When I referred to "the modem" as being (according to reports) unreliable, I meant the modem in its entirety.

If, as one respondent has stated, Huawei optical kit is used in the FTTC cabinets, and the VDSL modem at the subscriber's end is also of their design, then this in my view doesn't engender much confidence in the medium to longterm reliability of the subscriber's overall optical connection.

If you're launching a concept as big as this (ie. BT Infinity) and wanting to get as many consumers on board as possible, then why on earth compromise it by poor thermal design? I wonder just how many of the complainants of this modem would now still prefer the move to FTTC if they were back with their old ADSL2/2+ connection.

Edited by deleted (Tue 21-Jun-11 15:14:15)

I think you're probably overstating the problem.

Sure, the modem isn't as reliable as perhaps we might like, but what is the actual proportion of those that have failed?

I suspect it's actually quite low, certainly mine hasn't caused a moment's concern since it was installed last August, and it even ran reasonably cool when it was horizontal on the desk!

As I intimated earlier, I wall-mounted it to get it out of the way- it stood a high risk of being buried if it stayed on the desk

(This post isn't directed at you billford, I just can't find a reply button that doesn't force me to reply to a specific post.)

My modem wasn't wall mounted but I have proped it up against the wall and it seems to run at an acceptable temperature.

What does annoy me about this modem though is the fact I can't swap it out for another one when diagnosing an issue.

Calling out an engineer for them to find the modem isn't the problem and then charging me £150 (or however much it is now) doesn't sound fun.

If an engineer does have to visit me again I will be begging him to give me a spare modem.

I've done a bit of research around by me and guess what in the last 2 weeks 8 of us have had to have a new modem wow, Not expecting that, yes I've seen on forums that the BT modem seems to be breaking down.

iechyd da

I rest my case.

QED.

In reply to a post by meditator:

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.

At one time BT was one of the market leaders in designing and building the various types of network terminations units - kilostream, megastream and various others over the years. Go round te world and you will find BT and previous GPO equipment, all over the place and a lot of it still running.

But yes, these days it is being driven by both accountants and the regulator.

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.

Eh ? The cooling slots are on the sides and the top ?

What does annoy me about this modem though is the fact I can't swap it out for another one when diagnosing an issue.

Nothing stopping you from buying your own combined modem/router ?

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

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.

Eh ? The cooling slots are on the sides and the top ?

With the modem horizontal, the slots are as I described.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

What does annoy me about this modem though is the fact I can't swap it out for another one when diagnosing an issue.

Nothing stopping you from buying your own combined modem/router ?

Are there any available and would it not be against the terms or something? I'm all for buying a modem if there is one available and it's not going to get me cut off.