In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by paul1360:

No it's horizontally mounted on a unit with nothing around it, why is it better to be vertically mounted???????????? The only thing is that my speed has dropped from 38Mb+ to 20Mb ggggrrrrrrrrr

iechyd da

Airflow ... it is designed to be vertically mounted - lust look at where the air vents are.

That doesn't make sense to me. The vents are at the front, both sides and underneath. Both horizontal and vertical mounting will partially block the vents underneath and leave the others free. I'm not saying it shouldn't be vertically mounted - mine ran very hot horizontal but is cool when vertical but I still don't fully understand why.

In reply to a post by kasg:

mine ran very hot horizontal but is cool when vertical but I still don't fully understand why.

Basically- when mounted horizontally there are no air vents in the top so no easy path for the flow of convective air currents.

That's cured by mounting it vertically.

In reply to a post by billford:

In reply to a post by kasg:

mine ran very hot horizontal but is cool when vertical but I still don't fully understand why.

Basically- when mounted horizontally there are no air vents in the top so no easy path for the flow of convective air currents.

That's cured by mounting it vertically.

Fair enough - hot air rises and all that!

Yes I would think that a vertical mount will allow heat to escape from the top of the side vents.

To allow for better access to the bottom vents if you mount it horizontal, Wilkinsons sell self-adhesive cork pads which you can stick underneath to increase the gap between the modem and whatever it is placed on. They come in 20's and are 19mm in dia. stick about three together to give lots of clearance.

In reply to a post by kasg:

Fair enough - hot air rises and all that!

That's it

Personally I think it's poor- it doesn't bother me (in fact it's out of the way on the wall!) but I can well imagine that vertically mounting could be inconvenient for some people.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by meditator:

, I'd have to forfeit some useful features I get with my ADSL2 setup.

Such as ?

Just what I was thinking.

I lost a useful feature when I moved on from a Triumph Spitfire, in that I could open the bonnet, put one foot on the ground next to the engine, and tune the twin SUs with a piece of rubber tubing from the air intake to my ear.

Now if only I could do that with a modern engine ....

Well you can stand completely inside the engine compartment of a Nissan Bluebird which is a bit more modern. You'd be hard pressed finding any carbs to listen to though

Now if you want to complain about small engine compartments try a Honda Jazz. Half of that power unit is underneath the dashboard.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58675213@N08/5433967452/

Oh..and some people have far too much time and money on their hands it seems:

http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-photos-videos/586...

It's also even further away from the 'golden days' of carburettors though - it has twin sparks and can stagger the timings to suit engine load. Personally I think that's really clever technology but take the computer out and I bet you'd never get even the merest cough from cranking it

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by meditator:

, I'd have to forfeit some useful features I get with my ADSL2 setup.

Such as ?

Just what I was thinking.

I lost a useful feature when I moved on from a Triumph Spitfire, in that I could open the bonnet, put one foot on the ground next to the engine, and tune the twin SUs with a piece of rubber tubing from the air intake to my ear.

Now if only I could do that with a modern engine ....

With the Morris Minor there was room to get in beside the engine and shelter under the bonnet from the rain when fixing it. On the other hand modern cars tend to need fixing a little less often, swings and balances

Yes, I agree with you, billford. With all the thermal management experience gained over a decade or more by other players in the router and modem markets, one would have thought that BT could come up with a design for a modem that not only took all of that into account and provided adequate margins but also looked the part. I suspect cheapness of manufacture may have something to do with it, ie. the modem was probably 'designed' by an accountant rather than an engineer.

Okay, so you've sensed that I'm a bit of a cynic. But that's because I'm a retired professional engineer/scientist who, during my career, adhered to high standards. Sadly, engineering design isn't what it used to be, at least not in the mass-market arena.

I can't understand what's so sacrosanct about BT's VDSL modem that they insist that (at least for the present) theirs and only theirs must be used. Instead, what we've got is a daft situation where they effectively hold the monopoly on the modem and yet the one they provide is restrictive and is, according to various users, generally not of reliable design.

I wish BT would instead stick to the areas of datacomms in which they're more experienced and skilled, rather than trying to produce mass-market kit of this kind.

In reply to a post by meditator:

I can't understand what's so sacrosanct about BT's VDSL modem that they insist that (at least for the present) theirs and only theirs must be used. Instead, what we've got is a daft situation where they effectively hold the monopoly on the modem and yet the one they provide is restrictive and is, according to various users, generally not of reliable design.

The modem is a Huawei unit, who are also providing most (if not all) of the cabinets, which is my guess as to why.. Same deal as when ADSL was first rolled out..

In reply to a post by meditator:

and yet the one [modem] they provide is restrictive and is, according to various users, generally not of reliable design.

I'm not convinced the modem is particularly unreliable... most of the reports give it as failing after running hot, which to me would also point to the power supply as a likely culprit.

If anything is designed down to a price it's those wallplug PSU's, whatever piece of kit they come with

Edited by billford (Tue 21-Jun-11 14:53:19)