Is It worth upgrading my VDSL modem?

I�ve had FTTC at home for at least 7 years now and have one of the BT OR white box modems into which my Asus router is plugged. When I speed tested the connection using a PC with an Ethernet connection to the router a few days after the FTTC upgrade, I was getting 75Mbps download but these days it maxes out at around 65Mbps. So I�m wondering if the fibre modem is the issue as it�s fairly old now. I�ve thought about getting a Draytek Vigor 130 to replace the BT OR supplied modem, hoping it�ll improve performance.

I�d welcome any thoughts or advice on this.

Edited by joconnell (Tue 10-Dec-19 08:43:44)

BAck in March I changed my contract wit BT and a nice new Smart Hub arrived which replaaced the Huawei or ECI modems I used. My speeds now are in te 68Mbps region whereas before they were in te low 70s. Sync is much the same, just actual throughput and we cannot work out why!

Based on my experience - I would suggest that there is no benefit in changing unless there are other capabilities apart from speed tha you require. The slowdown is probably just down to other users and crosstalk.

I'm in a similar position to you- FTTC since about 2012, original modem, Asus router. Speed at first was ~68Mbps, gradually dropped aver the next few years to low 60's as the cabinet filled up. Then everyone was moved to a bigger cabinet and (presumably) the wiring tidied up- back to around 69Mbps.

I'd agree with MHC, probably down to other external factors rather than a tired modem.

Possibly of interest/relevance- we recently had a series of power cuts (intermittent and tricky-to-find cable fault). Each time the power was restored I could get ~74Mbps, until a resync for any reason would put it back to the usual ~69Mbps.

I can only guess that, after the cuts, it was resyncing before any traffic built up to cause crosstalk, but it indicates that even an old modem can sync (and hold) a higher speed if given the chance

A different router might sync a little quicker or slower. If you tested a whole range of routers you may well find some that are a bit better - but just swapping to a new router may or may not make any difference.

As others have said the loss is much more likely because of crosstalk than the modem getting old.

I'm still on my original HG612, now coupled with a Billion 8800. I like having the two separate as I can reboot the router without risking the ire of DLM. Recently I got a minor increase in speed and am now almost back to where I was when I first got FTTC so there seems to be plenty of life left in her yet

In reply to a post by Andrue:

I like having the two separate as I can reboot the router without risking the ire of DLM.

Ditto

Works other way too- if you need to disconnect for a while you can just power the modem down without killing your LAN.

Don't bother! I replaced a HG612 with a Zyxel and had worse performance, (using an Asus router on the inside). I switched back to the HG612, and have now gone to Virgin Media as my upload was too low for my needs.

Only replace when it breaks.

The best VDSL modem I have found so far is a BT business hub V6 in bridge mode
I've got a Poly Modded HG612 @62mb/s and BT business hub @ 66mb/s

Unfortunately the biggest killer of HG612 is the capacitors that can blow.

Edited by deleted (Tue 10-Dec-19 22:10:45)

In reply to a post by ian72:

A different router might sync a little quicker or slower. If you tested a whole range of routers you may well find some that are a bit better - but just swapping to a new router may or may not make any difference.

As others have said the loss is much more likely because of crosstalk than the modem getting old.

i take your point but was wondering if there�d be a difference because the cabinet hardware had been upgraded or changed and so a more up to date modem might improve things now or in future.

Edited by joconnell (Thu 12-Dec-19 07:33:42)

Generally it is down to how well the particular chipset in the modem wants to play with the hardware at the cab and the characteristics of the line. Just because it is newer won't necessarily mean it is faster or better.