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[cheekythomas]

Hello everybody, hope this message sees you all keeping safe and well... Newbie here so before I asked the million dollar question I thought it only polite to say hi :-)

I'm looking for a new router to replace my Vodafone supplied item on my VDSL fibre connection.

The WiFi side of things is being took care of via a mesh set up so the router doesn't need to anything special WiFi wise, but I need a reliable modem and a decent stable router.

We use the internet heavily on many devices at the same time, iptv streaming to multiple TVs, online gaming, music streaming etc, the current router struggles with the workload and often just locks up meaning a reset is needed... I've done a quick check, and last night we had 3 TVs streaming iptv, 2 games consoles playing online and 6 mobile phones connected.. there's another game console but it wasn't being used at the time, we also have Sonos speakers in several rooms that will often also be streaming music so I guess the work load for the router is fairly high.

I've been reading up on here and see the zyxel models are often mentioned, which one if any would you recommend?

I went into a local pc shop over the weekend and he suggested the TP link AC2800 which he didn't keep but could get if needed,  he reason for this was he said it had was a dual core CPU with 2 extra processors so it could handle routing multiple 1080p streams etc all at the same time where as a normal router would be hard pushed to manage.. it was a little more than I wanted to spend really as most of the benefits it listed like AC WiFi etc wouldn't be used, but if you think it's a good option then I'll take it on board.

He also said even a basic router like the tp-link N300 would be day and night improvement over the Vodafone supplied item so anything would be an upgrade.

If you could give me your thoughts it would be greatly appreciated, kind regards...

Tom.

[chenks]

first things first.
have vodafone given you the required user/pass details for your account?
you'll need that before you can think about replacing the vodafone supplied router.

[cheekythomas]

Hello thanks for the reply, yes they gave me a username and password, and some instructions about using vlan101 and that the modem "should" be openreach approved.

[burakkucat]

Welcome to the Kitz forum.

chenks has stated the most fundamental requirement. My understand is that Vodafone will provide an end-user with the service credentials if it is confirmed that a device on the Openreach approved (MCT) list will be used.

Now my first question is whether you would like a one or a two box set-up?

[chenks]

chenks has stated the most fundamental requirement. My understand is that Vodafone will provide an end-user with the service credentials if it is confirmed that a device on the Openreach approved (MCT) list will be used.

the willingness to give it out seems to come and go at the whim of whoever you happen to speak to at vodafone.
one minute they will, next minute they won't.

[cheekythomas]

They gave me my details without any hassle, i had spoke to them several times previously, because the routers been a nightmare, the GUI goes missing, it turns it's own WiFi on even though the settings say it's off, it locks up and won't allocate IP addresses sometimes, it's awful but I knew it was going to be... So I don't mind.

As for the modem/router it can single box or separate items I don't really mind.

[burakkucat]

They gave me my details without any hassle, . . .

That's good to know.

As for the modem/router it can single box or separate items I don't really mind.

I will suggest that you consider one of the ZyXEL VMGnnnn-B10x devices.

[cheekythomas]

Thanks for the replys, so you think a zyxel will be upto the job, that's great to hear :-)

Is there a specifically good model? Or are they all decent? The VMG8924 gets mentioned lots but it's also quite old so this will account for the fact there's more posts, the newer models look to be the 1312 and 3925...

[ktz392837]

The consensus seems to be the A models are better much better in some circumstances.  For my line I wouldn't use anything else than my trusty vmg 8324 b10a.

[johnson]

Could you detail your connection a bit, up and down sync?

Budget (roughly)?

With several concurrent users and some of those gaming you would probably benefit from proper QoS. Do your users complain about gaming latency sometimes with your current modem-router?

Complexity? Do you need a box that just works, or willing to spend time setting it up?
 

[cheekythomas]

We are on Vodafone fibre, and we get 75-80 download and 19 upload most days.. I've used the Vodafone QoS settings a little, and normally the latency isn't an issue, when it works it just works... Until the router ties itself in a knot and waves the white flag for surrender.
 
I'm happy to do a bit of setting up, it's not a problem. And budget isn't really involved, I just want it to work... If rather pay £200 for something that worked well than £50 for something that needed attention regularly.

[machare]

I bought and use an ebay 2nd hand Zyxel VMG8924-B10A for Vodafone. Works perfectly I don't think it ever looses synch.
Depending on the provenance some effort may be needed to clear out previous ISP data, but it can be done. I have two, one was bought for less than £25.  The Wifi range is a bit better than the Vodafone router.

[banger]

You dont mention your WIFI requirements. I am using a VMG-1312-B10A as a modem and a Asus DSL-N55U as a dual WIFI router. If you want all in one the VMG-3925-B10B which has AC Dual WIFI and the required chipset for the modem or 8924-B10A which is a bit older but has the better chipset.

[johnson]

Sounds like you are probably syncing at the max rate on an 80/20 plan (I guess you are quoting real speed tests results rather than line). So nothing really to be gained by a better modem in terms of connection speed or proper stats monitoring.

I guess given people don't complain about gaming the 80/20 connection is solving the QoS problem by fat pipe, no one runs torrent clients set up to max out the connection both ways or uploads large backups and the like on a regular basis.

So based on that and your already in place wifi solution, pretty much any decently regarded modem-router combined box will probably work fine. As others have said the zyxel routers are highly regarded here (and I agree, though only use them as modems). 1312, 8324/8924 will all probably serve you well, the 3925 as well, but its slightly harder to get stats out of (if you even want that). All can generally be purchased best by watching ebay for a while for auctions rather than the stupid buy it now prices that seem to be normal. If you are spending more than £40-50 its probably too much (unless you really want it now).

However if you want something more, either just to tinker with or because you think maybe there are performance issues with your usage that you currently don't even notice due to not having had anything better before - maybe some people experience lag sometimes and think its just the "internet" when really its contention for bandwidth affecting their gaming or voip, then there are more options.

Full disclosure, I really like the openwrt/lede project and run their open source firmware on several devices. I believe it has probably the best QoS implementation of any router firmware currently available, its called SQM you can google it. As best I can ascertain its the most advanced way of managing your up and downstream in a fluid way to ensure decently low latency even with users saturating your connection without having the pain of having to specify ports or protocols that have priority. It takes very little setup and just works.

So if you like the sound of that (and an open source firmware with the latest linux kernel) - to shape an 80/20 connection (and still have overhead for lots of connections for torrents etc) requires a little more grunt that the cheapest routers you can find that support openwrt/lede. If I were in the market for a compatible router for that connection I'd be looking at the linksys WRT AC series. The cheapest one (circa £100 new, £60-70 used) the WRT1200AC has a 1300mhz dual core ARM CPU, which should be plenty, and they go up to 1866mhz (more money). In comparison, the zyxels use 400mhz MIPS cores, significantly slower.

This setup will require a separate modem, so one of the zyxels mentioned previously. Plus the added hassle of flashing/configuring.

My 2 pence. 

Edit: typos

[Ixel]

One chipset doesn't fit all, some lines perform better on Broadcom while other lines perform better on Lantiq/Infineon/Intel.

In my experience you can either choose a Broadcom, especially if your cabinet is Huawei and not ECI, so a Zyxel as someone here suggested. Alternatively you can choose a Lantiq/Infineon/Intel, such as a DrayTek Vigor, which for my lines connected to an ECI cabinet actually perform better than modems with a Broadcom chipset. I can also tweak the SNRM as long as errored seconds are low enough, in order to gain a bit more on the downstream sync rate. I'm using a DrayTek Vigor 2860 and DrayTek Vigor 2862 for my lines.