VDSL Modem/Routers - Your Favourites?

As some of you know I've just joined the Fibre club, but unfortunately out of all the routers I've used over the years I cannot seem to get on with the PlusNet Hub.

In particular where I need to use Wifi Only Devices there seems to be strange compatability issues and not distance issues. Some Wifi devices run without issue and some don't - this is mainly with 2.4Ghz devices and not the 5Ghz ones. I've also tweaked the Wifi settings and back to default with no avail and I'm generally quite up to speed with the wifi side of things.

The issues cause more inconvenience than being deal breakers. I had been looking to buy a VDSL Modem/Router before I moved to PlusNet Fibre as initially the ISP's I was looking at didn't supply them by default.

So my question is as the post title - what VDSL modem/routers (other than the HH5a) have you found to be good?

I think I've seen posts re the BT HomeHub 5A which is the same thing under the bonnet that wifi can be helped by separating the 5GHz and 2.4GHz services. By that I assume they mean give them different SSIDs.

I like my Billion 6300. It's stable and supports dual stack IPv6/v4 (shame my ISP doesn't support IPv6 yet).. It's getting on a bit now but I think it's the only router I've owned in over a decade that I can just forget about.

Yes different SSID and it does seem to improve things ie. stops devices flipping between the two signals as they wax and wane

Not used the TP-Link VR900 but others say its good http://amzn.to/28PXyEI at £119 (sometimes does have lower price offers).

Have found the W9970 version which is just 2.4GHz at £34 to £38 is surprisingly good as a modem basic router and can use it in bridge mode to a really good Ethernet wireless router if you want.

Thanks for the info, yes 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz can have seperate SSID's and also there are drop down menu's to essentially cap speeds by only allowing certain wireless protocols on both frequencies. This makes no odds to the issues I am experiencing.
I have also been able to "fix" the fault by using an alternative eg USB wifi rather than the built in wireless chipsets in the "problem" devices - yet as I metioned above is not a scenario I have come across with previous modem/routers even those like my last Asus DSL N55U that supports both 2.4/5Ghz wireless frequencies.

There is a budget model prior to the TPlink TD-W9980 although not sure if its current. The TD-W9980 though appears to be at a reasonable price point.

It's just useful to know how others have got on with VDSL hardware and what they think is good.

The W9980 while middle of the road wireless is lacking in the VDSL2 chipset side, i.e. limited G.INP support and no vectoring

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The W9980 while middle of the road wireless is lacking in the VDSL2 chipset side, i.e. limited G.INP support and no vectoring

Am I right in saying that on the VDSL2 side of things the PlusNet Hub/BT HH5a is very similiar in it's feature set to modem/routers such as the W9980?
Are you looking at it in a way of future proofing or near future proofing?

Edit:-
I had looked at this TPLink model before :-
http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/Archer-VR600....
& http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-15_Archer...

But if they offer full VDSL2 support that I'm unsure of. What are the current VDSL2 standards/numbering/designation that should be looked for on VDSL2 Product specification lists?

Edited by Vorlon (Fri 24-Jun-16 01:25:58)

Have you split the SSIDs for 2.4 and 5Ghz. If that does not solve it, you may have a faulty router.

What devices are having issues?

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Have you split the SSIDs for 2.4 and 5Ghz. If that does not solve it, you may have a faulty router.

What devices are having issues?

I'm quite certain it's a compatability issue as per the details in my post. In fact I've proved it's a compatability issue by using USB wifi dongles in place of built in wifi chipsets. I've tried changing to the favoured 1, 6, 11 channels (2.4Ghz) and found channel 6 to be marginally better for throughput, but it was so close it could of be a red herring.

I find it highly unlikely that the router is faulty as per a similar discussion we had on another thread. After working for years as a qualified engineer on domestic electronics of varying standards ie upmarket HiFi to Beta/VHS to tv it's quite apparent what sort of faults/errors/odd behavior are attributed by.
So often I see on electronic/computer retail websites product comments where someone has returned an electronic device a number of times "because they were all faulty" - when in reality probably non of them were and is something we used to call "Finger Trouble" in the trade. Hard drives are usually favourite for that sort of scenario and where there are genuine failures so many are returned in perfect working order.

On a non-important cosmetic observation:- I noticed the PlusNet hub is a bit odd in as much as it looks as though the Panel under the Horizontal light is removable? To add weight to this mine had a protective cellophane type covering on it to be removed. Perhaps there is something there on the BT Home Hub such as a USB socket on the front underneath it, or perhaps it is removeable on the Plusnet router. I've not investigated anymore than looking at it.but t seems a bit odd to put cellophane just on that piece of rectangled plastic.

Anyway, quite happy to stick with the Plusnet router to ensure the line is OK and its stable and then depending if I go down the wired route soon will determine if i replace the router. Ideally I would like something that is generally better in all regards.

Edited by Vorlon (Fri 24-Jun-16 11:29:31)

G.INP and Vectoring are the two desires

You seem to be missing the point about the SSIDs of the two frequency ranges on the router.

Adding a wifi dongle with a different SSID would naturally give a super wifi to kit connected to that dongle's wifi.

It seems the duplicate SSIDs on the router wifi services are conflicting with each other. Reported many times on the BT versions of this hub. Terrible wifi was the complaint. Users who changed the SSID on one of them found it solved the problem and the wifi on both ranges was fine.

On my ASUS router I separated mine. I simply added a 5 to the end of it on the 5GHz one so I could easily identify which was which when choosing which to connect to .

I have tried every combination wth the Routers Wifi but there still remains issues particularly with my Broadcom WiFi laptop Chipet.
As I explained on a previous post where I have tried:-

1) UnSyncing the two wifi Frequencies and renaming as neccessary.
2) Altering the drop down menu "Caps" and trying at each Wifi speed type (which indicates the speed cap)
3) Altering the prefered WiFi 2.4Ghz channels and trying at 1,6,11 and settling at channel 6.

Resyncing 2.4GHZ & 5GHZ to same ssid and testing performance with various Wifi Dongles, some which will work on 5Ghz and some that were 2.4Ghz only I have no issues, which has always been the case.

However the laptop which only supports 2.4Ghz Wifi and has a broadcom chipset just doesn't like the router and manifests its issues by locking up browser pages when several are open until they time out.
It would be interesting to know what the issue is and I'm interested in peoples feedback, however as per the title of this post I'd be more grateful for alternative good routers.

You mention an Asus Router RobertoS, is that a full VDSL2 router and if so which one? If so does it support the features Andrew mentions?
I've been very impressed with Asus Routers and with the way the pound is going, now might be the time to buy!

Edited by Vorlon (Fri 24-Jun-16 13:45:12)

Ah, I don't think you mentioned renaming the frequencies. Assuming you do mean the SSIDs then yes, you've covered it.

My ASUS didn't have a built-in modem, and it died on me in a fairly short time.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

G.INP and Vectoring are the two desires

Andrew have just been looking at the basic TPLink VDSL2 Router TD-W9970 and unlike the TD-W9980 it's full specs list show it supports:-
VDSL2
ITU-T G.993.2
ITU-T G.993.5 (G.vector)
ITU-T G.998.4 (G.INP）
http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-15_TD-W99...

with the TD-W9980 specs indicating:-
VDSL2
ITU-T G.993.2
ITU-T G.998.4 (G.INP）
http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-15_TD-W99...

I'm guessing the current TD-W9970 might be of a newer version of the model and hence although a budget VDSL2 Router supports more standards than it's more expensive TD-W9980?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Ah, I don't think you mentioned renaming the frequencies. Assuming you do mean the SSIDs then yes, you've covered it.

My ASUS didn't have a built-in modem, and it died on me in a fairly short time.

I've used my Asus DSL-N55U adsl2+ wifi modem since Feb 2014 (just looked it up) and with Idnet and seriously I've had no issues on any aspect of DSL or Wifi. I love the Asus Interface and the available information.
Equally I quite like the TP-Link products as they appear to be good value for money, plus TPLink don't use OEM's apparently.

EDIT: On a positive note, my Steam downloads have gone from a 1.7MB/s to 4.5MB/s, with some games coming in around the 50GB mark installation is a lot quicker.

Edited by Vorlon (Fri 24-Jun-16 14:14:29)

When I finally manage to obtain an FTTC service, I'll be using the Zyxel VMG8924-B10a gateway I'm using on my ADSL service now.
I picked up the non 5GHz AC version of the Zyxel last year in my last house for the same reason following some research - mainly from kitz.co.uk. The opportunity came up to get the 8924 cheap so I snapped one up. It's worked wonders on my ADSL connection eeking another 600 - 800kb/s on the DS over my Billion I was using before and rock solid stability. A number of reports from users on FTTC connections have reported similar experiences with 2+ Mb/s increases.

Support via FW updates seems to be pretty good too. Although the FW releases aren't without their issues...

Paul

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Jun-16 14:41:31)

W9970 is a better broadcom chipset that supports more of the standards, so while the wireless is not so good it will give a better modem experience.

The W9980 concentrates a bit more on the wireless side of things e.g. dual band

Thanks for all the feedback, I'll take note on the specifications of VDSL2 routers to ensure the ones I'm looking at support them.

I am still using the Openreach supplied HG612, this is connected to a Ubiquiti edgeRouter POE which gives me POE out ports to my UniFi AC Access Points all over the house. One port is also run to an 8 port switch behind the TV for the playstation / Nvidia shield / TV etc

Perhaps a little overkill for some, but I install Ubiquiti gear for a living so I know the kit inside out

Edited by connormill (Sun 26-Jun-16 11:02:56)

I really can't fault the Billion 8800NL. Like the 7800N I had before, it is just so stable and never needs a reboot and I've used it on both Huawei and ECI cabinets.

I've seen it criticised for the wireless range, however I've never had an issue with this and can easily manage 74Mbps upstairs. It probably helps that I live in a new build which has thin walls, but there is an R2 model out now which has external antennae.

Edited by troublegum (Sun 26-Jun-16 20:08:27)

Luckily I've not had range related Wireless issues (or any issues in the past) considering the build construction is metal studwork.

Whilst I've noted the following are Ideally required on a current VDSL modem eg :-
ITU-T G.993.5 (G.vector)
ITU-T G.998.4 (G.INP）

The profiles I have seen vary between either "Up to 17a profile (POTS)" specified Or "Up to 30a profile (POTS)"
I'm guessing the 17a Profile is for UK POTS and upto 30a profile includes more profiles say covering European Telephone systems - is that Correct?

EDIT: Am Currently looking at the Netgear D6400 that seems to tick all the boxes and at a good price on Amazon:- http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/products/networking/ds...

Edited by Vorlon (Mon 27-Jun-16 09:10:29)

I use a Netgear D7000 and it does everything I need at the moment.

We got it originally because it supported both ADSL and VDSL, now we are switched to VDSL it is working well.

Very stable when we have a working broadband line, a bit of a pain when there is a broadband fault, but I suppose that is the consequence of having a fault !

WiFi very good at all points in our house.

Like that I can have a couple of USB hard drives connected to it directly for backups etc. Although the external web interface is a bit antiquated, but you can use FTP so any app of your choice will do.

Could be better at collecting long term statistics on availability / uptime etc.

In reply to a post by Vorlon:

The profiles I have seen vary between either "Up to 17a profile (POTS)" specified Or "Up to 30a profile (POTS)"
I'm guessing the 17a Profile is for UK POTS and upto 30a profile includes more profiles say covering European Telephone systems - is that Correct?

Not quite - though you don't need to worry about it.

Profile 30a simply uses more frequencies than 17a. 17a in turn uses more than profile 8 (which BT initially used with FTTC).

Any modern FTTC chipset should support both even if its not mentioned.

BT were going to use 30a for future FTTC speed upgrades but have opted to rollout g.fast instead

That's good to know - thanks for the info.

EDIT: Just to update, I went for the TPLink Archer VR900 in the end.

Edited by Vorlon (Sat 02-Jul-16 04:47:26)