balancing, but it would be shame to blow £300 on a Draytek router and get poor line speeds.

Just a thought, and good luck with it!

Chunks

[loonylion]

TI AR7 was fairly stable on my long (~3.3km) line. I was using a Siemens Speedstream 4100 in half bridge mode to a smoothwall routing firewall. It's just a basic modem that should be fairly cheap online, but it would hang on to the line through almost anything. At one point my sync rate was reduced to 92kbit/s due to a line fault (normal was 2.5-3mbits) and the speedstream still kept the line up

[Weaver]

Draytek Vigor 130: On my ultra-long lines (4.6 mi, >"63.5" dB d/s), I have used a Draytek Vigor 130 briefly. It's pretty slow, but tasty with its lovely PPPoA on the WAN side so MTU/MRU 1500 on the DSL. One earlier poster suggested the Draytek has a Lantiq chipset.

DLink: I'm currently using three DLink DSL-320B modems. (Are these Broadcom?) Am extremely pleased with their aggressive performance, ~2400 d/s sync when all is going well, ~2100 sync when not so happy. So I currently get into the BT IP 2000 sync band on two of the lines, and 1750 on the third, which needs a kick.

So definitely strongly recommend the DLink, and recommend the Vigor 130 for short, kindly attn lines.