Plusnet FTTC Router question

Hi,

Finally I can get FTTC in my house after many years of putting up with something that can only be described as broadband in the loosest possible sense.

Still I don't seem to have a great range of options - Plusnet and BT Infinity would appear to be the only game in town and I'm more tempted by plusnet than BT.

I've got a problem in that I need six ports minimum on any router due to the thickness of the walls in my house that do a pretty good job of killing any wifi signal that isn't in the same room.

Now I know that having the BT modem connected to the plusnet router connected to a switch will give me the required number of ports but I'd prefer to have something with fewer power socket requirements.

Plusnet won't support any modem other than the one they supply. So I have three questions.

How easy is it to get the configuration/password/user info off the plusnet router?

Is there any 8 port router out there that works well with plusnet fibre?

Are there any other options that I've missed?

Thanks in advance

randalf

If FTTC is available to you then the full range of ISPs who resell BT Wholesale products are avaliable to you.

Posting in the Fibre section would possibly have been more appropriate.

Since all BT OpenReach FTTC installations use the same Modem irrespective of ISP then "any" router with an external WAN port (preferably with Gigabit switch) would do.

Can you not split off traffic for part of the house, run a singe Gigabit connection to a switch at that point and split the points there? If there are no devices actually connected at the master socket the router can be up to 100 metres from the modem - it is an ethernet connection so you lose nothing.

Hi,

I apologise if this is in the wrong section. Perhaps an admin could move the thread if deemed appropriate.

All I can say in my defense is that my query is at the heart of it hardware related.

The Master socket is in a particularly poor location without any convenient power supplies. As it is I'm looking at an extension cable to where the modem could be.

As you mentioned the BT modem is pretty much a given and the only area that I have any real control over will be through the router. However the ISP's seem to be very tight lipped regards exactly what router works on their system.

I understand that they are coming from a customer services perspective and are looking at the cost of support - something that is admittedly much easier when you only have a limited number of hardware configurations to manage.

I'mn just concerned that I go and purchase a router with 8 ports and that it is incompatible for some arcane reason or that I am unable to retrieve the configuration details from the supplied router. Which is why some recommendations as to the most suitable (which may not necessarily be the best) router that works with BT wholesale FTTC.

When ordering FTTC, make sure you ask for the data extension kit from Openreach. They can install a cable that allows you to site modem up to 30m from master socket

A router with 8 ports is as rare as me finding 50p on the path. I though Plusnet supplied a router? I would start with that, and then get a gigabit switch to increase the number of ports.

Thanks for the suggestions

I've currently got a gigabit switch on my setup, unfortunately I do have a shortage of available power sockets. A house rewire would appear to be slightly excessive as well

I'd doubt that the BT modem is self powered so I was trying to come up with options that allow the same level of flexibility that I currently have but with no further power requirements.

I was hoping that there was an 8-port router equivalent to the plusnet one out there but if they are pretty rare then that won't really be an option.

It is something that maybe ISP's need to start thinking about for the future because 4 ports just isn't enough anymore. When I first got broadband I had a single computer on the network, now I've got a TV that needs a network connection, a digibox, a console, a bluray and a computer. I don't think I'm that unusual either in that setup.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=8+p...

Is one, but the price is what puts most people off.

It is rare to have all the devices in one room, and the future is really an ethernet switch behind the TV rather than many cables to individual appliances.

The Plusnet-supplied router comes with two pages of useful info from Plusnet. Including the login details you need. The username is your PN account username followed by @plusdsl.net. The password is your account password. Easy .

I have ditched mine and reverted to my Buffalo Airstation I bought for use on IDNet FTTC, as I primarily use wireless and in my (metal frame) house the PN one is poor.

Re power sockets, there is nothing to stop you using a multi-point power extension cable.

Given the info already posted, plus this, is there no way you can conveniently arrange things? Summarising: the modem can be up to 30m from the master socket, and requires a power socket, and the router can be up to 100m from the modem.

Plus! Wherever you put those two, with a few setting adjustments you should be able to connect your existing router to the Plusnet one via ethernet, giving you a further 100m to play with, and a second wireless access point if that is any use. You lose two of the ethernet ports of course, so a total of six. But the wireless may be usable for some of your kit in that setup.

Edit - I forgot, you have the gigabit switch. That fits in easily as well or instead .
Also I have a single power socket in our spare room, with a power extension cable round to the diagonally opposite corner where there are three 4-way extension sockets on it. At the moment powering a DECT base unit, one or both of my routers, FTTC modem, network disc, printer, shredder.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 24-Apr-12 21:49:24)

The Openreach modem, (as you now know can be possibly 30m from the master socket), is in fact a VDSL2 router with the routing facility disabled in the firmware.

It has the phone socket and two LAN ports. LAN1 is the one used to connect to your router, LAN2 is blocked by the modified firmware.

A whiz-kid here has unlocked the firmware. Many of us have loaded his version. That is dead easy.

The original reason was to allow access to the line stats, as otherwise you have no idea other than the BT IP Profile or the Plusnet "Current line speed" which I expect you know is just below the IP Profile.

However the unlocked firmware also gives access to the routing functions. At least one enterprising person has enabled them and now has two active LAN ports. In your case you would only need LAN1, (LAN2 has to be used for the firmware uploading but isn't needed thereafter). Given enabled routing in it, your gig switch could connect to LAN1.

If you do need wireless at all, as there wouldn't be any in that setup, either of your routers could supply it, using the settings changes mentioned in my previous post.

While it does have a routing function it's too slow to be truly useful except on the 40mb service.

Agreed.

I have an 8 port gigabit switch next to the router & a 5 port gigabit switch with the TV for TV, Sky, Freesat & blueray boxes.

I wouldn't like to run them all back to a single switch.