3490 FRITZ!box Lantiq chipset and Huawei Cabinets

This is probably a minor or irrelevant question, but:

I'm going to take Zen up on their latest broadband offer tomorrow. Its a good deal.

I get supplied with a newer FRITZ!box 3490 router with a Lantiq chipset.

I currently have a Thomson Technicolor TG589vn Router with a Broadcom chipset in it.

I'm just wondering if there are any technical or performance issues at all with the 3490 router with the Lantiq chipset connected to a Huawei Cabinet that I should be aware of ?.

The 3490 has newer features than the Thomson, but if there were any issues I'd just stay using my exising router.

I was at one point going to sell the 3490 on, but I think I may keep it for the extra features despite it being the most freaking bizarre looking router on the market


I'm now posting My DSLStats for some reason:

Stats recorded 20 Aug 2017 11:58:46

DSLAM/MSAN type: BDCM
Modem/router firmware: Not reported
DSL mode: G.993.2 (VDSL2)
Status: Showtime
Uptime: 51 days, 20:57:08
Resyncs: 0 (since 05 Aug 2017 18:29:44)

Downstream Upstream
Line attenuation (dB): 15.1 6.1
Signal attenuation (dB): Not monitored
Connection speed (kbps): 40000 9999
SNR margin (dB): 4.6 4.2
Power (dBm): 13.8 7.5
Interleave depth: 16 0
INP: 47.00 0
G.INP: Enabled
Vectoring status: Unknown

RSCorr/RS (%):
RSUnCorr/RS (%):
ES/hour:

I got an older fritz model also using lantiq, but I am on a ECI (lantiq) cabinet not hawuei.

Sync speed wise on fast path it would sync a bit lower than the hg612, but not a big enough gap to be considered signficant. However when the line was interleaved the FEC penalty seemed to be applied twice.

So lets say e.g. you normally sync at 60mbit, FEC drops its to 54 which is a 6mbit diff, the friztbox would double that 6mbit to 12 so it would sync at 48.

The error rates on my older fritz are the lowest out of any devices I have ever used, but of course it was lantiq both ends of the connection. So more compatibility might have been helping. The fritz also is able to tell if you banded, as it reports the min and max banding in the GUI. On the flipside there is information it lacks that I value on broadcom devices, it has less detailed error information as an example.

Broadcom just seem too dominant on adsl/vdsl so I wouldnt recommend using it as your modem, especially on a hauwei cabinet, of course you could use it behind something like a hg612 tho.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

The error rates on my older fritz are the lowest out of any devices I have ever used, but of course it was lantiq both ends of the connection. So more compatibility might have been helping. The fritz also is able to tell if you banded, as it reports the min and max banding in the GUI. On the flipside there is information it lacks that I value on broadcom devices, it has less detailed error information as an example.

Broadcom just seem too dominant on adsl/vdsl so I wouldnt recommend using it as your modem, especially on a hauwei cabinet, of course you could use it behind something like a hg612 tho.

Thanks Chrysalis, some very useful information there. At the time of writing I've shifted back, again, to the idea of just selling the fritz box on.

One of the reasons I like the idea of another router is that, although I have a box full of ADSL/ADSL2+ routers, I don't own a spare VDSL2 router. I would like a spare to have on standby for testing if I had problems. Everyone I know has ISP's with locked down routers, so I can't really borrow one if there was an issue with the Thompson.

If I was buying a backup router, or a newer one with useful extra features I would only ever go for a Broadcom based device. Up until recently VDSL2 kit has always been proportionately expensive compared to ADSL units.

I was thinking a time back about a TP-Link TD-W9970, then I saw the 3490 as a solution. However adding the contents of your post to the decision making process it changes things again. I also feel the same about the 3490 as far as getting better detailed information from the router.

I suppose I could use the Thompson for connecting and patch the fritz box to it and use that as my router. Decisions decisions...

I am on an ECI cabinet and I have used a Fritz!Box (7390 and now 7490) with Zen for the past 6 years. These boxes are rock solid but even the Germans cannot overcome basic physics. Fritz!Boxes show max attainable speeds. Over the years, the max speed on my line has fallen from 104Mbps to 74Mbps as the cabinet has filled up. I will probably sell my 7490 and new 3490 and use the money to upgrade to the new 7590 which is G.Fast capable.

Ugly yes - but without doubt some of the most reliable kit on the market with a 5 year warranty.

Thanks for that information, that adds to my database of knowledge. I might still sell the 3490 and buy a TP-LINK WD9970.

I signed up a half hour ago. I think the router should arrive tomorrow.