SR102 or HG612

hi, as it looks like my cabinet will be AO in the next week or so I'm wondering whether the SR102 i'll get if I go with Sky is worth using or should I get an HG612 instead. as a fibre virgin (or soon to be ) I'm completely in the dark as to what to expect from either

In my experience the SR102 is rubbish on ADSL and wouldn't be much better for fibre, Getting a HG612 is a very good idea though setting up with sky is supposed to be somewhat tricky compared to other ISP's.

Unless your getting TV with sky or a better deal, I would opt for Plusnet Fibre as its a penny cheaper than sky's and has faster speeds than sky's £20 package.

Also Plusnet currently supply a modem (HG612 / ECI) and allows you to use your own routers with much more ease.

If you want any more info please ask.

I've just realised your signature says your already a Sky Broadband subscriber....

Edited by mlmclaren (Fri 16-May-14 14:51:59)

Thanks for the reply
Yes I've been with sky for years. Very happy with the adsl as I consistently get the max speed my line allows. Not so happy with the complete lack of knowledge from their sales people regarding fibre though lol. They all seem to think they have a contract with BT which means they have to wait 3 weeks after a cabinet goes live before they can accept orders (even bt told me the same though) it took several calls to retentions who rang provisioning this week before someone senior told them that they were wrong and I could order as soon as it goes live. I'm in 2 minds ATM as to which provider to go with, my only concerns are the download limits, I wNt one that is truly unlimited and doesn't use a FUP or traffic management, in the same way I get now with sky
If I go with sky I'll order an HG612 I think

That's fair enough, I can assure you though Plusnet use a traffic management policy its only to prioritise other activities over others (streaming over p2p).

and Plusnet are known for good support and there online ticket system has always been rated well.

if you are to go with sky (as I'm sure you will get a better deal) and get a HG612 then you will need to lookup on getting it unlocked possibly and a MER compatible router to use with it..

I find the SR102 to be somewhat weak compare to others and the specs are not quite boasting fibre optic connections

(lack of gigabit Ethernet, 2.4ghz only and also only a max wireless rate of 144mbps which in most cases wouldn't be able to give more than around 40-50mbps, and that's in a good area where there's not too much congestion on the wifi channels)

I'm also a fan of Plusnet static IP service as they provide one at only a one off £5 charge.

Are you going for the upto 38 or 76 package with sky..... (Fibre / Fibre Pro)

While the wireless on the SR102 is not the best, it is holding the line very well and syncing well compared to an ECI modem on my other line.

Are you suggesting that he uses another router with the sr102?

I already use the sr102 for my adsl (picked one up from ebay)
As you say it's wireless is pants( but still better than the sr101 ) I have a triple setup with old routers setup so I use channels 1, 6 & 11 so have universal coverage around the house and garden. Most of my connections are wired
I'm toying with the idea of plusnet for the extra speed if my connection will go that high, but really don't like the idea of any forms of traffic management on the line

Sounds like you've got it set up well then.

Sky may be OK for you then, as you said you need to find out what your line can do.

Providers may depend on your situation, requirements are different for everyone and so are the line requirements too.

Also your transfer to FTTC should be pretty straight forward as your already set up with the SR102 and from what i understand an engineer visit isn't required for them though I would always recommend a engineer visit

Edited by mlmclaren (Fri 16-May-14 17:10:11)

If the wireless is not up to spec, then I would suggest turning off SR102 wireless and fiting a wireless access point of suitable spec

If this reply is directed at me,

I would just replace their SR102 with another router as there only using ADSL but since I did a bit off tweaking and got the WiFi analyser out they are ok, only basic use on the line I mentioned so need to go over the top... They opted for the 10meg adsl line over the 70meg FTTC.

That's exactly what I was planning to do once the fibre was up & running. I've got a gigabit switch running upstairs that feeds all of the wired connections and I was planning on running an access point in the centre of the loft that should hopefully cover everything in one hit

Still toying with the thought of getting twice the speed for the same money with plusnet but really hate the idea of management lol

But it's all moot until OR pull their finger out and make my cab AO lol

Read this article about PN traffic management.

Check your address (not just the postcode) with this checker and see what the FTTC estimates are. Both lines matter. That might help you decide between Sky and Plusnet. I'd suggest either rather than BT Infinity or TalkTalk.

Do you want BT Sport?

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

Are you suggesting that he uses another router with the sr102?

A friend of mine has done just that, with a cheap dual band router with DHCP turned off, and the WiFi on the Sky hub turned off. TP-Link TD-W8980 was the one he bought (PCworld retail only £69 !)

Thanks for the interesting read, if anything that makes me more inclined to go with sky
I like the idea of QoS which is basically what they're doing, but I like to control it myself

I'll probably end up with a router that has good QoS controls

I can't use the checker yet to get my speeds as my cab still hasn't gone live, it should be within the next week if my BDUK is correct. So hopefully I'll be in as soon as it goes live, I'm only about 150m from the cab so hopefully it doesn't take too circuitous a route from the cab to the pole lol I'm about 15m from the pole so I'm hoping for l200m - 300m all in including the drop cable

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Check your address (not just the postcode) with this checker and see what the FTTC estimates are. Both lines matter. That might help you decide between Sky and Plusnet. I'd suggest either rather than BT Infinity or TalkTalk.

PN traffic management is interesting, but it shouldn't be needed with decent home routers. Perhaps the routers PN are supplying are too cheap. Why avoid BT infinity? The service is good and reliable, but support is apparently poor (not that I've ever called them in 20 months).

I might go PN for the only sensible choice for static IP, but still worried by reports the service can be slower than others occasionally.

Very few people are up to changing the default usernames and passwords on routers. No chance of setting up QoS.

Can you set downstream QoS anyway? I thought you could only set upstream.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Very few people are up to changing the default usernames and passwords on routers. No chance of setting up QoS.

Okay, but that brings up the question do most people max out their lines with multiple services? Maybe in homes with teenagers, and only slowish ADSL I would have thought? Lots of people do manage to configure port forwarding but there are a lot of websites to help. If this packet shaping was really needed then perhaps there would be similar sites?

I wonder if its a plusnet sales tool, probably works very well, but is it really essential ?

Can you set downstream QoS anyway? I thought you could only set upstream.

Essentially you're throttling a protocol (tcp/port), such as HTTP. Was quite common when people ran home webservers to stop one remote user downloading a file from stopping the connection owner from being unable to use the internet. My Draytek in 2006 could do it, so I'd assume the Asus models or anything with a Linux kernel can.

Now that virtual hosting and VPSes are so cheap, hardly anyone bothers web hosting at home, and its probably a good thing. Game hosting is much more likely.

I'm way beyond being able to change default usernams and passwords lol, my current setup has port forwarding and multiple SSID etc so hopefully I'll manage QoS. But I take your point that most won't

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Essentially you're throttling a protocol (tcp/port), such as HTTP. Was quite common when people ran home webservers to stop one remote user downloading a file from stopping the connection owner from being unable to use the internet. My Draytek in 2006 could do it, so I'd assume the Asus models or anything with a Linux kernel can.

Quite. Upstream. Not downstream.

Port forwarding on the downstream is nothing to do with QoS to you from the ISP side of the MSAN.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Quite. Upstream. Not downstream.

Port forwarding on the downstream is nothing to do with QoS to you from the ISP side of the MSAN.

True

Its just not been needed, which is why I wondered if its just a nice marketing statement

If you've got a beefy router (ie, something like a Juniper SRX-220, or Cisco equiv) or a Linux server, then you can do anything you like to incoming (ie downstream) packets.

You can re-prioritise them, and thus choose Netflix is slower than tesco.com web traffic, if you really needed to.

Edited by jchamier (Sun 18-May-14 10:59:37)

You can't prioritise them out of the Plusnet routers. That's the point . It's too late after that.

Also we are back to what over 95% of users have as their home kit and expertise . Certainly nothing that is in your list there .

People can have three kids gaming or whatever and two mistresses using the line at the same time as someone is torrenting films ....

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

You can't prioritise them out of the Plusnet routers. That's the point . It's too late after that.

Also we are back to what over 95% of users have as their home kit and expertise . Certainly nothing that is in your list there .

People can have three kids gaming or whatever and two mistresses using the line at the same time as someone is torrenting films ....

Hee hee, well I'm still tempted to migrate over to PN, but I just don't see the need for the complexity, as I know homes with 4 teenagers and two parents all using the net at the same time on various ISPs (including BT, VM and others) on DSL and FTTC, without any problem.

As far as I can see it's only relevant to gaming and VOIP. The recommendation is not to take the Pro option, though Chris seems to like it. As he seems to be objective in reporting effects I'm sure for his usage profile he has it right.

For the vast majority it's a non-issue, but if Pro does make a difference for you (it doesn't commit long-term, you can start and stop it subject to one month minimum use per spell, so easy to trial), you need to build in the possible cost to your decision.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

As far as I can see it's only relevant to gaming and VOIP. The recommendation is not to take the Pro option, though Chris seems to like it. As he seems to be objective in reporting effects I'm sure for his usage profile he has it right.

For the vast majority it's a non-issue, but if Pro does make a difference for you (it doesn't commit long-term, you can start and stop it subject to one month minimum use per spell, so easy to trial), you need to build in the possible cost to your decision.

If its the option I saw for £5/m then I'll try without and see how I get on. I suspect I'm not going to be heavily using my connection for the next 12 months anyway

In reply to a post by wolf359:

I already use the sr102 for my adsl (picked one up from ebay)
As you say it's wireless is pants( but still better than the sr101 ) I have a triple setup with old routers setup so I use channels 1, 6 & 11 so have universal coverage around the house and garden. Most of my connections are wired
I'm toying with the idea of plusnet for the extra speed if my connection will go that high, but really don't like the idea of any forms of traffic management on the line

Would recommend you stay with Sky. A few friends of mine tried Plusnet, but their torrent and even some game files/patches updates run at terrible speeds compared to mine.

How do their connection speeds compare with yours?

I have no problems whatsoever with PN, even in peak times.