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On Tue, 22 Sep 2009, Simon Williams wrote:
I guess everyone else on this list should have ADSL since there isn't much cable in Devon. What modems/routers do you use? How well do they work for you? Any debugging tips?
ADSL isn't all that bad - even though my own connection has a fault which BT won't fix unless I pay them lot of money, however it doesn't stop me getting 8mb in and 830Kb out...
The biggest issue I've seen have been the cabling. It's also possible you have a duff line port at the exchange.
Another issue *may* be your chosen ISP. I've heard that some will force a disconnect every now and then to force an IP address change if you're on a dynamic IP - no hard proof though, just rumours on forums. If your router/modem allows - what's your line stats (SNR and Attenuation?) Does your download speed correspond to your modems sync rate?
So start by checking all your internal (& external!) cabling - which I assume you have - the best thing these days (arguably!) is to have one NTE5 style master socket as close to where the main BT line comes into the house, preferably with a filtered faceplate, then all house extensions connected to the filtered side of that (just wires 2 & 5, no 3 or 4!) Connecting them that way means they don't meed microfilters. Then the ADSL modem/router connected as close to the master socket as possible, then use Ethernet for the rest of the premises.
That's not always possible due to other considerations - e.g. my own setup has a length of cat-5 cable connected to the faceplate of my (standard) NTE5 (pins 2 & 5 only) which then goes to a filtered faceplate a few meters away (cupboard under the stairs) where the modem/router, etc. is. (That was a wifey pleasing option! It also means that in a dire emergency we can plug the bog-standard analogue phone into a socket in clear view to make a 999 call - DECT handsets may have batteries, but the base stations don't!)
Then there's the chipset that the modem uses - and here I've nearly always used Drayteks for many years - older ones were marginal on long lines (and there was a different firmware you could use in those cases!) but the new ones seem fairly solid. I've never had an issue with one where I've had to reboot it to get a line to come back up. The down side is that they're some of the most expensive devices known to man!!! They are aimed at the SME market than the home user though - RRP for a 2820 is about £135, or £155 with Wi-Fi.... The one feature they have - probably of minimal use to the average home users is VPN support and the new ones have a hardware encryption chip. Older ones didn't.
The most flexible solution is going to be an ADSL modem and a Linux router. Most routers can work in bridge mode - you just need one with reliable analogue electronics and DSP chipset...
Other than Drayteks, I've used Zyxels - but I've also seen 2 of these fail, so while they have lots of features, they seem rather unreliable...
Another modem I've installed a couple of in recently months (for friends who won't pay for a Draytek!) is the new DLink series. They seem OK, but time will tell... The advantage of the Draytek for me is that is has rudimentary traffic shaping which can make VoIP work better in a shared office when the punter doesn't want a dedicated ADSL line for VoIP.
Gordon
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