Solid, performant ADSL/VDSL modem

I've been using an ISP-owned cable modem in a different country with Apple Airport wireless equipment. Just signed up with Zen Internet here. I'm very happy the performance of the Apple equipment (much faster and more stable than all my previous gear) so want to keep using that and buy either a pure ADSL/VDSL modem or at least device that works well in bridge mode. Main criteria would be:

* fast (throughput not bottlenecked but also number of connections, P2P etc.)
* stable (I never have to restart the Apple devices, didn't have any line problems with previous dedicated modem)
* compatible with all current/near-future technologies (e.g. if I get upgraded to FTTP or Virgin come to the area, SIP calls, VPN, IPv6 etc).
** gigabit port(s)
* no need for secondary device to configure PPPoE credentials (I've heard this is a common weakness of the Apple devices).

Zen Internet sell Zyxel devices, which are rumoured to be unstable and have unreliable firmware upgrades. They also sell FRITZ!Box which seems to be review okay but currently out of stock (perhaps also a bit old, has wifi which I don't really need). They now recommend Technicolor TG589vn, which as a brand has a pretty bad reputation from what I can tell. See https://www.zen.co.uk/yourhome/routers/ for the other models.

From searching online I find recommendations for:

TP-Link AC2600/TP-Link W9970 - no clue about TP-Link, seem often recommended here. Most seem to have wi-fi and W9970 has no gigabit.
Netgear DM200 - see it recommended, but previous experience with Netgear devices is that they need restarting once per day.
Draytek Vigor 130 - see it recommended a lot with the caveat that UK version is totally crippled and requires your main router to configure the PPPoE, which apparently Apple devices are unstable with.

Is there a really solid modem-only device right now? Or at least a solid device that does bridge mode well?

I've also read some suggestion of incompatibility or sub-optimal performance of certain chipsets with certain providers - is this true?

W9970 runs my work line with Wi-Fi off and forget its there.

The lack of gigabit is easily fixed with a gigabit switch, and given VDSL2 speeds are sub 100 Mbps is not a limiter especially when running in bridge mode. It also ticks the G.INP and vectoring support at a low price point.

A device that works with everything and does good SIP, IPv6 is much harder and I'd recommend going for bridge modem plus router, if future proofing is a desire, since good Ethernet routers are more common that good VDSL2 modems in same box as the router.

Lack of gigabit is a no-go for me, I'm used to 100+Mbps and can imagine line upgrades etc coming into play.

Confused by your terminology - isn't a bridge modem plus router what I'm asking for? Airport Extreme/Time Capsule does gigabit ethernet + wifi, some dedicated box for the modem part. I'd imagine other technologies *should* be transparent to such a box, but often see people complaining that certain things don't work.

Billion

Fritzbox

In reply to a post by sambe:

Lack of gigabit is a no-go for me, I'm used to 100+Mbps and can imagine line upgrades etc coming into play.

80/20 may well turn out to be the fastest VDSL2 based product Openreach offer, especially as they seem to have decided that investment should go towards rolling out G.FAST and additional FTTP rather than a widespread deployment of VDSL2 vectoring. This means that a Gigabit port on a modem bridge is likely to be irrelevant unless the device also supports G.FAST.

Ah, right, so Virgin/FTTP/G.FAST would require a different modem anyway (nothing currently supporting multiple technologies)?

In reply to a post by sambe:

Ah, right, so Virgin/FTTP/G.FAST would require a different modem anyway (nothing currently supporting multiple technologies)?

Correct, cable & FTTP use different technologies to the current copper line based technologies ADSL2+ & VDSL2. G.Fast should become widespread within the next few years, the only modem/router I know of which should last a good few years is the Asus DSL-AC88U, it supports ADSL/ADSL2+/VDSL2/G.Fast standards

https://www.asus.com/Networking/DSL-AC88U/
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/28551-asus-d...

Except we have many reports on these forums of the modem component in ASUS kit being poor. We all seem agreed that their router/switch/ethernet/wifi boxes with no integral modem are fine.

Struck out because of baby_frogmella's reply, which I accept.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 11-Apr-17 14:09:05)

Okay, so not a great time to be future-proofing. Do people generally agree that TP-Link devices are more favoured (e.g. vs the Netgear and Draytek I mentioned, or the Technicolor offered by Zen)?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Except we have many reports on these forums of the modem component in ASUS kit being poor.

That's mainly due to many Asus modem/routers using the unstable Mediatek chipset. However the DSL-AC88U uses a Broadcom modem chipset which should make it one of the best modem/routers around for wifi coverage and a rock solid xDSL connection.

Edited by baby_frogmella (Tue 11-Apr-17 13:32:09)