Woohoo: Ordered BT Infinity 1 - What modem do I need?

I moved from a fibre area 15 months ago to an area with a mix of fibre and exchange only lines. I was on an exchange only line, stuck on ADSL1, connecting at 8Mb!

My line has now been migrated to a newly built PCP, and last night I ordered BT Infinity 1.

I notice there has been a recent upgrade in the speed available to 55Mb.

I run my own router (pfSense box) with an external dedicated ADSL modem.

BT are sending me out a new SmartHub.

So, my question is, is the VDSL modem in the SmartHub specifically required to get the new speeds?

Or can I order one of the old OpenReach modems from eBay, and just plug that in?

I'm thinking there's potential here for a firmware upgrade to be required for these OpenReach modems to support the new speeds, or they might not support it at all.

Anyone know?

You could buy an HG612 and use that without any issues at all. It was supplied with Infinity2 connections which are up to 80Mbps and others who have had the 40 to 55 uplift have had to do nothing. The firmware can be updated to give you access into the modem and that is well documented.

You can order a HG612 from ebay, don't order an ECI modem.

No firmware upgrades to support the 55 Mbps speed.

Another option is TP-Link W9970 which can run in bridge or router modes http://amzn.to/2iOX5Zb at £34.99, the key is buy something with a Broadcom chipset for the VDSL2 side

Cheers, I can go shopping on eBay now.

I could probably have one delivered before the go live date of 23rd Jan.

I take it I can just plug it in when I get it and it will work with ADSL1 as well?

It should. If it is an unlocked one and someone has altered the settings so as to stop it training down, then a simple factory reset will fix it.

A good idea to unlock it anyway so as to be able to obtain full line stats via telnet. (It's GUI stats are minimal and buggy).

Just make sure it is a version 3B as some earlier ones had some minor problems.

It should be fine. I would suggest a factory reset and then load the unlocked firmware. It will work with basic ADSL G.dmt and ADSL2/2+ unless the previous owner has deselected those options but a reset should restore them.