VDSL router for business.

Hi, i've been asked for advice on a router for a business user who is upgrading from ADSL2 to FTTC.

Currently they're using a Draytek 2830n so I figured the obvious choice would be a Draytek 2862, which still has a Lantiq chipset...any thoughts on any potential issues or should it work OK? MrSaffron? (It's a huawei cab)

Ideally you want a modem with a Broadcom chipset coupled with a Draytek. Can the existing Draytek have a modem in front of it and more importantly support the higher speeds?

i think it's dual wan capable but the business want to get new hardware since the 2830n they've had is quite old and...has been involved in flooding before now

I still think a separate modem and a Draytek is the way to go

I have run eight different Draytek 2850, 2860 and 2760 routers on several business sites for the past few years. All are on VDSL2 and there's a mix of ECI and Huawei cabinets.

None uses an external modem and they're all very stable. On cabinets that are close enough I get the full 80/20 sync. On one site with an ECI cabinet, the 2850 gives higher sync than the standard Huawei HG612 modem.

The Draytek 2760 and 2860 are Openreach approved devices.

Try without an external modem first.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

I still think a separate modem and a Draytek is the way to go

Disagree.

Get a 2860, upgrade to the latest firmware and appreciated all the diagnostic tools available.

Retaining the 2830 would require an external modem which begs the question what would you use and its source?

And for business use, always have a secondary exchange line as a fall over service.

With this upgrade to VDSL, any thought been given to deploying VoIP?

I would go for a DrayTek too, especially when connected to an ECI DSLAM.

On my line for example, it's the only device I can seem to run stable (FTTC/VDSL2). My line has a weird issue where most other devices (particularly Broadcom) get excessive error seconds on the downstream. I have the DrayTek Vigor 2860Vac setup as a bridged modem (used to be a router until I got the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Pro 8).

So... yes, I would stay with DrayTek for sure. I'm running the 'vector4' firmware by the way, as it has the newest modem firmware.

Another nice thing about the DrayTek is that I can configure it with a lower SNRM target than 6 dB for the downstream if I want and need to squeeze more out of my connection (downstream sync rate). I've tested 4 dB without issues and I'm connected to an ECI DSLAM, currently fastpath.

Edited by Ixel (Sun 26-Nov-17 21:39:39)

But the line in question is on a Huawei cabinet and a modern Broadcom modem is almost always the best choice on those.

May I refer you to me previous post? I have real world experience of not just one but eight Draytek routers on VDSL2. One site has an ECI cabinet. The rest are Huawei. I know you had a bad experience with a Draytek 130 modem but my own experience suggests that's uncommon.

I'm actually onsite tonight at the site with the best sync rates and we have two lines and two routers - a 2760 and a 2860n+. I'll post line stats but it's going to be in 'Womble time' - i.e. nocturnal, caffeinated, and possibly covered in fur

My very strong recommendation would be to try a Draytek without an external modem first and it it all goes pear-shaped, consider an external modem. That avoids unnecessary expense.

The Drayteks are reasonably good business routers. The major thing that does annoy me is that it's not possible to edit a configuration file offline like I can do for Cisco - or even a Watchguard running PPPoE and upload it. This only becomes an issue with more complicated deployments - like one tonight which has multiple VLANs, VPNs and a range of different host and destination-specific firewall rules. Unfortunately the configuration file has become corrupt which means that it's not possible to update the firmware without starting from scratch. That aside, I like the Drayteks in a business deployment. They're rock steady and provide good security options.

One site I inherited currently has a Netgear D7000 router. I have to run this with an external Openreach modem as the VDSL2 sync on it is hopeless. Not only that, it has no configurable firewalling and port forwarding is primitive. It also only supports OpenVPN. It's utterly horrible. With the Drayteks I can easily configure static site-to-site VPNs and mobile user VPN with multifactor authentication.