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[kitz]

 

[Mick]

>>> ebay seems to list them  for under a pound!

That one that was listed has now gone to a new home 

Major WARNING!

BT seem to have brought out a latest firmware v6.1.1.48.x which a)locks the management console (you need this if you want to check your detailed routerstats) and b)has some bugs.

If the router that 'has now gone to a new home' is plugged in to the ADSL line it will download the latest firmware  and I understand that this is irreversible. 

I recommend that in order to try it out first, you set it in bridged mode and use another router for NATing with your PC.  I have been using mine in bridged mode and it does not seem to have picked up the latest firmware, it still runs: v5.29.117.6

The link I provided above has some good and very detailed info and logikir100 who maintains it is very helpful if you have some queries.  Of course, please ask here if you need advice on setting it up.

[orainsear]

Most people on Be seem to rate the Netgears as best..  yet every so often some one says but the ST works best on mine..  and in those cases they are the short lines.

Just to take that a bit further, from what I've seen it's Netgear routers with a Broadcom chipset that seem to be favoured by Be users, and as Be use Broadcom DSLAMs it's another case of chipset pairing seemingly providing the best performance.

[Mick]

Hmm ... I can see a nice table developing in Kitz's website with local Exchange chipsets, mapped against line length (attenuation), mapped against modem chipsets.  Filling in the table won't be easy, but with time I'm sure it can be done.

[waltergmw]

@ mick,

Sadly I suspect  that's an impossible task. I am very peeved at BT's secretive and possibly occasional obstructive culture.

As a case in point you may recall that it was possible to observe the DSLAM / MSAN compliment of an exchange as shown below for THCN in February 2007 courtesey of Prodigynet. Even then you can see a multiplicity of different DSLAMs and I'd be very surprised if things had become even more complex since.

Given that most medium sized exchanges and above are likely to have diffferent DSLAMs / MSANs, and 21CN is going to mean even more changes, there must be a high probability that your line could be migrated from one type to another and there's no way that data would be published. It's only those with suitable tools and an enquiring mind who can sometimes find out, IF the equipment has been properly identified.

Kind regards,
Walter



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[b4dger]

I agree with Kitz saying that line length (or quality) has a bearing on things.
On my line (50/51db) matching a TI exchange with a TI AR7  Netgear didn't work well.

I've currently got a Netgear DG834v2 (AR7), 2Wire 2700 and a couple of Speedtouch 585v6 (worked so well I bought another).  I've now just bought a Netgear DG834GT as so much has been said about them lately. I've been running with that for the last few days and it appears to be running roughly the same as the 585v6.

My best advice if your ADSL is important to you is to trial different routers for yourself and see how things work out.
I haven't got any spare cash - but as my ADSL is important to me I'm willing to buy a selection of routers in an attempt to improve things.  My 2Wire was from Digidave (as mentioned by Kitz) - they are secondhand units. The power supply failed after 1 day but I was sent a replacement immediately 'no questions asked'.

The DG834GT is an ex SKY eBay purchase £15.37 including postage but I had to bid on a number of them over a few weeks before I got one as most seem to go in the £20s.



OT On a sad note  my line has recently started yet another bad patch! It seems I can go for quite a few months running with a 6db Target and low error count quite happily and then 'something' happens...  This time I'm getting bursts of noise/error seconds etc. a couple of times a day (random times) which is knackering things! My target SNR is currently back to 9db with things 'holding on'. This is one one reason I thought now would be a good time to test a DG834GT.
How I envy those of you on short healthy lines! 

[waltergmw]

@ b4dger,

I too happened upon a case with an irate user who had been on a slow broadband connection of about 7.8 km for over 4 years but it was lost 5 weeks ago. We have reason to believe that there is a short section of underground cable which has deteriorated quite badly. However the user has a satisfactory audio quality line so has been told that her line is too long and BT do not have a Universal Service Obligation. Now if only somebody could invent a solution such as FTTC many such problems would disappear and BT Openreach might reduce their workload. However I am not entirely convinced that BT O favour this approach as they are able to charge ISPs or users for investigations.

Kind regards,
Walter

[kitz]

>> Major WARNING!

Thanks for that Mick.  Will certainly bear it in mind.

I havent had chance to do anything with it yet but from a brief glimpse this one looks like its AT+T resold by digidave..  havent had chance to look further into that yet either

[kitz]

>> I can see a nice table developing in Kitz's website with local Exchange chipsets,

Would be nice.. but could cause confusion and it would be a mammoth task.

The problem could also be that most exchanges use several different types of dslams and msans... so its not impossible for 2 people connected via the same exchange to be on different dslams with different chipsets.
AFAIK theres no real way of knowing which dslam or msan in the exchange you are connected too.

[kitz]

>> u may recall that it was possible to observe the DSLAM / MSAN compliment of an exchange as shown below for THCN in February 2007 courtesey of Prodigynet.

I used to like that info...  from that I used to be able to work out a rough guide of the state of the VPs.

Unfortunately it gave out a bit too much info to those that knew how to use it and BT made them pull it

From a quick look at those, off the top of my head, you probably have 2 Marconi MSANs, 1 Fujitsu Geostream dslam and 1 other dslam.  I did have some notes somewhere that used to be able to help me tie stuff up but this was years ago and gawd knows where they are now.. I cant find my own exchange info that I capped from the prodigy site back then either which would have helped me tie them up 

[kitz]

>> my line has recently started yet another bad patch!

Oh no.. I do so hope it stabilises for you.

>> How I envy those of you on short healthy lines!

Its not all plain sailing.. those are the lines most likely to get the dreaded stuck bRAS profiling.  I really have lost count of the no of times that affected me and the battles my ISP + I had with BTw trying to get it fixed.

Ive also got a problem right now that would probably get laughed at if I reported it and no-one would take the slightest notice off. 
Ive lost about 2.5Mbps of speed over the past few months and Im seeing my SNRM slowing being eaten away.

But what do you think my chances are of getting back the 2.5Mb?  I can just imagine it...
BT would take one look and say - whats wrong you can sync at 21.5 Mb.. and walk away laughing charging me £150 +VAT for the pleasure.  There would be no recognition that this line could once sync at 24Mb and has degraded by 2.5Mb so its not even worth me trying.   
My line is now very poor considering Im < 200m from the exchange.

The joys of adsl - sigh

[waltergmw]

@ Kitz,

This is all part of the national debate regarding our "Proud guardians of the Local Access National Network".  I too know of two proven cases where broadband connections are severely compromised but an audio connection is still viable. The no USO condition allows BT O to avoid the necessary investment to rectify the plant and this situation will only get worse over time unless the commercial regulation is changed.

Kind regards,
Walter