Which router for fiber/fibre and will it fix the speed?

[mj62mj62]

Hello All :-)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Today (5th Sept 2010) I have noticed a speed drop from the normal 6-8 Mb/s down to 1.5-2.0 MB/s.  This could have been in the last few weeks/months, but I've only checked it recently.

Various other posts suggest changing your line filter (done that and rebooted the router) but alas, the problem remains.

The other posts suggest changing your router.  Mine is failing to display the signal noise and other key measurements, so maybe it's dying and due for replacement anyway...

The question:

With all this talk of Fibre/fiber (sp?) coming in and the option to buy it from idnet (I'm in Bristol) do I need a router with a special feature to support it?  Others were recommending the Draytec Vigor 2710n.  I may not switch to fiber immediately but I'm hesitant to buy one that isn't forward compatible.

Thanks for your help :-)
Matt

[Rik]

Hi Matt and welcome to the forum.

Fibre uses a completely different type of router to ADSL, ie a cable router. The modem is external, unlike a normal ADSL router.

[mj62mj62]

Hi Rik,

Thanks for the quick post and the welcome! :-) I've been on idnet for a while and quite happy until my speed dropped today, hopefully some kit will fix it soon.

Is there a recommended model for this new style?  What are they called and do you recommend a particular model?

As a side note, do you have this installed yourself and is it considerably faster?

Thanks again,
Matt

[Rik]

I wish I did, Matt, I'm hoping it will reach me in December (you can check when it's available to you by logging into the customer portal - Bristol North and West are live). For me, it should be considerably faster as I have a long line 63db, but am only 213m from the cabinet.

IDNet sell a ready-configured Netgear, but I've no experience of it yet.

[Steve]

  Matt

[mj62mj62]

I've learned a bit on this tonight, in terms of what the kit is called, by reading this:

http://www.trefor.net/2010/03/18/fttc-what-exactly-is-it/

It seems to be called both an FTTC connection and a VDSL connection.


An interesting point on this thread (within this forum) about how the modem sits at the outlet that Bt installs and you need to connect an ethernet cable to your wireless router from there:

http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=20371.75


Another notable point is that your wireless router needs to have a WAN port to serve your needs:

<from http://community.plus.net/fttc_faq/>
Will the VDSL2 modem work with my <insert wireless router model, in particular whichever router the trialist was most recently issued by Plusnet>?

The VDSL2 modem has a single ethernet port so your wireless router will need to have a WAN port that can be connected to the VDSL2 modem and need to support PPPoE. Most ADSL routers do not have a WAN port but most cable routers do. We have tested FTTC with the Thomson 585v7 router we supply using a special config to convert one of the LAN ports into a WAN port.


Hope this helps others - I'm sure as this becomes more popular the information will become common place.

[Steve]

The confusion often arises when we call a router with an integrated adsl modem a router,if that makes sense.

[Ray]

  Matt.

[Simon]

Matt! 

[esh]

It is FTTC because it is literally fibre to the cabinet, but from there it is just like any other DSL, ie. over a twisted copper pair. The technology is pretty much identical to ADSL, but VDSL doesn't use the same dynamic range of ADSL (it doesn't travel as far) and hence doesn't need to do as complex processing/correction. Effectively, you just need a new modem because the protocol is slightly different -- I don't see why older manufacturers couldn't provide firmware updates to add compatibility if they were given the specs, but I suspect they like people buying new products.

[Glenn]

They make more money that way.

[Rik]

I wonder whether we'll be able to buy our own modems in due course?

[psp83]

but am only 213m from the cabinet.

How can you tell how far you are away from the cab ? without actually taking a tape measure with you 

We have 2 around this area.. one straight down the road and around the corner and another down the other road and around the corner outside the pub.

[Glenn]

Ask the BT engineer. 

[psp83]

Just done a quick distance check on google maps...

One is around 220m away and the one by the pub is around 300m away.

Is that good ? 

[Rik]

Yes.

[psp83]

Good. But probly won't be getting fibre here until hell freezes over! 

[Rik]

Have you checked the list?

http://www.idnet.net/support/fibreavailability.jsp

[psp83]

Yep, not on there.. Trowbridge, Chippenham, Swindon, nearly everywhere around us is on there except for Devizes...

[Glenn]

Lock the gate when you leave, the town's one horse, is already on the hill.

[Rik]

[esh]

Fear not I'm not on the list either... I just came on the list for ADSL2!

[Rik]

You're doing better than some.

[psp83]

ah I have adsl2 already.. normally we get it about a year or so after Trowbridge does. So 2012 we will most likely have FTTC here.

[Rik]

Just in time to watch the Olympics.