ADSL2+ upgrade - will Netgear DG834g work?

[Docproc]

Hi

I'm considering having the ADSL line I use at my folks' house upgraded to ADSL2+.

This is mainly for the extra IDNet bandwidth quota and not for speed reasons - the house is a long way from the exchange and I only get about 1.5mb/s at the moment on ADSL Max.

I'm using an old-ish Netgear DG834g router (the first version, which is grey and larger than the current models); will this work OK with ADSL2+ or will I need new hardware? The firmware version is V3.01.25 which I think is the latest for this version of the router.

Glenn.

[rireed3]

First, on a long line I personally wouldn't recommend upgrading.  If the 1.5 Mbps connection rate is all you can get, you are almost certain to get no benefit and will probably lose more than your extra bandwidth would be worth.  If you look around here, you'll see a number of complaints of people with shorter lines than that lost around 1 Mbps for reasons not explained.  It looks like BT WBC ADSL2+ has hit-or-miss performance on long lines.  If I were you I'd stay put.

Don't know about old Netgears, but if it were me I'd try to get a v4 hardware if I still wanted Netgear.  Lots of adaptability with that model.

If you're adventurous you could look into the sub-forum here on 2-Wire 2700HGV, the BT Business Hub.  Supposedly very good on long lines, but must be unlocked and 'downgrade protected' from BT - buy cheap but with careful advice on eBay.

Richard

[Rik]

What Richard said, Glenn. Your line is unlikely to benefit from WBC, but instability is likely to increase judging by all we've seen, so you may end up with a worse connection and, once you've made the move, there's no way back.

[Glenn]

I would stay where you are at the moment until the teething troubles have been sorted, then re-evaluate it later in the year.

[Docproc]

Thanks for the advice folks - I'll hold off for now.

Regards

Glenn.