ok long overdue update.

Was a bit of a false dawn my positive news on the new firmware.

Is a shame I am the only user testing this who has SRA as ideally we need more feedback.

But on the newer adsl firmware I still had the following problems.

1 - if Retrain allowed (default is allowed on 'overallonly' which I think means if noise margin is too far out from target) then the sync drops too often but otherwise stable no freeze ups.
2 - if Retrain not allowed so to stop the sync drops, then the router semi freezes, the sync speed goes right down to a very low level, the sync stays up, SRA stops working but the snr margin stats still update. I initially thought this was better but the older firmware behaviour is better as the sync stays in a much more useable state.
3 - It seems the freeze bug is still there but reversed, on the new adsl firmware if SRA is disabled then the stats freeze up, whilst on the old firmware the stats freeze up when SRA is enabled, strange.
4 - To make sure these issues werent caused by the router working too hard dealing with noise I even tested on a 20db noise margin but the router still behaves the same.

The NX defenitly deals with noise better in terms of bitswapping (reduced crc errors) and has a nice gui, decent wireless, but still too problematic for me. I am in two minds whether this is a chipset problem or a software problem. A comparison router with a almost the same chipset is the netgear 384v5 and that does also lose sync with SRA on but it doesnt have any of the other problems. On the netgear no tuning can be done tho so I would say with the NX on default settings and on the new adsl firmware its behaviour is very similiar to the netgear.

When compared to the older Billion 7402 router's the old router's on original firmware are rock solid on holding onto sync with SRA, they are almost bulletproof, however on my 7402VGP when I flash to the latest firmware issues start occuring with crc errors (but not holding onto sync).

For the OP's issues I did try again to get the ewan to work but got nowhere, its got next to no documention so isnt easy to do. I tried a few things, but I expect what the OP was trying to do is get the router connected to the dsl line in a full dumb modem bridge mode, so doesnt ppp auth only does the sync, and get the NX to do the ppp auth and route the traffic. I agree with the op that it seems it will need pppoa capability on the ewan which seems missing. The other ewan modes look far more complicated and at the very least will require some special router configuration so is more work using undocumented features. I tried and failed.

Edited by Chrysalis (Wed 07-Apr-10 14:16:23)

ok I have got this info now.

SRA 'is' fixed when you dont use the force snr margin option, ie. just leave it at default and use the isp configured default.

so .64 should be ok on SRA now but if you use the snr margin overide it breaks things, I did a lot of reading on how SRA works and my feelings are that when you set the snr margin overide and enable SRA it sets the min and max threshold margin too close to the target margin which causes it to resync. I dont know if using the target snr margin also has an affect when SRA is disabled, I cant really test that as my line is set to 4db and using that without SRA would be bad

Hi,

I am just about to buy a Billion 7402nx. I use O2 LLU broadband (formerly BEunlimited).

I have heard there are issues with this router with O2.

Should I proceed with the purchase or look for another router? The key things I am after are Gigabit LAN and Wireless N

Any help appreciated.

Jago

Hard to say how good it would be with O2 but I suggest you look for a broadcom based router instead. This one is connexant based.

In terms of the wireless N performance and gigabit lan those 2 features work fine.

uk 6.02b firmware released. Fixes the upload burst speed problem I reported and some extra adsl options in the gui, also extra firewall stuff.

It is using the .55 dsp firmware tho.

Ok, thanks, i'll check it out.

I've had to use a drink 2402 router as my recent upgrade to 21cn resulted in my 7mb sync dropping to 1.5mb. Have had the dan ding reset and the drink is now up to 14mb with a new bras profile of 10mb.

If I put the billion on, the attenuation is 38db. The drink drops it to 33db. Both have an snr that fluctuate between 4-6db. Both have multiple line drops and resynch.

Coukd this be sra at play?

I want to get the billion back up and running but I'm nervous it'll screw my connection again.

For adsl2+, what are the optimum wan dsl configs in terms of signalling and modulation?

Cheers
Pete

Hi,

@Crysallis: Can you send me the link back - I can no longer find the firmware URL? Thanks

You may also be able to help me:

I have recently had my ADSL 'upgraded' to 2+, but have had horrendous issues with my profile being capped down at 0.5mb whereas before it was 7.5mb.

Anyway, I tried all the usual: straight into the test socket, new filters and a new router. Changing from the Billion 7402NX to a borrowed Dlink 2640R, resulted in a lot more stability on the line but also higher sync speeds.

I've left the Dlink connected for a couple of weeks to get some stability and it's fairly steadily synching at 13.5-14.5mb, but is dropping the line about 5-7 times a day. The attenuation was around 33db.

I have reconnected the Billion as this was always a better router for handling noise etc. The attenuation has gone up to 38.5db and so my line speed is now less than the DLink.

I really want my nice Billion GUI router back in my setup, but it's driving me crazy.

It now is showing that the line is synched all OK with IP and DNS all issued OK, but the internet just isn't working. Zen say that its not passing the radius servers, but it must be to get the IP details. If I reboot it - it's OK for a short while.

I've noticed that it takes up to 90 seconds for the line to synch with the billion, whereas the Dlink was a matter of a few seconds. I've checked with Billion, who have remoted onto the router and they confirm that the settings are correct for ADSL2+, but it feels like there's a modulation / encapsulation error. Here are my current settings:

ADSL Port
PPOA, VCi/VPi 0, 38,
ATM: UBR
Auth: CHAP
MTU: 1456
RIP2 Multicast enabled
TCP MSS enabled
Obtain DNS Automatically


DSLMode:
ADSL2+, automatic fallback
G.DmtBISPlusAuto
Profile type: Main
Activate Line: True
Coding Gain: Auto
TX Attenuation: 0

No errors in the event or error logs. No upstream or downstream CRC errors reported.

What the hell can I try in order to get my Billion to be a bit more stable on the line? I'm starting to think that there may be a line / equipment fault as the Dlink is also unstable, but less so that the Billion.

its in your inbox

it may be tho that the dlink is simply better for your line on adsl2+. The connexant dsl chipset generally is not highly rated, especially the one in the 7402NX. I have not seen a good review for this router on a non easynet line.

What we need is your new stats, like the ones you posted before, and also when you say it takes a long time to connect watch the lights on the front and tell me if its either the adsl light flashing or waiting for the ppp/isp light to come on, the former is a slow sync and the latter is a slow isp auth.

Thanks.

Zen want to send BT as the dlink is still intermittent (7 drops a day). Before I agree, I want to try a new router.

What's a good non connexant chipsets router, preferably with gigabit Ethernet?

Cheers,
pete

I have been using a Billion 7800N for a few months now and it has been rock solid with its Broadcom chipset on Be network. Pretty happy with the gigabit LAN and wireless N also.