Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[SimonSays]

Hi all

To set the scene, I'm in a rural area and get the BT 'Faster Broadband' service (Infinity, but we are 2kms from the green cabinet so we only get the dregs - 5.5mbps usually.

I am on HH5 number 3 as they work for around 3 months and then start kicking devices off the network - usually when we're trying to stream through it (iPlayer, YouTube, etc.).

I have a Billion BiPac 7800N box that always provided me with a rock solid home network when I was an ADSL user - I obviously can't use the modem part of it now with the VDSL service.

The obvious answer is to use the HG612 and attach that to the BIPAC as my home network solution. Easy!

But... the HH5 always connects to the VDSL service and provides 5.5-6.0mbps service. The HG612 (and the other Openreach modem I had before) only ever provide 3.5-4.0mbps. I recently unlocked the HG612 and the line stats confirm that it's only sync'ing at around 4.4mbps.

I can't afford to lose 1.0-1.5mbps of my already-paltry connection speed.

Can anyone help with getting the HG612 to connect at the same speed and provide the same throughput as the HH5? I can't seem to find any reference to anyone else having or noticing the same issue.

Alternatively, can anyone point me at the correct way to set up the HH5 and the BIPAC so the HH5 provide what is essentially a modem-only service to the BIPAC? I know the HH5 has no modem-only mode but I imagine someone with better networking skills than I could get them to operate in harmony together (I can't!).

Thanks in advance!

Simon

[Dray]

Is your HH5 a Type A or Type B ?

[GigabitEthernet]

If the HG612 syncs lower than the Home Hub, I am thinking the OP has an ECI cabinet and is using a Home Hub Type A.

[Dray]

That's why I asked actually.

[GigabitEthernet]

That's why I asked actually.

I am just as curious as you

[Weaver]

Btw you really are going to need a modem-only mode device if you go for a two box solution. Two routers is a bad idea in a number of ways.

[SimonSays]

Thanks - it's a HH5 A. I also have an ECI OpenReach modem that connects at exactly the same (lower) speeds as the HG612. The previous HH5 (which I assume was also an A as I had it very shortly after theey were launched) also failed as a home network device) also provided the same (faster) VDSL speeds

Weaver - sure... but that's the issue. I can't ignore the fact that I get 20% faster speeds with the HH5... Given that the wireless and DHCP can be disabled on the HH5 and the BIPAC is very flexible, I'm wondering if there is a two-router workaround that migh involve having them on different subnets, for example?

 

[Weaver]

You would possibly be better off on ADSL2 or even ADSL1, worth checking out. You need a good isp to sort out your line first I would say and then try somethning like a zyxel modem or modem/router or the DLink DSL-320B modem which I am using on a far longer line.

I would get the line probs sorted out first and forget modems until then - wood and trees.

cracked record warning: something to consider - try talking to Andrews and Arnold aa.net.uk about getting your line sorted and downgrading from VDSL2 poss. they will sort out you line or your money back, that's the deal they used to have going anyway.

[Weaver]

Should probably make the usual hardware changes to improve your chances.

Tandy adslnation rj-11 cable for your modem, might make a lot of difference, or none at all.

ferrites, wiring cleanup, faceplate microfilter (don't use a mk3), extensions, mains away from rj-11 cables and network cables, mains filtering. The usual stuff.

[SimonSays]

Hi Weaver - more backstory:

I've lived at this address since before broadband existed... when ADSL 1 came on the scene, I got about 512K download. When ADSL 2 appeared, I got about 1.5mbps.

About 3 yrs ago, I chatted to an Openreach engineer who was doing some work up the road and he was amazingly helpful: he removed all the extraneous wiring from the property other than the master socket, he changed the physical line between the property and the DSLAM and he even gave me a Db-noise loop to put on the master socket to get the DSLAM to 'work a bit harder' and when I removed this after a few days, I was getting 3.5mbps.

When our local DSLAM was upgraded and e got Infinity on it, I upgraded (to the 'Faster Broadband' service, as previously mentioned) and I actually got 7mbps for a few days with a perfectly stable line but the automatic killjoy in the system decided I couldn't cope with such blistering line speed so it dropped over the course of around 14 days to 5.5mbps.

And that's what I get today, so long as I use the HH5(a).

Given the history and all the above, I'm not certain that, however abysmal my current service is (I live almost exactly 2kms outside of the M25, so we hardly remote although it's delightfully rural ), I'm not going to benefit from going back to a flavour of ADSL?! I'm 2mbps up on the best service I've ever received on ADSL and my neighbours, who all thought they could do better on one of BT's competitors, get 15mbps at best.

I really just want to understand what I might do to connect an Openreach modem at the same speed as the terrible HH5... I have both types (ECI and HG612). I believe our DSLAM is ECI (the smaller one, right?)... or to find someone who has experience of using the HH5 as a modem service to the BIPAC that always gave me A+ ethernet and WLAN service.

I'll always look at anything that could up the speed as well, but history suggests that I'm getting what I get at 5.5mbps until we either get FTTH as has happened in other rural parts of Surrey, or another DSLAM gets installed a little closer to my front door (as local roadworks teased would be happening but no further action has ever been seen!).

S

[Weaver]

I understand, now I know what you already knew. :-)

There has to be something really wrong here though, your speeds don't seem quite high enough to me, having looked at VDSL2 distance graphs, with either device. Perhaps the particular HG612 modem is duff, or it's the RJ11 cable that is the problem. (I had an experience where changing this cable speeded thing up massively.)

are you by any chance using a nasty RJ11 cable? A BT Mk3 faceplate?

[Dray]

It's simple enough to connect the 7800 to the HH5. Just use a cable from the yellow LAN port on the HH5 to the EWAN port on the 7800 and set the 7800 to have a fixed IP address.

On the HH5, set the 7800 to be in the DMZ.

[SimonSays]

Haha - yep... I've "got history"!

I'l certainly put my hands up to using whatever RJ11 is/as laying around. Very happy to hear what the correct item should be.

I have no idea what the faceplate is - I've picked up a bit of knowledge over the years but not much! I've attached a pic (or a link to one if I can't post images). This is the one a BT engineer fitted at some point. Could have been super-helpful guy, or guy who installed the HH5 when I went to Infinity.

https://goo.gl/photos/aN8818TY6u6Vprgv5

Dray - it's not quite that simple, I don't think - that setup only worked sporadically and I'd get a lot of DNS and/or LAN IP issues. The 7800 has a sh*t-tonne of options, which I why I was hoping to find someone who could say "ah - you need to check this, swap that and put your pants on backwards while you change this setting..."

Thanks again for the help!

[GigabitEthernet]

Ahh that's the old ADSL faceplate.

You might get a small boost from using the MK2/MK3 SSFP.

[Dray]

Dray - it's not quite that simple, I don't think - that setup only worked sporadically and I'd get a lot of DNS and/or LAN IP issues. The 7800 has a sh*t-tonne of options, which I why I was hoping to find someone who could say "ah - you need to check this, swap that and put your pants on backwards while you change this setting..."

How do you mean it only worked sporadically - did you try it before I suggested it?