20mbit/sec ADSL - will I need a new ADSL modem?

I am currently running a Draytek 2900 router with an ancient Dlink
300G+ modem.

The modem seems to support the current 8mbit/sec downlink speed fine.

If I need a new modem for the 20Mb downlink, then I would like to get
one which doesn't need its ethernet MAC # configured in the router!!
This is a right PITA and there is no good reason for it. The 300G+
needs this done in order to talk to the router...

Peter wrote:
> I am currently running a Draytek 2900 router with an ancient Dlink
> 300G+ modem.
>
> The modem seems to support the current 8mbit/sec downlink speed fine.
>
> If I need a new modem for the 20Mb downlink, then I would like to get
> one which doesn't need its ethernet MAC # configured in the router!!
> This is a right PITA and there is no good reason for it. The 300G+
> needs this done in order to talk to the router...


Just get a new ROUTER.

On 04/04/2010 12:23, Andy Burns wrote:
> Peter wrote:
>> I am currently running a Draytek 2900 router with an ancient Dlink
>> 300G+ modem.
>>
>> The modem seems to support the current 8mbit/sec downlink speed fine.
>
> the 300G+ is only ADSL, not ADSL+, so won't connect faster than your
> current 8Mbps
>
>> If I need a new modem for the 20Mb downlink, then I would like to get
>> one which doesn't need its ethernet MAC # configured in the router!!
>> This is a right PITA and there is no good reason for it. The 300G+
>> needs this done in order to talk to the router...
>
> A Draytek Vigor 120 modem will connect up to ADSL2+M speeds, should just
> plug in and go with no configuration.
>
>
>
You can get a D-link 2640 wireless modem/router for about forty quid if
you look around.
Easily set-uppable and it does the trick with ADSL2+

George

Andy Burns <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

>Peter wrote:
>> I am currently running a Draytek 2900 router with an ancient Dlink
>> 300G+ modem.
>>
>> The modem seems to support the current 8mbit/sec downlink speed fine.
>
>the 300G+ is only ADSL, not ADSL+, so won't connect faster than your
>current 8Mbps
>
>> If I need a new modem for the 20Mb downlink, then I would like to get
>> one which doesn't need its ethernet MAC # configured in the router!!
>> This is a right PITA and there is no good reason for it. The 300G+
>> needs this done in order to talk to the router...
>
>A Draytek Vigor 120 modem will connect up to ADSL2+M speeds, should just
>plug in and go with no configuration.
>
Many thanks for the suggestion - I've ordered one...

On Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:12:47 +0100, Peter wrote:

> Andy Burns <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
>
>>Peter wrote:
>>> I am currently running a Draytek 2900 router with an ancient Dlink
>>> 300G+ modem.
>>>
>>> The modem seems to support the current 8mbit/sec downlink speed fine.
>>
>>the 300G+ is only ADSL, not ADSL+, so won't connect faster than your
>>current 8Mbps
>>
>>> If I need a new modem for the 20Mb downlink, then I would like to get
>>> one which doesn't need its ethernet MAC # configured in the router!!
>>> This is a right PITA and there is no good reason for it. The 300G+
>>> needs this done in order to talk to the router...
>>
>>A Draytek Vigor 120 modem will connect up to ADSL2+M speeds, should just
>>plug in and go with no configuration.
>>
> Many thanks for the suggestion - I've ordered one...

It has a chipset that is compatible with Fujutsi DSLAMS? There was some
crazy claims started by ZEN internet that lots of the Draytek devices had
AR7 chipsets that would not work reliably. This could have been ZEN
bullshit.

"www.GymRatZ.co.uk" <discount-fitness-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

>Peter wrote:
>>> A Draytek Vigor 120 modem will connect up to ADSL2+M speeds, should just
>>> plug in and go with no configuration.
>>>
>>>
>> Many thanks for the suggestion - I've ordered one...
>>
>Just seen this a bit late to be of help now I guess.
>I have 3 Draytek Vigour 100 modems which are identical to the 120
>according to Draytek when I asked them.
>I dumped 2 of the units when I switched 2 of my ISP providers to Be* and
>O2. The Draytek modems wouldn't stretch their legs to give best speeds.
>On my Be* account the Be* box was connecting (sync'd) at over 24Mbps
>downstream and connecting LAN through this box gave absolute maximum
>speeds (currently around 22Mbps) whereas switching to router (Draytek
>2910) and connecting through vigour 100 modem dropped to about 16Mbps.
>
>Solution on Be* is simplest. You set the BeBox into bridged mode and use
>it as simply as the modem plugged into the WAN port of the router where
>it becomes invisible to the network and router.
>On O2 although it's the same box, the firmware is far less friendly to
>switch to bridged mode and it requires re-flashing and quite a bit
>more fiddling to get it to run as bridged mode, but it is possible and
>does work. It also gives a significantly better throughput than the
>Vigour modem, even on a "slow" long connection. (currently around 4Mbps)
>
>Reason (excuse) I found given for the quite appalling ADSL2+ performance
>of the Draytek Vigour 100 was that the modem didn't push to the limits
>of possible connection speeds on the grounds of reliability of
>connection, with Draytek opting for reliability over outright max.
>possible speed. Sounds like a poor excuse for a duff design/chipset to me.
>If you don't have an ISP supplied "BeBox etc" that can be flashed,
>hacked or set-up in bridged mode then the Vigour 120 modem is indeed by
>far the simplest solution. Just don't expect it to take your breath away
>when it comes to maximum possible throughput. I lost about 4 to 5Mbps on
>a 200m exchange line length.
>
>Pete

Interesting....

We are much more than 200m from the exchange. My home (ZEN) is about
1000m and my office (Eclipse) is about 2000m. At both locations I
currently get about 6mbits/sec down and the 448k up.

I am in no great rush to upgrade since a faster downlink is barely
visible given so many slow websites etc, and I am more interested in
sourcing a backup modem in case the Dlink ones fail. The problem with
the D-link is that one cannot do a swap-out replacement; one has to
connect it directly to a PC first (having set the PC to a fixed IP),
connect to the modem, query its MAC#, and then connect to the router
(having set the PC to a dynamic IP, etc) and configure the modem's
Mac# in the router... If I was not bothered about this messing about,
I would buy a spare 300G+ on Ebay.

[snip]

> We are much more than 200m from the exchange. My home (ZEN) is about
> 1000m and my office (Eclipse) is about 2000m. At both locations I
> currently get about 6mbits/sec down and the 448k up.
>
> I am in no great rush to upgrade since a faster downlink is barely
> visible given so many slow websites etc, and I am more interested in
> sourcing a backup modem in case the Dlink ones fail. The problem with
> the D-link is that one cannot do a swap-out replacement; one has to
> connect it directly to a PC first (having set the PC to a fixed IP),
> connect to the modem, query its MAC#, and then connect to the router
> (having set the PC to a dynamic IP, etc) and configure the modem's
> Mac# in the router... If I was not bothered about this messing about,
> I would buy a spare 300G+ on Ebay.

The problem with the Vigor router and the separate Vigor modem is that you
cannot interrogate the modem for its line status (data rate, SNR margin,
line attenuation, etc.) through the router. By contrast, if you connect
that modem to a firewall such as the GNATbox product, you can see the the
Modem status.

The solution is to use any convenient ADSL router (I've used the Edimax
AR-7084A) - configured in bridge mode. The Vigor router passes the PPP
username & password to the Edimax router. But you can connect another
computer to one of the Edimax LAN ports (where it get its LAN address from
the DHCP server in the Edimax) and see the line status that way.

So use your favourate ADSL router but configure it in bridge mode.

Even then, the bridge mode is only really necessary if you want to set up
VPN connections; the alternative is to set the ADSL router conventionally
(with a different network address from the main LAN) and accept that there
are two NAT operations. This would allow you to "see" the ADSL router
through the Vigor. But I can see that probably the only reason you want to
use the Vigor is to support VPN connections.

--
Graham J

"Graham J" <graham@invalid> wrote

>[snip]
>
>> We are much more than 200m from the exchange. My home (ZEN) is about
>> 1000m and my office (Eclipse) is about 2000m. At both locations I
>> currently get about 6mbits/sec down and the 448k up.
>>
>> I am in no great rush to upgrade since a faster downlink is barely
>> visible given so many slow websites etc, and I am more interested in
>> sourcing a backup modem in case the Dlink ones fail. The problem with
>> the D-link is that one cannot do a swap-out replacement; one has to
>> connect it directly to a PC first (having set the PC to a fixed IP),
>> connect to the modem, query its MAC#, and then connect to the router
>> (having set the PC to a dynamic IP, etc) and configure the modem's
>> Mac# in the router... If I was not bothered about this messing about,
>> I would buy a spare 300G+ on Ebay.
>
>The problem with the Vigor router and the separate Vigor modem is that you
>cannot interrogate the modem for its line status (data rate, SNR margin,
>line attenuation, etc.) through the router. By contrast, if you connect
>that modem to a firewall such as the GNATbox product, you can see the the
>Modem status.

I can thus communicate with the Dlink modem though... why does that
work?

However, for a long time this has worked only at one of the two
locations. The 2900 routers are configured identically, except for
different internal network IPs (necessary for the VPN connection to
work).

>The solution is to use any convenient ADSL router (I've used the Edimax
>AR-7084A) - configured in bridge mode. The Vigor router passes the PPP
>username & password to the Edimax router. But you can connect another
>computer to one of the Edimax LAN ports (where it get its LAN address from
>the DHCP server in the Edimax) and see the line status that way.
>
>So use your favourate ADSL router but configure it in bridge mode.
>
>Even then, the bridge mode is only really necessary if you want to set up
>VPN connections; the alternative is to set the ADSL router conventionally
>(with a different network address from the main LAN) and accept that there
>are two NAT operations. This would allow you to "see" the ADSL router
>through the Vigor. But I can see that probably the only reason you want to
>use the Vigor is to support VPN connections.

Yes, and some other stuff which was a b*astard to configure, given my
not very extensive understanding of subnets etc.

On Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:12:25 +0100, Graham J wrote:

> [snip]
>
>> We are much more than 200m from the exchange. My home (ZEN) is about
>> 1000m and my office (Eclipse) is about 2000m. At both locations I
>> currently get about 6mbits/sec down and the 448k up.
>>
>> I am in no great rush to upgrade since a faster downlink is barely
>> visible given so many slow websites etc, and I am more interested in
>> sourcing a backup modem in case the Dlink ones fail. The problem with
>> the D-link is that one cannot do a swap-out replacement; one has to
>> connect it directly to a PC first (having set the PC to a fixed IP),
>> connect to the modem, query its MAC#, and then connect to the router
>> (having set the PC to a dynamic IP, etc) and configure the modem's Mac#
>> in the router... If I was not bothered about this messing about, I
>> would buy a spare 300G+ on Ebay.
>
> The problem with the Vigor router and the separate Vigor modem is that
> you cannot interrogate the modem for its line status (data rate, SNR
> margin, line attenuation, etc.) through the router. By contrast, if you
> connect that modem to a firewall such as the GNATbox product, you can
> see the the Modem status.
>
> The solution is to use any convenient ADSL router (I've used the Edimax
> AR-7084A) - configured in bridge mode.
--

Sounds like a great deal of fhecking around. Does it not support syslog
or SNMP that you can query? My guess is thus, if it is Draytek it will
support one or both, but it won't work properly :-)

"Vicktor Whieste" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:hpcsvs$l75$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:12:25 +0100, Graham J wrote:
>
>> [snip]
>>
>>> We are much more than 200m from the exchange. My home (ZEN) is about
>>> 1000m and my office (Eclipse) is about 2000m. At both locations I
>>> currently get about 6mbits/sec down and the 448k up.
>>>
>>> I am in no great rush to upgrade since a faster downlink is barely
>>> visible given so many slow websites etc, and I am more interested in
>>> sourcing a backup modem in case the Dlink ones fail. The problem with
>>> the D-link is that one cannot do a swap-out replacement; one has to
>>> connect it directly to a PC first (having set the PC to a fixed IP),
>>> connect to the modem, query its MAC#, and then connect to the router
>>> (having set the PC to a dynamic IP, etc) and configure the modem's Mac#
>>> in the router... If I was not bothered about this messing about, I
>>> would buy a spare 300G+ on Ebay.
>>
>> The problem with the Vigor router and the separate Vigor modem is that
>> you cannot interrogate the modem for its line status (data rate, SNR
>> margin, line attenuation, etc.) through the router. By contrast, if you
>> connect that modem to a firewall such as the GNATbox product, you can
>> see the the Modem status.
>>
>> The solution is to use any convenient ADSL router (I've used the Edimax
>> AR-7084A) - configured in bridge mode.
> --
>
> Sounds like a great deal of fhecking around. Does it not support syslog
> or SNMP that you can query? My guess is thus, if it is Draytek it will
> support one or both, but it won't work properly :-)


The Vigor router can write to syslog, but doesn't say anything useful about
the modem, other than that it is connected or not.

--
Graham J