Cheapest ADSL modem for 'tests' ..?

Hi all,

I popped into a mates on Sunday because he said his "(wireless)
network has stopped working, Zonealarm had come up with something
(don't you like that) so they removed it (?) but none of the (3)
machines could get onto the internet (<ahem> nothing to do with Zone
alarm was it then <cough>) ;-)

I was able to connect to the router from one of the PC's, all the i/p
addresses were good' but no access to the net. The WAN stats said all
was ok so I power-cycled the router <like you do>.

Apart from the 'on' LED nothing else came up .. no WIFi nor ADSL LEDs?

Although at that point I thought it was the router I thought I'd like
to test the ADSL line and luckily he had kept his Voyager 100 so I
connected it back up to his 'main' machine and he was back on the net.

So. I read here a while ago you could get cheap signup kits (Wanadoo?)
and you got a USB modem and a couple of filters for 20 quid .. but ..
the modem was 'locked' to that ISP ?

So, is there such a package I could just go and buy ... or do I look
for summat cheap on eBay (and how would I know if it was one of the
ISP specifics ones) please?

All the best ..

T i m (Nth London)

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:02:47 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>So, is there such a package I could just go and buy ... or do I look
>for summat cheap on eBay (and how would I know if it was one of the
>ISP specifics ones) please?

BT Voyager 105 modem on Ebay for £20 or less, driver downloads
available at http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb105/prodinfo.htm

Fujitsu FDX310 is similar and usually cheaper on Ebay.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:24:29 +0100, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:02:47 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>So, is there such a package I could just go and buy ... or do I look
>>for summat cheap on eBay (and how would I know if it was one of the
>>ISP specifics ones) please?
>
>BT Voyager 105 modem on Ebay for £20 or less, driver downloads
>available at http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb105/prodinfo.htm

Thanks for that ... is there any difference between the 100 and 105
... (and do either exist that are 'locked' to an ISP) do you know (or
if such exists are they badged differently)?
>
>Fujitsu FDX310 is similar and usually cheaper on Ebay.

I suppose I'd want something that was 'known' to be the most flexible
/ reliable (if this is supposed to be a form of go / no go test). It's
also comforting to be able to say (for example) to BT support "It's a
BT Voyager modem and the DSL led is off" ?

All the best ..

T i m

T i m wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:24:29 +0100, Phil Thompson
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:02:47 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> So, is there such a package I could just go and buy ... or do I look
>>> for summat cheap on eBay (and how would I know if it was one of the
>>> ISP specifics ones) please?
>>
>> BT Voyager 105 modem on Ebay for £20 or less, driver downloads
>> available at http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb105/prodinfo.htm
>
> Thanks for that ... is there any difference between the 100 and 105
> .. (and do either exist that are 'locked' to an ISP) do you know (or
> if such exists are they badged differently)?
>>
>> Fujitsu FDX310 is similar and usually cheaper on Ebay.
>
> I suppose I'd want something that was 'known' to be the most flexible
> / reliable (if this is supposed to be a form of go / no go test). It's
> also comforting to be able to say (for example) to BT support "It's a
> BT Voyager modem and the DSL led is off" ?
>

Get a Voyager 105 USB 'Modem' as used by all BT Broadband engineers. Even
the remote test are supposedly calibrated to be fairly accurate (how
accurate I've yet to see) with that model..

The other one would be a Thompson 330 but this would only give you limited
credibility compared to the 105. I use one on the odd occaisions I need to
check whether the line will work with different chipsets

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:41:29 +0100, "kraftee" <kraftee@spamoff&die>
wrote:


>Get a Voyager 105 USB 'Modem' as used by all BT Broadband engineers. Even
>the remote test are supposedly calibrated to be fairly accurate (how
>accurate I've yet to see) with that model..

Ok .. and they are better than the 100 model (they look bigger from
the pics .. bulkier to carry about)?
>
>The other one would be a Thompson 330 but this would only give you limited
>credibility compared to the 105. I use one on the odd occaisions I need to
>check whether the line will work with different chipsets

Understood.

So, (just to make sure) ANY BT Voyager 105 will work on ALL (UK) ADSL
lines (that they should work with) inc and then to AOL, Virgin etc
etc?

All the best ..

T i m

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:11:33 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>is there any difference between the 100 and 105

don't know, the 105 is newer so go for that. You can replace the
firmware so WGAS what it has in it.

The Fujitsu has the same guts as the Voyager

Voyager 105 used by BT Engineers so probably has most street cred.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 23:03:28 +0100, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:11:33 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>is there any difference between the 100 and 105
>
>don't know, the 105 is newer so go for that. You can replace the
>firmware so WGAS what it has in it.
>
>The Fujitsu has the same guts as the Voyager
>
>Voyager 105 used by BT Engineers so probably has most street cred.
>
>Phil

Thanks for that Phil.

I think I have spotted two designs of BT Voyager 105 ... one looks
just like the 100 and the other looks snazzier but bigger?

Alll the best ..

T i m

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:43:07 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I think I have spotted two designs of BT Voyager 105

pass. http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb_index.htm

the 105 on the right fits in your hand. There's a 205 but you don't
need the router capability if this is just for testing.

I can't guarantee you what any modem will do. The BT site gives you
firmware / drivers to download and fry its brain in any case. I have
an ex-AOL one FWIW.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 00:10:40 +0100, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:43:07 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>I think I have spotted two designs of BT Voyager 105
>
>pass. http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb_index.htm
>
>the 105 on the right fits in your hand. There's a 205 but you don't
>need the router capability if this is just for testing.

Ah, cheers ..
>
>I can't guarantee you what any modem will do. The BT site gives you
>firmware / drivers to download and fry its brain in any case.

Turning 'any' 105 into a 'BT' 105 as such?

I have
>an ex-AOL one FWIW.

Thanks for that Phil.

All the best ..

T i m

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 06:31:47 GMT, T i m <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Turning 'any' 105 into a 'BT' 105 as such?

they're all BT Voyager 105 modems and branded as such, the AOL one
also has an AOL logo next to the BT logo with "working together"
written underneath (puke)

the key thing for your purposes is that the firmware download provides
the Ctrl/F1 access to extra menus for statistics etc if the one you
get doesn't have it already.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.