Netgear DG834 (Broadcom) series - stock?

Hi people.

I've had a re-flashed BT Home Hub for a while now but the WiFi can be very flaky.

I am also now in a position to buy a new, better ADSL router in the hope for more stable WiFi, as well as better connection speeds if possible.

Upon researching this forum and others, it appears the Netgear DG834 routers which incorporate a Broadcom chipset seem to have the best reviews. I also believe they excel with longer lines.

Here are my current connection statistics taken from my Home Hub:

Link Information

Uptime: 0 days, 3:24:36
Modulation: G.992.1 Annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 1.568
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 11,92 / 151,21
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11,5 / 16,0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 31,5 / 59,0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 21,0 / 6,0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / ALCB
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 4 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 36 / 5.791
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 20 / 4
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 12 / 2

How can I tell if I am on a long line? I think I am a fair distance from the exchange but not sure the exact amount?

My Home Hub is connected directly into my master socket downstairs which has an ADSL Nation XTE-2005 Filtered Master faceplate fitted.

I've had a look around various sites selling the DG834 but many are now stocking the V5 which I believe doesn't have a Broadcom chipset. Does anyone know of any suppliers that currently stock Netgear DG834's with Broadcom chips or is eBay my only avenue?

Also, I have been looking into using the DGTeam firmware which I believe would allow me to tweak the Netgear to obtain a faster connection. I believe the models I am looking for would be the following: DG834GT, DG834PN, DG834N-V1, DGN2000, DG834G-V1-V2, DG834G-V3, DG834G-V4

Would it be possible for anyone to summarise the above and help me with my choice? I know some of them don't have WiFi, which is a feature I need (I am not really fussed about N compatibility I don't have any devices that support this) and also some don't have external aerials - surely it is better to have an external aerial?

Any help and advice in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Even if it doesn't relate to the Netgear routers - perhaps you have another suggestion for me?

Thanks in advance.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 448 / 1.568
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 31,5 / 59,0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 21,0 / 6,0

The highlighted figures give us the information. 59dB attenuation suggests your line is likely to be around 5km long...i'm guessing you live on the edge of town and not in a town/city centre.

The SNR margin of 6dB is the minimum allowed which means you won't actually get much more speed than the 1.5mbit you're currently getting.

For a 59dB line i'd expect somewhat more performance but you say you have a filtered faceplate which should take care of any dodgy internal wiring in your house that causes/picks up interference.

For comparison my line stats:

Down Up
SNR (dB): 5.3 16.0
Attn(dB): 55.0 31.5
Pwr(dBm): 19.6 12.3
Max(Kbps): 5440 952
Rate (Kbps): 4896 448

As you can see my attenuation is slighty lower but i'm getting almost 5mbit rate. I know from having BT test my line many years ago that my line is bang on 4km length.

If possible unscrew your faceplate and plug the router directly into the hidden socket on the bottom right which will be revealed if you have one. Not all master sockets do. Then review your router stats again and see if there is any change.

I'd avoid the DG834 v1,2 or 3. They use the AR7 chipset and, although a specific long-line issue was supposed to have been resolved with a recent firmware upgrade, they certainly don't suit my longish line.

The GT is reputed to be very good although my experience with it was disappointing - I suspect mine may be on it's way out.

I've had no experience with the N, PN or 2000 but I would expect them to be good.

I use the DG834G v4 and it seems very stable with my line.

I found the DG834 v5 was more stable than I'd expected it to be considering it doesn't use the Broadcom chipset.

I rarely use the WiFi so I can't comment on that.

I did a comparison of some of the DG834 series recently here: http://vwlowen.co.uk/misc/routers/compare.htm

I was looking for a DG834GT recently for someone else and the only place I could find was Amazon. eBay sell loads of ex-Sky (I think) GT's but Amazon was the only new supplier I could find when I looked.

John.

Edited by deleted (Tue 28-Jul-09 08:12:44)

I have never seen adequate firmware for the DG834N-V1. The current version (V1.02.15) does not forward UDP incoming ports. The last version that worked with incoming UDP ports (V1.01.06) suffered from periodic DNS freezes.

The DG834-V3 works well with ADSL but mine appears to have occasional (~weekly) problems freezes with BE Adsl2+, I suspect this is connected to the poor quality of my line, frequent disoncects. Also as others point out the DG834-V3 does not have a Broadcom chipset.

Indeed orly, I live in a village, approx 3 miles away from the town where the exchange is located.

My master socket has the hidden test socket behind the face plate. I have tried connecting into this before.

When trying the new router, I will use a shorter cable from the master socket to the router, as my current one is very long and coiled up to shorten it. This could perhaps be slightly affecting the connection too.

Thanks for the link John, I have decided to purchase a V4.

Thanks for your input as well, Anon!

All of your help is greatly appreciated!