Upgrade to FTTC - Looking for views on good quality routers please ...

[JB]

I know there was a similar topic to this back in February but wonder if any new products or recommendations have emerged since.

It looks likely that we may be able to move from the dark ages shortly as hopefully FTTC is currently being installed at our local cabinet. According to Google maps we are 180 mtrs from the cab, so adding a bit extra on for bends and cable routing I'm surmising our copper line length is about 220 to 250 mtrs. According to most graphs it looks like 70 Mbps could be achievable.

Anyone able to offer any suggestions for modems and routers or even a combined unit? I do run several devices at home such as VOIP, a small web server and some dedicated audio streaming using icecast. Therefore I need a router that allows me a good degree of virtual port forwarding. I'm presently using a Bilion 7800N on ADSL which fits the bill perfectly. I know I could connect this to a VDSL2 modem and simply use the router side but as it is getting a little long in the tooth now was wondering if I should consider other gear.

I also believe that 'customer install' is available now with an engineer visit not required. I'm quite happy to fit a new faceplate and modem to get it all running.

Really grateful for any suggestions.

[Ray]

I changed to a Billion Bipac 8800AXL when I switched to FTTC in April, I've found it to be very good and have had no problems with it so far.

[JB]

Thanks for that info Ray. Would there be any advantages in having a separate modem and router?