ADSL router recommendations wanted

I know this has been asked many times before but things move one and new
hardware becomes available, etc.

I'm after an ADSL router for my home connection, my main requirements
are:-

A good and reasonable easy to configure firewall.

Wireless isn't a major use, I'm all wired, but a wireless port
might be useful.

Doesn't have to incorporate a switch as I have an 8 port
gigabit switch anyway.


I probably don't want:-

Speedtouch - very reliable but the firewall configuration is
limited from the web interface and arcane from the CLI.

Zyxel - Almost perfect except both the ones I have had (two different
models) have had annoying software glitches. The 660H I'm currently
using hangs ssh connections every so often. The 2602 I used to use
died and had to be rebooted every so often if (and only if) you used
some of its more arcane functions. I like the firewall on the Zyxels
though.

--
Chris Green

In article <47fe883c$0$753$(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> I know this has been asked many times before but things move one and new
> hardware becomes available, etc.
>
> I'm after an ADSL router for my home connection, my main requirements
> are:-
>
> A good and reasonable easy to configure firewall.
>
> Wireless isn't a major use, I'm all wired, but a wireless port
> might be useful.
>
> Doesn't have to incorporate a switch as I have an 8 port
> gigabit switch anyway.
>
>
> I probably don't want:-
>
> Speedtouch - very reliable but the firewall configuration is
> limited from the web interface and arcane from the CLI.
>
> Zyxel - Almost perfect except both the ones I have had (two different
> models) have had annoying software glitches. The 660H I'm currently
> using hangs ssh connections every so often. The 2602 I used to use
> died and had to be rebooted every so often if (and only if) you used
> some of its more arcane functions. I like the firewall on the Zyxels
> though.

Anyhting from the Draytek range. They are highly configurable for every
function.
--
Regards
Jon

Jon <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> In article <47fe883c$0$753$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
> > I know this has been asked many times before but things move one and new
> > hardware becomes available, etc.
> >
> > I'm after an ADSL router for my home connection, my main requirements
> > are:-
> >
> > A good and reasonable easy to configure firewall.
> >
> > Wireless isn't a major use, I'm all wired, but a wireless port
> > might be useful.
> >
> > Doesn't have to incorporate a switch as I have an 8 port
> > gigabit switch anyway.
> >
> >
> > I probably don't want:-
> >
> > Speedtouch - very reliable but the firewall configuration is
> > limited from the web interface and arcane from the CLI.
> >
> > Zyxel - Almost perfect except both the ones I have had (two different
> > models) have had annoying software glitches. The 660H I'm currently
> > using hangs ssh connections every so often. The 2602 I used to use
> > died and had to be rebooted every so often if (and only if) you used
> > some of its more arcane functions. I like the firewall on the Zyxels
> > though.
>
> Anyhting from the Draytek range. They are highly configurable for every
> function.

I might go Draytek, they do seem to have a loyal following.

Any comments on the Asus routers anyone?

--
Chris Green

If you might be going for an ADSL2+ based ISP (Be/O2) go for a Netgear
DG834GT - they are often sold as Sky-branded ones on Ebay.

I got a GT from Ebay for £25, and a week ago I got a fully working
nearly-new one from a car boot sale for £3 (ultrabargain!)

Stick the UberGT firmware on it using the Netgear recovery utility, and
it should (should/might/maybe/probably) be very stable indeed.

Speedtouches haven't been very reliable in my experience - I've tried a
780WL and 585v6, even gone as far as adding heatsinks, vent holes and
replacing the caps with nice Rubycons. They still freeze or reconnect
every few days or more often.

And regarding Draytek - they went downhill after the 2600 range. My 2600
was rock solid, but my 2800VG was very very unreliable - it reconnected
(after a good 5-10 minutes) very very regularly, i.e. every few hours.
This was on a very short line, as I could play squash on the exchange
building from the end of my driveway. And I had to replace the
short-lived PSU with a good quality Mascot PSU.

Sam <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> If you might be going for an ADSL2+ based ISP (Be/O2) go for a Netgear
> DG834GT - they are often sold as Sky-branded ones on Ebay.
>
> I got a GT from Ebay for £25, and a week ago I got a fully working
> nearly-new one from a car boot sale for £3 (ultrabargain!)
>
> Stick the UberGT firmware on it using the Netgear recovery utility, and
> it should (should/might/maybe/probably) be very stable indeed.
>
> Speedtouches haven't been very reliable in my experience - I've tried a
> 780WL and 585v6, even gone as far as adding heatsinks, vent holes and
> replacing the caps with nice Rubycons. They still freeze or reconnect
> every few days or more often.

My Speedtouch 716WL was (is still) *very* reliable, it just works, all
the time, day after day. My problems have been with the somewhat
limited web configuration facilities. One bug/feature I had to work
around using the CLI and to get the firewall working as I wanted I had
to use the CLI. The Speedtouch CLI is not the most friendly of
interfaces to say yhe least.

The Zyxel 660H I tried instead for a while isn't reliable, I don't
think it's anything to do with the hardware, it's the firmware. Using
it for interactive command line sessions the connection hangs
occasionally, never had that with the Speedtouch and (with my new
router, see below) I'm not seeing it either.


I have now splashed out and bought a Draytel Vigor 2820n, so far (only
24hrs) I'm very happy with it, seems rock solid and the web
configuration facilities are very comprehensive. So far too I have
been able to understand everything in the web configuration quite
quickly which hasn't always been true with previous routers. I have
one minor query (see separate posting) but that's all.

--
Chris Green

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>I know this has been asked many times before but things move one and new
>hardware becomes available, etc.
>
>I'm after an ADSL router for my home connection, my main requirements
>are:-
>
> A good and reasonable easy to configure firewall.
>
> Wireless isn't a major use, I'm all wired, but a wireless port
> might be useful.
>
> Doesn't have to incorporate a switch as I have an 8 port
> gigabit switch anyway.
>
>
>I probably don't want:-
>
> Speedtouch - very reliable but the firewall configuration is
> limited from the web interface and arcane from the CLI.
>
> Zyxel - Almost perfect except both the ones I have had (two different
> models) have had annoying software glitches. The 660H I'm currently
> using hangs ssh connections every so often. The 2602 I used to use
> died and had to be rebooted every so often if (and only if) you used
> some of its more arcane functions. I like the firewall on the Zyxels
> though.

Netgear stuff seems good and reliable. Works well here on a relatively long line.

The DG834G has a decent firewall and VPN facilities (though I've not used them yet).
Generally the Netgear routers seem to be stable and reliable IME.

If anyone has used the VPN how easy was it to set up and how stable/secure is it?





--

Andrew Sayers