In reply to a post by BatBoy:

If only there was someone sensible with a hacked modem...

/me has one, but only on a 40/2 connection.

Not tried it yet in router mode, and no intention at the moment. Tired and woozy. Or issh that woozy and tired? May or or may not show anything on 40.

It would be interesting to put the VDSL2 chipsets head-to-head to compare their performance..

The Broadcom 6368 found in the HG612 must be the most dominant VDSL2 chipset on the market. It is the CPU that drives most all VDSL2 CPE supplied around the world, including the Huawei here in Blighty, the Drayteks and ZTE's VDSL2 devices which seem popular on the Continent.

Then there is the Lantiq VRX200 VDSL2 family. This VDSL2 CPE chipset is found in the ECI B-FOCuS (the 'other' VDSL2 CPE device from Openreach) as well as the FritzBox! Lantiq was formerly the wireline division of Infineon.

In the USA, AT&T supplies some curiosity equipment for its VDSL2 service. I am desperately trying to get these working on the Openreach service here in the UK.. The AT&T devices are all from 2Wire - the 2Wire 3600, the 3800 and the 3801. They are lovely devices, but are nailed down hard.

The 3801 is driven by a dual core Trimedia 5-issue slot VLIW CPU coupled to a SigmaDesigns / Coppergate CG3210H VDSL2 Analog Front End and Line Driver.

Whereas the 3600 and the 3800 both have a single core Trimedia CPU (the 2Wire Ares CPU also found in the silver BT Business Hubs). The VDSL2 chipset in both devices is the Ikanos Accelity DA8-7781 AFE and LD.

Has anyone come across any more VDSL2 CPE chipsets, perhaps yet to to reach market?

cheers, a

The only warning to BatBoy

Quit trolling, you ask for explanation after explanation but offer none yourself. This is exactly the behaviour you have had suspensions for before.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The only warning to BatBoy

Quit trolling, you ask for explanation after explanation but offer none yourself. This is exactly the behaviour you have had suspensions for before.

I disagree. I'm not trolling. I've answered all his questions he posed. I've diagnosed his problem as well, as a bonus.

If there are any explanations you think are missing, ask away and I will answer.

Sorry you disagree.

The IP distance issue is one that is just a wild theory too and how distances are calculated between sites on speedtest.net often bears little relation to the distance of fibre the data travels over.

So are we saying that all chipsets are compatible regardles of the fttc equipement?

In reply to a post by WOMBATWILSON:

So are we saying that all chipsets are compatible regardles of the fttc equipement?

If you are asking about (cable) routers connected to the Openreach modem, rather than a VDSL2 router replacing the Openreach modem+SomeRouter, then yes.

The feed from the OR modem to the router is pure ethernet.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by WOMBATWILSON:

So are we saying that all chipsets are compatible regardles of the fttc equipement?

If you are asking about (cable) routers connected to the Openreach modem, rather than a VDSL2 router replacing the Openreach modem+SomeRouter, then yes.

The feed from the OR modem to the router is pure ethernet.

No I mean the whole thing getting rid of the modem with an all-in-one modem/router.

At the physical/data link layers, all VDSL2 chipsets should be compatible with the FTTC service from BT Openreach. However, the firmware of a modem/router can be locked to a particular provider - e.g. AT&T, Bell, BT, DT, etc..

As for combining the functions of a modem and a router - there are question marks over the capabilities of a single device to perform those two tasks, especially at speeds of 80Mbps (17MHz profile) and perhaps even higher (e.g. a 30MHz Profile.)

AT&T is shipping combined modem-routers to its VDSL2 U-Verse customers in North America. These devices, imvho, are superior in performance to the Huawei HG612 / ECI B-FOCuS supplied as FTTC CPE by BT Openreach.

Yet AT&T customers are still complaining that the modem-routers cannot cope with the relatively light loads from their home networks. Routing the traffic for a handful of networked devices is reportedly enough to crash the U-Verse modem-router or grind it to a complete halt.

AT&T has yet to fit an 802.11n wi-fi chipset to its U-Verse modem-routers.. They are still relying on an Atheros 802.11g chipset. That either tells us something about the true throughput of wi-fi, or the AT&T FTTC service!

cheers, a

EDIT: It seems that only four VDSL2 CPE solutions are readily available. Surprisingly few..

• Broadcom 6368 (1)
• Lantiq (was Infineon, was TI DSL Solutions) VRX200 (2)
• Ikanos (was Conexant) Accelity (3)
• PMC-Sierra PM4380 (4)

Ralink (which bought TrendChip in 2010) was reportedly on the brink of launching its own VDSL2 CPE chipset - the RT65168. However, in March 2011, Ralink was swallowed up by Mediatek who seem to have scuttled the plans. (5)

(1) http://www.broadcom.com/products/Broadband-Carrier-A...
(2) http://www.lantiq.com/products/broadband-customer-pr...
(3) http://www.ikanos.com/products/broadband-dsl/accelit...
(4) http://pmcs.com/products/pm4380/
(5) http://www.ralinktech.com/en/05_press-center/news.ph...

Edited by deleted (Sat 05-May-12 00:32:55)