The best Modem or Modem/Router for FTTC on a Huawei Cab

Hi all,

I may have posted about this before a year or so ago but it wasn't Huawei Cabinet specific so I wanted to get some fresh recommends. I've been using the Smart Hub for the best part of a year now and it's suddenly on the blink so in market for a new one.

It would really be great to get peoples recommendations and views on a modem or modem/router that work best with a Huawei cabinet. I currently have a TP Link VR600 in place of the Smart Hub however the UI is really slow, the router dies every so often and doesn't really provide much insight into line performance.

Effectively just after a rock solid model that's proven to work well!

Thanks in advance

Any with a decent Broadcom chipset in. What's your budget? Billion and ZyXEL are renowned for being good manufacturers. The Billion 8800NL R1 (NOT R2 as it has a very poor chipset), 8800AXL R1/2 and ZyXEL VMG8324/8924 are very good.

Edited by deleted (Mon 10-Dec-18 17:08:21)

Something like the 4 stream Billion 8900AX is your best bet, I would stay away from Zyxel routers if wifi is important as wifi range isn't that great on them.

That's very expensive!

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

Any with a decent Broadcom chipset in. What's your budget? Billion and ZyXEL are renowned for being good manufacturers. The Billion 8800NL R1 (NOT R2 as it has a very poor chipset), 8800AXL R1/2 and ZyXEL VMG8324/8924 are very good.

Agreed on the Broadcom, the VR600 has it in as it's really good - such a shame about the janky firmware and the constant hardware crashes! Billion 8800NL is definitely in the shortlist so far - if anyone has any first hand experience with this, reviews in the thread would be very much appreciated!

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Something like the 4 stream Billion 8900AX is your best bet, I would stay away from Zyxel routers if wifi is important as wifi range isn't that great on them.

WiFi range isn't too much of an issue as the current set up is with 2 access points around the house, all via CAT 6 - sorry I should have been clearer on that earlier! I've been looking at Billions range for a while and heard good things though, with the above in mind and based on mid range WiFi and modem capabilities, is there anything slightly lower priced you'd recommend?

Yeah the Billion 8900AX isn't cheap, its Billion's flagship router with high spec (4x4) wifi radios along with a new-ish Broadcom DSL chipset. Its similarly priced to other high end modem/routers such as the Netgear D7800, TP Link VR2800 and Asus DSL-AC88U. Like with most things in life you get what you pay for

In that case go for the Billion 8800NL. Its rock solid (uses a broadcom chipset) and is reasonably priced @ < £100.

I can certainly concur with the recommendation for the Billion 8800NL. It's been highly reliable in the several years I've been using one; it isn't particularly expensive and the firmware is perfectly adequate for my limited purposes.

Yes, I used to use a Billion 8800NL before I upgraded to the AXL R1 and now R2. It was rock solid and worked well with multicast etc. I've also tried both the ZyXEL VMG8324/8924, but the firmware is so buggy, and support for mobile devices is virtually non-existent.

You could go for the 8800AXL R2, but it's more expensive. The NL only has 2.4 GHz 802.11n whereas the AXL R2 has both 2.4 GHz 802.11n and 5 GHz 802.11ac.

Edited by deleted (Tue 11-Dec-18 08:51:32)

Hi

As others have said any with a Broadcom chipset is going to be okay. I'm using a Zyxel VMG1312-B10A (bought cheap of a certain auction site) in modem only mode, this is currently showing an uptime of 158 days. Can't recall why 158 days ago it was rebooted, but likely we had the power off. So it's rock solid.

Then I'm using a pfSense home built router, you can also buy them as a hardware router. Again it never needs rebooting its rock solid for months and months, and typically only is rebooted for updates. I suggest this as with your own Access Points you might be up on networking enough to appreciate all the options pfSense has over very limited domestic kit. This may be a more expensive route initially, but it allows you to upgrade or change out the modem without having to set everything else back up (for example move from FTTC to G.Fast or FTTP if you are lucky to have those options).

Since getting a pfSense box I've not looked back, it has a great UI which works on mobile devices, can be set and forgot about, seems to escape all the various security issues of domestic kit, plus gets regular updates, has options for plugins, you can easily turn on and have your own DNS resolver rather than go out to third party servers. It has some fantastic diagnostics built in including packet capture should you need it.

The only downside is usually you will also need a switch as they are just routers typically, however given all the kit we have these days 3 or 4 ports on a typical domestic router is probably not enough for an increasing number of people. I got a 16 port switch and only have 6 ports left (printer, Hue hub, media server, computer, access points, TV..and so on, they soon add up).

Overkill for many people sure, but just giving another option.

Regards

Phil

Do you run any additional software on pfSense such as Suricata?

Thank you all for your help - Billion 8800NL R2 it is!

Out of curiosity, did anyone see a lift in their sync speed as a result of a shift over to this or remained the same?

Cheers!

Don't get the R2! It has a poor chipset, as I said in a previous post.

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

Don't get the R2! It has a poor chipset, as I said in a previous post.

Haven't ordered yet! Could you point me in the direction of the R1? I can only see R2's around.

Cheers!

Phew! The R1 is white, whereas the R2 is black and has antennas.

In reply to a post by Nitro93:

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

Don't get the R2! It has a poor chipset, as I said in a previous post.

Haven't ordered yet! Could you point me in the direction of the R1? I can only see R2's around.

Cheers!

The R1 hasn't been made for some time. Finding a new example at a decent price won't be easy.

Anything with a BCM63168 that suits your needs. Googling BCM63168 will result in a wiki with many devices, and results with many more.
The newer BCM63138 is also excellent, but probably in less models and perhaps some pricier models.

Hi

No not running that on the pfSense box.

Regards

Phil

the 8800nl r2 isn't as bad as some make out,even if its chipset isn't as "good" as the earlier 8800r1, its pretty(very!) stable but don't use the later 252 firmware of any version the 2.50a.d13 is best/most stable the Zyxel VMG3925-B10B is also pretty good and is native ipv6 fully compatible unlike a fair few others that aren't and will only use teredo tunnelling(netgear d7000 and lots of other netgear kit)
if the billion and the zyxel were as bad as some say I doubt idnet (billion) or A+A(zyxel) would supply them,as last thing either of those isps would want is anything unreliable

Edited by steve195527 (Wed 12-Dec-18 18:45:10)

In reply to a post by steve195527:

the 8800nl r2 isn't as bad as some make out,even if its chipset isn't as "good" as the earlier 8800r1, its pretty(very!) stable but don't use the later 252 firmware of any version the 2.50a.d13 is best/most stable the Zyxel VMG3925-B10B is also pretty good and is native ipv6 fully compatible unlike a fair few others that aren't and will only use teredo tunnelling(netgear d7000 and lots of other netgear kit)
if the billion and the zyxel were as bad as some say I doubt idnet (billion) or A+A(zyxel) would supply them,as last thing either of those isps would want is anything unreliable

It's absolutely relevant to point out that the Billion 8800NL R2 uses a BCM63381.
The 3rd number in bold shows this is 1 of Broadcoms budget chipsets.

The Billion 8800NL R1 has a BCM63168 which is 1 of the best (THE best in my opinion) performing Broadcom xDSL chipsets.

You may be happy with your purchase, but I strongly advise against anyone who hasn't already purchased an 8800NL R2 from doing so.

I think it's a deplorable tactic by a company to release a product with quality components, get very positive reviews, then release an inferior version under the same model.

Bait and switch. Kingston SSD's got a horrible reputation for just this.

Zyxel walk this tight rope with their VMG1312-B10(A/D) models but at least it's a change of model number that's visible. Still poor practice.

most companies mk2 versions are usually released either as a purely cosmetic exercise where no actual performance increase is implemented or are introduced to reduce costs and therefore sometimes performance degrades, as for cost of electronic components being directly proportional to the performance doesn't always hold true:- originally MOS FET output devices for amplifiers were expensive but performed poorly compared to later far cheaper ones, development can make budget components of a later generation equally as good or even better than more expensive components a generation or two earlier
I have used the 8800nlr2 so can speak from experience that it is a very stable piece of kit which is one of the most important criteria for a lot of users,one that gives a few mb more or wifi that spans miles may be better from a purely performance viewpoint but if that performance is at the expense of stability then it's not really worth it
the 8800nlr2 can be picked up for just over £60 so its a budget chip in a budget priced router that actually works pretty well, if someone wants the r1 version probably 2nd hand is only way to go with no warranty(probably) and seem to be expensive nowadays,I just wonder what you expect for the price?
Even the billion techs acknowledge it is a budget product well ones I have spoken to do

Edited by steve195527 (Thu 13-Dec-18 22:14:04)