Modem problem?

I had some speed problems with my Plusnet FTCC line a few weeks ago. After a fair bit of faffing about with Plusnet support, they asked me to reset my OR/ECI modem which immediately brought me back to my unimpressive but normal 24mb download speed.

I've just had the same problem, and solved it in the same way. Does that mean that my modem is failing and needs replacement, and if so, what should I replace it with?

I would add that I have had speed issues now and again over the years with my line, and they often seem to occur after I've been away and not used the line for a few days, as in this case, and the previous one. Coincidence, or indicative of something else?


TIA

What are you doing to reset it?

Turn off and on, in which case you might just be forcing a resync and if the sync is low and has held low doing a resync is a common way to get back speed.

if I just turn it on and off it syncs low again. At least that's what happened during the previous issue. I went straight for Reset this time and it did the trick again.

Strange then, time for a replacement

I think that would probably be a good move.

I invite suggestions for a good modem router to give good results with my distant (650M) ECI cab. Maybe something that I can get the stats from?

In reply to a post by cookie:

I invite suggestions for a good modem router to give good results with my distant (650M) ECI cab. Maybe something that I can get the stats from?

I am on a Huawei cab, about 900m distant, and I use a "separates" combo:

* Draytek Vigor 130 modem
* Mikrotik HeX PoE router
* Unifi AC Lite (two of them, powered by the Mikrotik over CAT5e, ceiling mounted)

It's absolutely rock solid, nothing ever needs rebooting.

I would expect that the Draytek integrated modem/router/AP devices would also be pretty good, but haven't tried them myself, and the price difference isn't that great.

The Vigor 130 gives line stats via web interface (basic sync speed) and telnet (advanced). By default it has IP address 192.168.2.1. So you configure your router's WAN port with static address 192.168.2.2 *and* run PPPoE over the same port.

Asus DSL-AC68U works well for me on along line to the cab

I have decided to just replace the modem at this stage and the Draytek looks a good solution. Speed drop happened again tonight, so I've ordered one and see if it solves my problem.

Reviews seem to indicate it is just plug and play. Hopefully this is the case as I'm a bit out of my depth with this "By default it has IP address 192.168.2.1. So you configure your router's WAN port with static address 192.168.2.2 *and* run PPPoE over the same port."
I thought I could just plug it into my BiPAC 7800N router and be away. Do I need to do something else apart from change the admin password?

Oh yes, it is plug and play. It's just a case of how to access the line stats.

The most basic approach is this: you unplug the modem from the router, and plug a laptop directly into the modem instead. The modem has a DHCP server, so the laptop will get up a 192.168.2.x IP address automatically. Then you browse to 192.168.2.1 and view the stats. For more detailed info, telnet to 192.168.2.1 and type "vdsl status" and "vdsl status more".

That's fine, but because you've just unplugged your router from your modem, your home network will lose connectivity! Fortunately, the modem won't lose sync with the DSLAM.

Now, I prefer to be able to view the line stats while keeping the link up. You could insert a switch between the router WAN port and the modem, and plug your laptop into the switch; your laptop would not have Internet access (but the rest of the house would).

But the best solution is to let the router to pass the traffic between your LAN and the modem's management IP address. Then you can view the modem stats at any time, without unplugging anything, and without losing any Internet access. If that's too much TCP/IP for you, then don't worry, the modem will work out-of-the-box

An integrated router/modem doesn't have this issue, because the router admin page also shows the line stats.

In reply to a post by frod1:

Asus DSL-AC68U works well for me on along line to the cab

Has to be the worst modem I've owned, ever.

The Mediatek xDSL chipset is so bad it's not believable. The amount of issues these modems cause is ridiculous.

G.INP is disabled on these modems AFAIK so don't expect that to work when eventually rolled out to ECI cabs.