I am not at all fixed on using Asus. This one came from my time with Cloudscape Connect, who are Asus partners and I found it would only stay connected to 5G on the N setting, which I later discovered is pretty common and even then it was a bit slow. I went through a few Asus routers from them trying to resolve issues and it was only fixed when I moved to Vodafone.

Any thoughts on better options? It's an average sized modern property and the router is used for work as well as family stuff like streaming 4K video on Netflix, plus Youtube etc. I was just looking at Netgear and TP-Link thinking I ought to go for something that is wi-fi 6 enabled. We may be moving to a larger older property with a big garden, so I am also including that as a factor, however I know they are currently managing with a fairly ordinary router.

Since having FTTC in 2013 I always went with a separate modem and router apart from when I left my parents and left the kit at theirs. The BT Smart Hub lasted about 6 months before I ripped it out due to constant rebooting and installed my own kit. I went from a sync of 58Mbps to 76Mbps going with a decent modem and router.

Firstly started off with the old trusty Huawei HG612 which lasted about 4 years then I replaced it with another brand new one which I had for a year and then sold.

I then moved onto the Zyxel VMG1312-B10A which was absolutely solid. All having Broadcom chipsets, on a Hauwei cab.

Now on FTTP, i'm still using my old trusty RT-AC68u which I have had for years - still separates I guess, I never touch the ONT, it's in a cupboard tucked away.

You can't go wrong with separates. A decent router may cost a bit in the short term but in the long run with a decent modem, you can mess around with the router all you like and it has zero impact on the line and dreaded DLM on FTTC. No random firmware updates sent via your ISP. No random TR069 requests.

Edited by wolvesmad (Wed 07-Apr-21 14:50:31)

I actually had an old BT modem that came with my original FTTC router many years ago and threw it out about a year ago thinking I would never need it again. Perhaps I should have kept it. I see there is a very highly rated TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 router on Amazon that doesn't cost a fortune I only discarded it initially because it didn't have a modem.

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

In reply to a post by Chippy_Tea_:

I cannot answer your question but i have been with TT over 10 years and am happy with the rock steady speeds and lack of downtime, TT have a bad reputation for customer service but in the handful of times i have had to use them they have always been very helpful and have always got my problems sorted quick.

I am on Fibre 65 -








Edit to add package details.

Are you on a home package or business package? As they have different call centres.
The business package goes through to a UK call centre and you get much better support.

Thanks
Dan

As far as i know Fibre 65 which i mentioned in my post is residential if the TTB customer support is even better than those i mentioned below in my second post all well and good.



There are 4 ways to contact support -

Online chat - i have found this to be the quickest and easiest way of getting help as having a Cumbrian accent talking to phone support in another country has always been a challenge.

The TT community forum - is very good and the TT employees who man it are brilliant but the downside is its not 24/7 so it can take a day or two to get an answer if its busy so only really ideal if you are suffering speed issues etc that are not an emergency.

Social media, - i assume the people that man the community forum also keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook as a lot of customers use it but again like the forum its not 24/7 so isn't much use for emergencies.

Phone support - The last time i used phone support was a lot less of a pain that the first time i used it many years ago, i assume due to the amount of complaints they have had about phone support over the years has forced them to get their act together, its still my least favourite means of contacting them.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Apr-21 17:07:41)

I am with TalkTalk Business with wholesale ISP - UnchainedISP with my new service G.fast 160/30 with supplier Openreach Gfast Modem. Getting great speed of 151 down and 29 up via ethernet on pc and 149 down and 27 up via wifi. Ping around 12ms on ethernet and 15ms via wifi.

Openreach engineer say my line can do 210/29 say on the line test kit but sync rate limited to 159/29.

In reply to a post by charlestown:

Yes I think I will likely go with Pulse 8 and contact them tomorrow. Somewhere else I read that Zen were also using TTB.

It hasn't shown up in my bank account yet, but I am expecting to see a debit tomorrow from Vodafone for the next month and it says the next billing cycle with them will begin the 25th, so I guess I would want the switchover to be a few days before that rather than immediately.

The only consideration is what to do for a router/modem and I'll have to check what I have in the loft or consider buying something new. I had an Asus from Cloudscape Connect that worked but it wasn't brilliant. There was a Zyxel I threw out that I should have kept.

Did you sign up with Pulse8 in the end? How have you found them?

I’m now just over a month with TTB on their 900/115 FTTP service. A few observations I will make:

1. They honoured their 3-month free “back to business” offer even though I technically had signed up with them a few days before the promotion went live.

2. After querying with their support team the WorkSafe network security product is not (yet at least) available for their FTTP based business services only FTTC. This is no big deal here, but that may be of note to other folks that have used it previously and are expecting it on FTTP based services.

3. Somewhat cheekily their system opted me in to paper billing @ £4+VAT per month. Something which I never intended. So that is being credited on the next bill.

4. The migration from Cerberus to TTB was practically seamless, there was a 10 second drop a little after midnight on the planned date of changeover. TTB use a dummy username and password on the PPPoE login for their FTTP - so after the service was disconnected by Cerberus the router auto re-initiated the connection 10 seconds later right on to TTB.

5. I have noticed a very minor increase in baseline ping tests and BQM monitoring minimum ping time - possibly 1 or 2ms above previous service moving across from Cerberus who use BT Wholesale for their backhaul and cablelinks. Otherwise I have only noted one 9 minute and 39 second unplanned outage at around 00:34 on 8 July.

Yes I did go ahead with Pulse 8 at two properties. The migration in both cases was painless and it's generally OK, however it is a bit slower than Vodafone and seems to buffer when a couple of us want to stream at the same time, which wasn't a problem before.

There have also been a few outages, so in terms of absolute performance I'd say a bit disappointing but not disastrous. If this is TalkTalk Business, it's not as good as Vodafone home broadband in my experience to date.

In my case I guess the attraction is being able to leave without penalty if needed, due to the rolling monthly contract. My parents are elderly now and I may need to move in at some stage to help them, so I didn't want to be hit with big bills for early cancellation.

Pulse 8 themselves are helpful and if you call you can speak with somebody quickly enough, but worth adding this is only Monday to Friday during office hours, which is typical of smaller providers and that is kind of frustrating when you are having issues on a Saturday morning.

Edited by charlestown (Tue 13-Jul-21 22:07:36)

Thank you for the feedback. 👍