These days most newer devices sync higher than the HG612 even if it is still healthy. Newer overall circuit optimisation I expect.

It was fine, and rock solid in its day.

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

Interesting, I've heard that the HG612's shelf life isn't great. You're probably better off using the BDCM chipset in the Billion, tbh.

I like having the two separate. It means I can power cycle the router without risking the wrath of DLM. But yeah - if the 612 ever fails the Billion will take over

Edited by Andrue (Sat 16-Dec-17 15:40:16)

That's a very good point, didn't think of that one!

I am still using some 2-wire 2700 routers as Wireless Access points and they have been run almost non-stop sine around 2007. I have just removed a 2701 which was providing the front end to the modem and that was installed in 2012 - so a relative youngster.

A lot will depend on the build and component quality. Customers want cheap so they cut corners and use the cheapest components that may just meet spec, but could have a short life. It has always been the case - ICs could be bought in three, four (and sometimes more) grades - consumer, commercial, industrial, military, space with reliability, accuracy/tolerance and longevity increasing along with costs going up and up!

Edited by MHC (Sun 17-Dec-17 11:26:14)

As above for myself the advantages of a two box system are the ability the faff around with your router to your hearts content (I do) without damaging my relationship with the Cabinet which I like to keep the right side of & not upset it & evoke DLM - Also the modem can be mounted near the faceplate & as the link between the modem & router is Ethernet the router can then be placed anywhere you wish without any degradation.

As for the HG612 I was using a unlocked 3B but swopped it for the Comtrend 3030 which I obtained from IDNet & very pleased with it but the sync speed increase was only 1 or so - With the HG612�s avoid anything other than the 3B revision. (Of course it�s all personal opinion & there is no right or wrong I feel)

Its the power cycles that are the biggest killers of electrical products.

M-I-L goes through electrical products like nothing on earth, As they are turned off a the main switch, after each use. She simply refuses to believe that they are safe left on at the mains even when not in use..

She is lucky if a kettle or toaster lasts a year....

In reply to a post by JohnR:

Its the power cycles that are the biggest killers of electrical products.

I don't power cycle my router very often actually. However I have long questioned the assertion that power cycling damages electronic equipment. The reason is that for the last 15 years I have used timers to power off my hifi and a/v equipment every night including my various Sky boxes over the years. I also have a WAP downstairs that undergoes the same thing.

The only piece of equipment that has ever died was a Gigabit Netgear switch behind the TV and I've been told that Netgear equipment can be a bit poor quality anyway.

In practice the only significant difference the power cycling has made has been to make me immune to several bugs that Sky have introduced over the years. A daily power cycle seems to do nothing but good to a Sky box in my experience. Most of the equipment has been upgraded over the years so I can't prove that I'm not shortening the life in some capacity. However it seems that however much I might be shortening it is unimportant as it lasts for as long as I own it

Edited by Andrue (Sun 17-Dec-17 21:55:21)

In practice the only significant difference the power cycling has made has been to make me immune to several bugs that Sky have introduced over the years. A daily power cycle seems to do nothing but good to a Sky box in my experience.

No idea what these bugs are you talk about, over the years I've had 4 Sky TV boxes, the latest being Sky Q. They have always been powered on 24/7 and I think in around 17 years they have crashed a handful of times. My average life span of a Sky Box has been around 3/4 years per box. Had BT Vision between Sky, that did crash quite a bit.

I find turning a Sky Box off counter productive, it takes many minutes to boot and get accurate TV Listings.

Same for my WiFi routers, I have uptimes of months on end.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 17-Dec-17 23:32:28)

We have had Sky HD a few months after it started.

Well we have had all four of our boxes completely freeze / lockup leaving the rotating LED's at the front still going, this requires a reboot to resolve.
We have had the odd Ethernet controller fail to get an IP (no different combinations would fix this), required a reboot to resolve.
Single dead tuner has happened on 3 of the boxes at least 3 times, once again a reboot fixed it.

So these Sky Boxes are not that perfect, as for Sky Q, not tried that, good idea them all linking up, not a fan of the single hdd in the main box.

Don't get me wrong, I like these Sky HD Boxes, just they have some intermittent issues.

Paul

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

No idea what these bugs are you talk about, over the years I've had 4 Sky TV boxes, the latest being Sky Q. They have always been powered on 24/7 and I think in around 17 years they have crashed a handful of times.

Oh I never said it was unreliable, and they don't usually crash. They typically just stop operating correctly. There was a spate of issues with 'Technical Fault 8' around when the first EPG with a mini-TV was rolled out several years ago.

Sky Q has had at least two known issues that require a reboot. One was randomly losing the signal lock, the other was missing thumbnails.

But if you frequent their support forums you will always find people being advised to switch off, wait 30 seconds then power back on.

I find turning a Sky Box off counter productive, it takes many minutes to boot and get accurate TV Listings.

As I mentioned originally - mine is on a timer. I have programmed it to so that the Sky box is powered up an hour before I get home. Plenty of time to get the EPG refreshed and even to have updates applied.

<rant>There is absolutely no need to have my Sky box powered on (consuming 20w an hour) between 3am and 4pm during the week or 3am and 7am at the weekends. I'd rather save £1 a month on my electricity bill purely on principal. I have a Freesat DVR that consumes less than 1w in standby and it is still able to update its EPG and wake up to make recordings. Sky hardware is badly designed. Put a Sky box into deep sleep and it can't do anything. Can't even respond to the remote. Terrible design.</a>