Overheating Infinity modems

See previous post - I was upgraded to Infinity this morning. The engineer said that he'd been going round changing the modems because of overheating and now on the front page here I see an article about it. Thing is....the modem he fitted is identical to the one in the photo!! Should I buy a fire extinguisher? It is a bit hot..........

They look the same, but aren't. Yours will be a new one. The old ones were installed months ago. I have one of those from February - no problem at all with it, and it is sited in a very warm place!

Had the same story from the engineer who fitted mine in November. Had spent quite a lot of his time changing modems due to the overheating issues.

I did ask the stupid question "I guess mine is the newer one then???" - he replied "yes", with a wry grin!

And just to add, my Infintiy has been stable now for longer than any of my other connections, and the speed is great. Only issues have been when there has been "engineering work" posted on the BT site for the night before, and these have sorted themsleves out after a day.

Rob

Newer as in probably the thermal paste between a chip and its heatsink is properly in place and working. i.e. heat output may be the same overall, but heat is removed away from chip better on the newer batches

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Newer as in probably the thermal paste between a chip and its heatsink is properly in place and working. i.e. heat output may be the same overall, but heat is removed away from chip better on the newer batches

I don't understand why they can't supply a modem with a router built in, surely they are available for the service?

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I don't understand why they can't supply a modem with a router built in, surely they are available for the service?

Cost more to replace when they go wrong .

The latest version I believe is " 3B "

Also more issues with regards to wireless speeeds, nat etc

In reply to a post by Brugie:

The latest version I believe is " 3B "

Correct. You will see it so marked, using large bold face, in the top right hand corner of the rear label. (Also the PSU for a 3B modem is white in colour.)

I was having him on!

Took 5 months for me and others to talk him into LLU . Or maybe it was longerrrrr.

VM have the Superhub which was supposed to be a modem and router combined. The latest advice is..'put it into modem mode and buy your own router, as the wireless is rubbish', the BT setup is probably more wasteful for the environment but at least it works!

Just to recap, look on the back of the modem, 3B will be clearly written on the label.
2B is also acceptable.

Thanks everyone. I've put it on the wall now and it seems happier (and cooler).

Mine was replaced Friday, 10 min job.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Newer as in probably the thermal paste between a chip and its heatsink is properly in place and working. i.e. heat output may be the same overall, but heat is removed away from chip better on the newer batches

I don't understand why they can't supply a modem with a router built in, surely they are available for the service?

Some people would prefer to hook up their own brand of router to the modem, more choice then, just like Virgin did for years before the Superhub

There aren't many VDSL modem/routers to choose from to he honest

Indeed, there is such a vast choice of broadband routers I'd rather have a dumb modem and have the choice of my own router

Zyborg

You have to remember that Openreach supply the Modems but the ISPs all want different routers. If they supplied a combined modem router everybody would complain that they couldn't use their own version and that it would be biased to the biggest ISP ( BTRetail). It would also add more cost to the openreach charges.

The way they have done it, they have control of the modem and can programme in remote testing etc for all connections the same way. The ISPs get the choice and can differentiate their service by the router price / quality they want and there are no complaints by the ISPs that everything is biased to BT Retail.

With ADSl the modem quality affects each line and can be significantly different, there are also few options for remote testing due to the number of different varients.

Added benefit of just a modem under Openreach control is they can change the profile and add other features later ( Vectoring ) so can uplift the service more easily. They couldn't have changed profile from 8 to 17 as quickly and easily if there were lots of different modems out there.

Looking from an Openreach perspective, they keep more people happy and give much more choice to their customers (ISPs) and their customers (You) so it must have been a no-brainer

Our original version is next to a radiator. Never had any problem with it

Just had mine installed in November - big BLACK psu !!!

But, on a tiled wall, and no problems at all ...

Cheers,

Rob

Look on the back of the modem, it may well be a 2B, has the same 'fix' as the 3B, but just a black PSU. Got one myself.

The "Man Who Knows" has explained the likely reason . . . Zarjaz's post, above.

Yes, it's 3B. So other routers will work with the modem - does anyone use a router that performs better than the BT Hub? And I see that users are being asked to activate FON; didn't it used to be the case that you were automatically signed up?

In reply to a post by GeoffB:

Yes, it's 3B. So other routers will work with the modem - does anyone use a router that performs better than the BT Hub? And I see that users are being asked to activate FON; didn't it used to be the case that you were automatically signed up?

Yes, they will, I use an Apple Airport Extreme (because I already had it). It is also dual band so my Macbook Pro and iPad 1 connect at 5GHz. I can see no-one else around me on this band.

That's a point - the BT hub isn't dual band then! The Virgin one is.

Fair enough, not really go into this fibre lark. Just trying to compare it with ADSL in that we now got routers with ADSL modems built it, so I thought that is what would happen with fibre.

Saying that if I go for this wireless service, they will supply a modem or what ever they will use and I got to supply the router.

Not sure if I want Bt having control of my modem to be honest, it was bad enough when they had control of my home hub. the wireless service i am looking at seems a better bet every day.

A fairly dumb modem is pretty common around the world.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Just to recap, look on the back of the modem, 3B will be clearly written on the label.
2B is also acceptable.

3B or not 3B that is the question......

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

A fairly dumb modem is pretty common around the world.

I suppose i am used now to buying modem and router all in one, Saying that my brother got a Ethernet ADSL modem and we connected a router onto it.
The problem with this sort of arrangement is that a extra electric socket is needed and more flipping cables.

I got a letter today from BT advising that they want to change my modem, as I got mine back in March.

However, I've not had any issues and it's wall mounted.

Do we have to change them, or is it optional?

It's just I've always gone with, if it ain't broken, don't fix it...

Just had mine replaced. Only took 15 minutes.

Engineer said it was something to do with a batch of them (around 250,000 ??) having a fault where it would occasionally drop connections. Apparently the exchange is being funded by the modem supplier rather than BT.

Mine is being done this evening, just hoping they call, especially as I requested it in the notes.

Did they call you beforehand?

Also, do they do a line check and stuff again? It's just I'd like to get my figures if I can.

Just had mine installed today and have experienced 3 drops in connection (up form once a week with the old modem). The new modem is also getting a lot hotter than the old one. Has anyone else has the same problem?

In reply to a post by stranger1024:

The new modem is also getting a lot hotter than the old one. Has anyone else has the same problem?

I find the new modem runs slightly cooler than the old one. Though I did not have a problem with the old one, it was a good solid connection for the 8 months it was in use.

Was the power supply replaced for all those that have had a replacement modem?

In reply to a post by geezerone:

Was the power supply replaced for all those that have had a replacement modem?

Mine wasn't, but they are making a second trip to replace it this Friday

In reply to a post by geezerone:

Was the power supply replaced for all those that have had a replacement modem?

Mine was because he cut the wire to the old one rather than untangle it from the spaghetti under our TV/HiFi table!

They did not replace my PSU, just the modem.

Mine was replaced a few weeks back, a few days ago my connection died and an engineer visited to fix it. The first thing he told me was about the clowns from Kellys comms not replacing the PSU on the vdsl modem, although it was nothing to do with my connection dying.

In reply to a post by mccann:

Mine was replaced a few weeks back, a few days ago my connection died and an engineer visited to fix it. The first thing he told me was about the clowns from Kellys comms not replacing the PSU on the vdsl modem, although it was nothing to do with my connection dying.

This post will explain why BT is not replacing the PSU on the modems
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4100927-re-...

Hmmmm.

I've replied to David's post.