Could a poor quality router be the cause of disconnects?

I decided to take the plunge and switched to Vodafone. Generally, things have been good. But every few days the router will disconnect for a few seconds then reconnect. This was not happening on BT.

The only change has been the router which obviously had to be switched from BT's to Vodafone's. One thing I have noticed is the sync speed. It originally started off at the expected 68mbs but over the next few days increased. Now it is only 1 or 2mbs off the max speed of 80mb. Where as on BT I was getting a constant 70mb sync speed.

That sounds more like you now have a better quality of router rather than a faulty one.

My guess is that your new router is capable of using G.INP, and the disconnections have been because DLM has therefore been able to lower your Noise Margin. It does this in 1dB steps, to a minimum setting of 3dB instead of the default 6dB.

It�s hard to be sure, without fairly full stats. I believe those available on the Vodafone router are quite basic, but whatever you can find might be useful.

You can get attenuation, sync and noise margin from it.

That said I am in a multi-week process of one week with Vodafone router on its own, and then another with TPLink W9970 in front as modem.

So far the weeks with the Vodafone on its own has 1 or 2 resyncs at night, but the TPlink is hanging on in there. As I only stream TV these days I notice the drop outs.

I think I read somewhere the Vodaphone router is notoriously unstable. You would be better off looking for a better router like a ZyXEL 8924 on ebay.

I did wonder if the router was adjusting something. These are the current stats. https://i.imgur.com/N05oLPp.png

I was considering switching the router as the wifi has poor range. that was the same story on BT however so I don't see that as a problem specific to only the Vodafone Router. Plus It would be nice to have hardware with good wifi and features I want.

Edited by deleted (Sun 10-Jun-18 06:10:42)

Correct, the Vodafone supplied router is known for random/frequent disconnections, causing DLM to mess up your FTTC line profile.

I would stay away from Zyxel routers as the wifi on them is nothing special and they're not cheap either.

If you want the cr�me de la cr�me of DSL routers with a solid xDSL chipset and excellent wifi then one of the Netgear D7800, TP Link VR2800, Billion 8900AX-2400 or Asus DSL-AC88U will be an excellent choice. Personally I would go for the Billion out of those.

If the above are out of your price range then something like the TP Link VR900v2, TP Link VR600, Netgear D6400 or Billion 8800NL are good cheaper alternatives but not as good as the above.

Edited by deleted (Sun 10-Jun-18 08:01:16)

Those stats junk my theory! I�ll fall in with the change router option.

I regard less than £25 for an ebay Zyxel VMG8924-B10A to be a reasonable price for a router which generally stays connected to a Vodafone FTTC service. The Wifi range is reasonable a bit better than the Vodafone router's.

I am surprised the OP can't get his BT router to connect if there is an option to enter a connection userid and password.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

I regard less than £25 for an ebay Zyxel VMG8924-B10A to be a reasonable price for a router which generally stays connected to a Vodafone FTTC service. The Wifi range is reasonable a bit better than the Vodafone router's.

I am surprised the OP can't get his BT router to connect if there is an option to enter a connection userid and password.

If buying the Zyxel through ebay for say £25 then you're potentially throwing money down the drain as it won't come with any sort of warranty, since most/all sellers are private non-commercial sellers looking to get rid of their unwanted router - it may not even be brand new. Looking on Amazon, the cheapest is £80 (incl delivery) which is a lot of money for a router which is no where near the best for wifi range. For £20 less he/she might as well buy a Billion 8800NL.

Edited by deleted (Sun 10-Jun-18 09:14:02)

It�s worth mentioning that the Billion 8800NL R2, which I have and am quite pleased with is reported to have a cheaper Broadcom chipset than the plain 8800NL, and apparently the plain one sync�s a bit higher. Though that may not be too relevant to the OP, given the current stats.