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?