New Router???

Hi all,
I currently have a Netgear 834GT which I am quite happy with except that it does run quite hot and I have been getting problems with my connection lately. I'm discussing these on another thread so won't go into details here but suffice to say the only thing I can't 100% rule out from causing the problems is my router, having tried different cables and plugged into test socket etc.
So I'm thinking that it may be time to move on from the Netgear 834GT...Or is it?
I am looking to add to the functionality a bit at the same time but not sure if I should stick with what I have and add seperate boxes for the additional functionality or go for an all in one solution (eggs and baskets come to mind there).
So My requirements in pretty much priority order are:
1. ADSL/ADSL2+
2. Stability of connection
3. Sync Speed
4. Good Wi-Fi Range
5. Guest Wi-Fi access (i.e. multiple SSID�s)
6. MAC Address filtering
7. Reasonable management interface
8. Printer Server
9. USB Storage Server/NAS
10. ADSL Usage Meter/Monitor
11. VoIP
12. 8 Wired data ports.

The routers I have been looking at down to reviews and customer comments are:

Netgear 834GT - Already have. Could I upgrade to 3rd party firmware and buy separate boxes for additional functionality?
Netgear DGND3700 - Not yet available but write up sounds good and I like Netgear
The rest I have no experience of so look to anyone who has to guide me on them.
DrayTek Vigor 2710 Vn
Billion BiPAC 7800N
FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7390
None of these fulfil all my requirements 100% but I would willingly sacrifice some of the lower order requirements for better performance in those at the top of my list. Especially if I could achieve them using a separate piece of hardware/software. For instance I don't want an all singing all dancing VoIP PABX NAS Print Server multimedia blah blah... If it can't keep an ADSL line in sync for more than a couple of hours.
Or should/could I go for a more diverse solution in using separate hardware for my NAS and printer server functions etc. I don't want lots of old PC's dotted around serving different functions (space is the limiting factor according to She Who Must Be Obeyed )
The one box does all solution is tempting in terms of space and aesthetics but I can't help thinking that if all my eggs are on one basket and just one gets cracked I'll have to buy a whole new basket.

Any thoughts/comments, good or bad, any other suggestions as to routers/other solutions or my list of requirements If you think I have left off something essential greatly appreciated.

Regards
Clive

Hi,

Mount the 'GT vertically, the cooling is better and not only did that cure my flakiness with my 'GT, the discovery put me in good stead when my BTO FTTC modem started showing signs of overheating.

DrT

Thanks DrT. I'll try that. I have read loads of posts here and elsewhere about fitting heatsinks and changing capacitors as well which may improve things.
Still contemplating another purchase though because it will give me a backup and the ability to prove it's not my router when I have problems, I can extend my functionality at the same time and besides I haven't had a new toy to play with for ages
So any comments on my requirements and shortlist of routers would still be appreciated.
Regards
Clive

Checked out the Netgear DGN range?

I have got a DGN2000 and it's a cracking little router.

Thanks wolvesmad, I've seen some good write ups on it and that's what made me look at the DGND3700. It doesn't seem to be available in the UK yet but if it performs as well as it is specd it should be good. I have to say I have generaly been pleased with my netgear kit so far.

If you are happy with the 834GT's ADSL performance then make sure the DGND3700 has a broadcom chipset in.

The DGND3300 has a broadcom chipset in it as has the DGN2000.

ADSL performance on mine is identical to my older DG834GT and DG834PN.

Thanks wolvesmad. Apart from recent issues, which I'm not at all sure have anything to do with the router, I have been very happy with my DG834GT.
I believe the GND3700 has a broadcom chipset but I'll check before I decide.

Taking another tack and bearing in mind my eggs in one basket concerns.
Would I be better going for a seperate adsl modem and router?
Perhaps the Netgear WNDR3700?
What modem would go in front of this to give me the best connection stability/sync speed?
DM111P??
My logic is simply that it would give me the flexibility to try a different modem for fault finding purposes without the expense of a full blown router modem.
Is there a "Best In Class" stand alone modem out there?

How about the Draytek Vigor 120 or BT Voyager 190. Both have popped out of google at me

Edited by deleted (Wed 04-May-11 18:17:03)

Can anyone confirm what chipset the Netgear DGND3700 has in it?
Looks like it's released in uk
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?...
but I can't find out what chipset it has anywhere.
Why do they keep this information so close to their chests??

Looks like Broadcom bcm53115 chip acording to
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=341504

Edited by deleted (Fri 06-May-11 18:40:23)

Why do they keep this information so close to their chests?? .....

Netgear would probably say the same as DrayTek said to me when I asked them for information regarding the chipset.

We do not release this information to the public as it is commercially sensitive

They should be running MI5 as outside contractors !!!

In reply to a post by Gypsydog:

We do not release this information to the public as it is commercially sensitive

How can it be comercially sensitive to tell the customer what they are buying???

In reply to a post by Gypsydog:

They should be running MI5 as outside contractors !!!

They would probably be better at it

Why do I have so much trouble making up my mind when it comes to new hardware?
Seperate modem/router, What manufacturer/model, what chipset, what functionality..... Oh my god I almost miss the halcion days of dial up (not really )
By the time I make my mind up it will be obsolete anyway

In reply to a post by crey:

In reply to a post by Gypsydog:

We do not release this information to the public as it is commercially sensitive

How can it be comercially sensitive to tell the customer what they are buying???

Why do I have so much trouble making up my mind when it comes to new hardware?
Seperate modem/router, What manufacturer/model, what chipset, what functionality..... Oh my god I almost miss the halcion days of dial up (not really )
By the time I make my mind up it will be obsolete anyway

A piddling little router has such confidential info, and yet computers and laptops make a point of telling the potential customer exactly what processor and usually many other components are present, and Windows at least gives the chipset details of nearly everything.

In reply to a post by crey:

Hi all,
I currently have a Netgear 834GT which I am quite happy with except that it does run quite hot and I have been getting problems with my connection lately. I'm discussing these on another thread so won't go into details here but suffice to say the only thing I can't 100% rule out from causing the problems is my router, having tried different cables and plugged into test socket etc.
So I'm thinking that it may be time to move on from the Netgear 834GT...Or is it?

Any thoughts/comments, good or bad, any other suggestions as to routers/other solutions or my list of requirements If you think I have left off something essential greatly appreciated.

Regards
Clive

Hi, I would go for another Netgear DG834GT router, problem resolved.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=Netgear+DG834GT&_...

It is strange/sad!
Over in the Billion 7800N thread I mentioned it's nice to see a manufacturer that actually names the chipset...
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/dslrouter/t/3994872...

In reply to a post by E7er:

[Hi, I would go for another Netgear DG834GT router, problem resolved.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=Netgear+DG834GT&_sacat=0&_dmpt=UK_Computing_Networking_SM&_odkw=Netgear+834GT&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
[/quote]

I must admit that does seem a simple and tempting option. I have considered tryiing the DGTeam firmware on it as well. I'd like to add printer and HD USB sharing capability as well tough I could do that seperately.That's why I'm umming and ahhing
I'm away at the mo as well so don't need to make a decision until I get back

Did you mean

In reply to a post by E7er:

Hi, I would go for another Netgear DG834GT router, problem resolved.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=Netgear+DG834GT&_...

I must admit that does seem a simple and tempting option. I have considered tryiing the DGTeam firmware on it as well. I'd like to add printer and HD USB sharing capability as well tough I could do that seperately.That's why I'm umming and ahhing
I'm away at the mo as well so don't need to make a decision until I get back

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 08-May-11 11:59:02)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Did you mean

Yes, why not?
A new one will prove my problems are or aren't my router and I will have a spare if it's not. I can add extra functionality in seperate boxes (the only one I would struggle with is a usage meter)

I was just making your post readable . So "mean" meant "is this how you meant it to look?"

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 08-May-11 12:33:02)

Ah sorry RobertoS, just seen how it came out. Thanks

The latest N routers advertise a connection speed of 300Mbps wheras the ethernet line will only give 100Mbps. I always thought that ethernet gave the best speeds, but will I get a better connection via N wireless? (I know that the adapters have to accept the N signal from the router and might need upgrading). I'm replying here by the way as I've just got the Netgear N300 and it really connects very well indeed. Of course, they don't include any setup info in the box and want you to load their setup CD which is full of **** I expect, so I did my own thing. One mystery - I always thought that BT don't require authentication so I left those fields blank and it wouldn't connect. Once I'd entered my BT credentials, all was fine.
Getting 240Mbps connection between router and Intel N adapter on my Dell Studio at the moment.

USB HD compatibilty issues with the DGND3700...
http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=65838
big negative as USB storage is all the usb ports are good for

In reply to a post by Gypsydog:

Netgear would probably say the same as DrayTek said to me when I asked them for information regarding the chipset.
We do not release this information to the public as it is commercially sensitive

Funny they told me which chipset they were using in the 2800 some time ago, although since I no longer use the 2800 I can't remember which it was. Zyxel also told me what they used in the majority of their routers - the AR7, although since this was a while back they may have changed.

The reluctance to tell may be because the idea has got around that Broadcom chips are almost always best, AR7s are problematic and so on, so using one or the other might affect sales. Whilst some of this may be true I suspect that what suits one line and exchange equipment will not always work well with another and, rather more depends on the combination of chipset and firmware than many people allow.

...along with line length/quality.

If you are on a decent short line you don't have to worry - it's only those of us on longer or poorer lines that have to be more fussy.

In reply to a post by b4dger:

...along with line length/quality.
If you are on a decent short line you don't have to worry - it's only those of us on longer or poorer lines that have to be more fussy.

Agreed - been there and done it myself on my 56dB attn line. I finally settled on a 2-Wire, no idea what chipset it uses but so far at least, it seems to be working better than the alternatives.

I have the Netgear DGND3700 and looking at the ADSL firmware version A2pv6C033c.d23c it follows the same pattern as used in the DG834N which I know for certain contains a Broadcom ADSL chipset.

The Infineon ADSL chip in the DGND3500 uses a numerical pattern.

I have it connected to a very long line and its working very well with the following stats.

DownStream Connection Speed 3476 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 922 kbps
Line Attenuation 62 db 34.0 db
Noise Margin 8.9 db 5.9 db

Connected to the master socket using BE unlimited in the UK

So far good experiences with this router

Edit. worth noting that BE unlimited almost always use Broadcom at the exchange

Edited by deleted (Fri 13-May-11 13:20:05)

Right guys. I have been away for a month.
Left the DG834GT connected top my test socket for the whole time.
Things seem to have setyled down as I'm now getting consistent 6MBPS speed test results.
While away I got hold of a new DG836GT from a well know auction site.
I decided to flash it with DGTeams firmware and try it out.
I don't think it's made a great difference to my sync speed, as for stability we will have to wait and see.
I love the extra functionality though. I'm leaving it for as few days to make sure all is stable and weill have a play with my SNR target figures to see if I can squeeze a bit more out of it.

Any way my current figures are below. They do show some errors, are they significant? Performance ios much better than when I left and seems pretty stable at the moment......

Just one question I fortgot to ask: I am gewtting a lot of <NTP> Local NTP Clock is now Synced/unsynced reports in the router log. I can't find any NTP setting in the firmware. How can I fix/stop them?


Firmware Version V1.03.22 - DGTeam Rev. 1018

ADSL Port
MAC Address **************
IP Address ***************
Network Type PPPoA
IP Subnet Mask 255.255.255.255
Gateway IP Address **************
Domain Name Server **************

LAN Port
MAC Address ********
IP Address ********
DHCP On
IP Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0

Modem
ADSL Firmware Version A2pB026.d20e
Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed 7680 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps
VPI 0
VCI 38

/usr/sbin/adslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
Channel: INTR, Upstream rate = 448 Kbps, Downstream rate = 7680 Kbps
Link Power State: L0
Mode: G.DMT
Channel: Interleave
Trellis: ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 11.9 24.0
Attn(dB): 24.0 16.0
Pwr(dBm): 19.8 11.9
Max(Kbps): 8512 1196
Rate (Kbps): 7680 448
G.dmt framing
K: 241(0) 15
R: 14 8
S: 1 8
D: 32 4
ADSL2 framing
MSGc: 1 1
B: 241 15
M: 1 8
T: 1 1
R: 14 8
S: 1.0578 8.5000
L: 1936 128
D: 32 4
Counters
SF: 5005205 5005235
SFErr(CRCErr): 827 2
RS: 340353970 42544497
RSCorr: 7484187 6
RSUnCorr: 26217 0

HEC: 731 3
OCD: 105 0
LCD: 0 0
Total Cells: 1541159295 0
Data Cells: 12134585 0
Drop Cells: 0
Bit Errors: 0 0

ES: 147 0
SES: 7 0
UAS: 12 0
AS(Uptime): 85081

INP: 0.92 1.00
PER: 1.85 1.85
delay: 8.46 8.50
OR: 30.25 30.11

Bitswap: 0 0
Total uptime: 85081

Total time = 23 hours 38 min 40 sec
SF = 5005205
CRC = 827
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 147
Latest 1 day time = 23 hours 38 min 40 sec
SF = 5005205
CRC = 827
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 147
Latest 15 minutes time = 8 min 40 sec
SF = 30562
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Previous 1 day time = 0 sec
SF = 0
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
15 minutes interval [-30 min to -15 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52982
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
15 minutes interval [-45 min to -30 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
15 minutes interval [-60 min to -45 min] time = 15 min 0 sec
SF = 52923
CRC = 0
LOS = 0
LOF = 0
ES = 0
Showtime Drop Reason: 0
Last Retrain Reason: 0

Edited by deleted (Tue 17-May-11 09:46:05)

I can't find any NTP setting in the firmware.

Using the DGTeam user interface go to the Security section (left hand side column) and open up the Schedule page and you should see what you need for NTP settings.

In reply to a post by Apprentice:

I can't find any NTP setting in the firmware.

Using the DGTeam user interface go to the Security section (left hand side column) and open up the Schedule page and you should see what you need for NTP settings.

Found it, brilliant thanks.