The limit is the chipset and associated RF electronics, e.g. your 12 year old device will know nothing about VDSL2 that has been out since 2009

As connections speed go up even if the modem chipset was fine you'd find limits in the CPU and memory capabilities of the device to shift the traffic around too.

If you are on an ADSL2+ service with an ADSL2+ modem and stay that way for 30 years the kit will probably be fine, but broadband technology marches on rapidly.

The speed remained more or less the same, what happened is that the modems can only keep a connection going for shorter and shorter periods of time.

Admittedly then If I'd kept my eye on the ball I probably would have noticed ADSL+ or VDSL etc, and changed then and perhaps with a newer modem I wouldn't be worrying about short connection times before they drop.

While googling around I notice reviews of stand-alone modems are much thinner on the ground than all-in-ones so I'm probably restricted to using the reviews of Amazon or eBuyer. Is there anything I should be looking for in particular in terms of technical capabilities?

I don't bother with standalone modems; I just use an all in one in bridge mode.

My last two have been a huawei HG635 (talk talk super router) and currently a zyxel VMG8924-B10A.

Both bought "new in box" off ebay.

Ian

http://wiki.kitz.co.uk/index.php/BCM_routers

I use a billion 8800NL in bridge mode. Solid as a rock.

Edited by deleted (Sat 30-Sep-17 17:54:55)

That list doesn't include the Asus DSL-AC88U which is Broadcom based.

It�s not definitive, but it�s pretty comprehensive.

In reply to a post by IanBB:

That list doesn't include the Asus DSL-AC88U which is Broadcom based.

IIRC we have seen several opinions on these forums that although the ASUS routers are very good, the DSL versions don't have particularly good modems. (Struck out as not valid for the AC88U, see ianBB's reply).

The Zyxel mentioned a few posts ago seems t have excellent modem performance and is suitable for Huawei cabinets. Either as all-in-one or in bridge mode. Far faster connection speed that the Huawei HG612s, which seem now to be a bit long in the tooth. Generally on speeds over 50Mbps about 2Mbps below most of the competition.

Quite apart from used ones gradually losing reliability.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 30-Sep-17 19:55:39)

Those opinions aren't based on a Broadcom chipset which the DSL-AC88U has.

Edited by IanBB (Sat 30-Sep-17 19:49:36)

Ah - yes. I sort of remember now that the less good ones were the DSL-N66U.

When I heard that Asus were releasing a Broadcom based router I kept an eye out for it being released here and managed to get one from eBuyer in April for just under £200.

It's been rock solid since then connected to a Huawei (sp?) cabinet with the only downtime being when I chose to upgrade the firmware to the latest beta.

I should add that I synch at the max for Plusnet Fibre Extra (80/20)

Edited by IanBB (Sat 30-Sep-17 20:42:34)