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[MaxwellsEQ]

I've swapped by ISP-supplied Fritz!Box 7530 (running the latest v.25 firmware) to a 2nd hand ZyXEL VMG8924-B10A (de-ISPed) running stock 1.00(AAKL.28)C0 firmware as a modem + router +AP

These are my opinions, so YMMV. I'm approximately 600m from an Hauwei Cabinet

Things that are better on the 7530
Ease of use and default setup (especially DHCP control)
Raw firewall and NAT performance (leading to better overall performance)
WiFi (stability and performance)
Inbuilt TDR tells you the connection length

Things that are better on the VMG8924-B10A
Configuration options
Logs!
Shell access
VDSL stability (so far)

Things that seem to be equal between the 7530 and VMG8924-B10A
Negotiated bandwidth

Overall, if there are no broadband issues, I prefer the 7530. Multiple live connections on the same device are faster - this might just be a NAT/Firewall loading problem with the older processor on the 8924. But 7530 tuning options are minimal and the logs are very poor making analysis very difficult. For example, if there is a link-level drop, this is as much as you get in the logs:

Date HH:25:27 Internet connection established successfully. IP address: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd, DNS server: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd and aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd, gateway: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd, broadband PoP: name
Date HH:24:54 DSL is available (DSL synchronized with 54321/4321 kbit/s).
Date HH:24:29 DSL synchronization starting (training).
Date HH:18:21 Internet connection cleared.
Date HH:18:21 PPPoE error: Timeout.
Date HH:18:07 DSL not responding (no DSL synchronization).
Date HH:17:28 Timeout during PPP negotiation.
Date HH:17:28 Internet connection cleared.

This makes it hard to understand what is going on.

[Chunkers]

Hi MaxwellEQ!

I was interested to read your test data, I have two (Zen) lines on which I use VMG 8924 as modems, not long ago I also tested the Zen provided 7530's and found the connect speeds to compare favourably to the VMG 8924's. Since my local FTTC box was upgraded I am much closer to the cab and neither types have stability issues, previously when my line was poorer I had found that Broadcom devices had better stability.

In my case, as I use them as modems, the advantages of the VMG8924's is that they have a bridge mode, the 7530's 'pass-through' mode didn't seem to play nicely with my pfSense router.

As a standalone box I agree with you, I think the 7530 is a better choice, especially the user plans to utilise the WLAN. I really like the interface and options on the 7530 and the weird design aesthetic - weirdly it seems to get a lot of hate online from people.

When I look at broadband router reviews and comments online I find many of the negative comments are really non-techy people venting their frustration at not being able to set up their gear i.e. "its a S**t router" rather than "I am incapable of following the instructions" 

[Starman]

Any comparison to the original HG612? I have an unopened 7530 from Zen but preferred to keep them separate to avoid DLM gods.