Netgear DG834G v3 - compatible with ADSL2?

Hello,

I have a Netgear DG834G v3 which was provided by AOL Broadband a few years ago.

I note that a "boost" is now available "up to 24Mbps" (BT installed fibre cabinets in the area a few months ago) but I was wondering whether anyone knows whether this router will be compatible?

It is running the latest firmware (V4.01.40).

I emailed AOL Broadband last week to ask but they've not replied... I just want to make sure there won't be any issues as a result of going ahead with the speed upgrade.

Any help would be appreciated, cheers

P.S: Router stats in case they are relevant:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 5184 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 42 db 14 db
Noise Margin 7 db 25 db

Samknows states we are 680 metres from the exchange as the crow flies.

Edited by wannabemedic (Sun 06-Nov-11 00:00:51)

In reply to a post by wannabemedic:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 5184 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 42 db 14 db
Noise Margin 7 db 25 db

Samknows states we are 680 metres from the exchange as the crow flies.

The v3 will work on ADSL2+ but might not be as well as the v4, or some newer routers.

Your line is much longer. Either Samknows is wrong, the routing from your house to the exchange isn't anywhere near how a crow might fly, or there are internal wiring issues to investigate.

Matt

Alas the phone line is about 2 miles (3km long), so not taking a direct route to you.

The BT Fibre cabinets are for a up to 40Meg product, not ADSL2+ - which is probably down to TalkTalk (who own AOL) switching you onto ADSL2+

Thanks for the quick responses and confirming that the fibre cabinets are for a different product.

I've now plugged the router into the master socket and also the test socket. Just so you know, the router is normally situated at the end of an extension line.

In master socket:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4608 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 42 db 14 db
Noise Margin 8 db 25 db




In test socket (front plate removed):

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 5760 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 43 db 13.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 25 db



Do the noise margins/attenuations suggest a problem with internal/other wiring?

When you say it may not work as well as a newer version of the router, does that mean drops in sync or a lower speed?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Do the noise margins/attenuations suggest a problem with internal/other wiring?

When you say it may not work as well as a newer version of the router, does that mean drops in sync or a lower speed?

If you are in the test socket, all internal wiring should be removed from the line, so that does not play a part.

Your line just appears to be longer than you'd expect/like. Are you in/around London by any chance?

The v3 may be more unstable and may give a lower sync than something with a better/newer chipset such as the Billion 7800N.

Matt

Thanks Matt, I'm in the Midlands.

I have a Thomson Speedtouch ST585 (not sure which version, but it looks exactly like this one). Is there a chance that may be better at handling ADSL2?

I know it's difficult to say definitively but is there any chance I'll get a lower up/down speed after the upgrade than I do currently?

An increase in upload speed is what I'm more interested in really...

Ahh. I've seen many lines in London be very very close to the exchange but routed far differently, oddly higher than anywhere else that we seem to come across.

The 585 should work OK and will have a broadcom chipset. Might sync a little lower than other broadcom-based routers.

You'll probably see a small increase in the downstream and likely a bigger jump in your upstream.

Matt

Thanks Matt. I've just submitted the "up to 24Mbps boost" so we'll see what happens.

Really wasn't expecting to have such quick responses to my questions at this time of night so my thanks again to you and Andrew

You should be getting over 6,5 Meg Sync now on ADSL Max, which you are on. Have you removed ring wire?

On ADSL2+, "the boost", you should get about 9 Meg.

The Netgear DG834G v4 with a Broadcom chipset is the most reliable of the DG834Gs.

The huge difference between the Master and Test sockets imply you have the ring wire connected, as asked by XRaySpeX.

You need to remove that, see this page.

When you say "at the end of an extension line", do you mean a plug-in one, or one wired into the back of the master socket? If a plug-in, then you need to either stop using it somehow, or "doctor it" to stop the ring wire in it making a connection.

If a wired-in extension, do you know if the extensions were installed by the builder, which they could have been if it is a relatively new house? We could do with a decent picture of the wires attached to the master faceplate when you remove it if that is the case. (You can't post pics here, it would need to be uploaded somewhere and post a link).

You will probably find a day-time connection is faster than a night-time one as well, so room for more improvment there.

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 06-Nov-11 08:26:51)