Looking for a modem suggestion ...

Anyone got any suggestions as to what a good ADSL (2+) modem might be
these days? I'm after just the modem - will be doing routing/firewalling,
etc. elsewhere. Preferably one with Ethernet! (Are there any 2+ on
USB yet?)

I'd also consider an existing modem/router combo if I can turn the router
bit off and just run it in bridge mode.

The key thing here is a good solid ADSL interface - good for marginal
lines for example...

Cost is a factor, so nothing stupidly expensive, although I'm fully aware
that I'll get what I pay for!

Cheers,

Gordon

"Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1p6dnV-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Gordon Henderson wrote:
>
>> Anyone got any suggestions as to what a good ADSL (2+) modem might be
>> these days? I'm after just the modem - will be doing routing/firewalling,
>> etc. elsewhere. Preferably one with Ethernet! (Are there any 2+ on
>> USB yet?)
>
> ADSL modems in general are less plentiful than ADSL routers, the latter
> suits more requirements, but DrayTek still do one
>
> http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor110.html
>
> Some ADSL routers can be put into bridge mode for PPPoE but I can't
> remember which.

I struggled to get a Vigor router to give good speed (typically 1Mbit/sec at
18dB SNR margin, would never improve) on my poor line, so I suspect a Vigor
modem might suffer the same way.

However I found a cheap Edimax router which can be configured in bridge
mode, which means it functions as a PPPoE modem. Consistently achieves
about 2Mbits/sec at 6 dB SNR margin. See
http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=edimax+7084a - they used to be £18 but
are now £22.25. Their wallwart PSUs do fail, however ... (Scan tell me the
failure rate they see is 2%, which they think is acceptable. I've seen
about 20% fail within the 1 year warranty period - so I send them all back
for replacement.)

I use two, with a Vigor 2910, on two separate phone lines.

--
Graham J

In article <492dafa4$0$2528$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Graham J <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>"Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:1p6dnV-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Gordon Henderson wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone got any suggestions as to what a good ADSL (2+) modem might be
>>> these days? I'm after just the modem - will be doing routing/firewalling,
>>> etc. elsewhere. Preferably one with Ethernet! (Are there any 2+ on
>>> USB yet?)
>>
>> ADSL modems in general are less plentiful than ADSL routers, the latter
>> suits more requirements, but DrayTek still do one
>>
>> http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor110.html
>>
>> Some ADSL routers can be put into bridge mode for PPPoE but I can't
>> remember which.
>
>I struggled to get a Vigor router to give good speed (typically 1Mbit/sec at
>18dB SNR margin, would never improve) on my poor line, so I suspect a Vigor
>modem might suffer the same way.
>
>However I found a cheap Edimax router which can be configured in bridge
>mode, which means it functions as a PPPoE modem. Consistently achieves
>about 2Mbits/sec at 6 dB SNR margin. See
>http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=edimax+7084a - they used to be £18 but
>are now £22.25. Their wallwart PSUs do fail, however ... (Scan tell me the
>failure rate they see is 2%, which they think is acceptable. I've seen
>about 20% fail within the 1 year warranty period - so I send them all back
>for replacement.)

Thanks for that - I currently hav Drayteks and I know about the 110 modem,
but am not 100% happy with them these days... And I won't buy from Scan
after I had problems with them and a 2% failure rate is a shade high
for me, however..

Thanks,

Gordon

Gordon Henderson wrote:

> Anyone got any suggestions as to what a good ADSL (2+) modem might be
> these days? I'm after just the modem - will be doing routing/firewalling,
> etc. elsewhere. Preferably one with Ethernet! (Are there any 2+ on
> USB yet?)

I'm using a BeBox in EoA bridge mode. I don't know if it'll bridge PPPoA and
I don't know if it's any good on marginal lines. I think ASDL2+ falls back
to ADSL2 on poor lines BICBW.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
20:57:02 up 13 days, 23:50, 2 users, load average: 0.07, 0.10, 0.08
They call me titless because I have no tits

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, alexd <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>Gordon Henderson wrote:
>
>> Anyone got any suggestions as to what a good ADSL (2+) modem might be
>> these days? I'm after just the modem - will be doing routing/firewalling,
>> etc. elsewhere. Preferably one with Ethernet! (Are there any 2+ on
>> USB yet?)
>
>I'm using a BeBox in EoA bridge mode. I don't know if it'll bridge PPPoA and
>I don't know if it's any good on marginal lines. I think ASDL2+ falls back
>to ADSL2 on poor lines BICBW.

I had to google to find out what a BeBox was ;-)

Bit "feature" rich for what I want though! I'm going to experiment with
one of the new Drayteks and a Linksys AM200 to see what they're like.

In-case anyones wondering, I've been quite frustrated by the features
(or lack thereof) on various combined modem/routers recnetly for my
VoIP PBXs, so I plan to make the PBX be the router too - it's not a
solution for everyone, (and it'll be optional!) but I know a lot of SMEs
who'd benefit from it and I built up a Linux router system a few years
back, so putting it in the PBX system is fairly trivial... I just need
the modem side of things.

Thanks,

Gordon

Gordon Henderson wrote:

> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, alexd <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:

>>I'm using a BeBox in EoA bridge mode.

> Bit "feature" rich for what I want though! I'm going to experiment with
> one of the new Drayteks and a Linksys AM200 to see what they're like.

Thought you might appreciate the built in ATA [although I've never got mine
working with a local Asterisk box - always assumed it's the config that Be
put on it that's to blame].

> In-case anyones wondering, I've been quite frustrated by the features
> (or lack thereof) on various combined modem/routers recnetly for my
> VoIP PBXs,

What particular features were you after?

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
19:05:32 up 14 days, 21:59, 2 users, load average: 0.12, 0.07, 0.02
They call me titless because I have no tits

>
> What particular features were you after?
>

Is seems he's looking for *no* features, just a plain modem.
He wants to implement any features he needs externally.

--
R.

In article <4931bf37$0$507$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Ron Lowe <ronATlowe-famlyDOTmeDOTukSPURIOUS> wrote:
>>
>> What particular features were you after?
>
>Is seems he's looking for *no* features, just a plain modem.
>He wants to implement any features he needs externally.

That's more or less it.

It's a way to end the eternal frustrations I have with some clients
who've got weird (or no!) existing modem/router boxes.

The main thing I want is reliable QoS/traffic shaping. Easy to use network
config comes next, along with reliable DNS. (although most devices are
good these days, so the usual stuff - DNS, DHCP, NAT being setup in a
sane manner)

There are also issues when you run VoIP (SIP) behind NAT, so a way to get
the VoIP engine right on the external IP address without port-forwarding,
etc. is a desired thing too.

Cheers,

Gordon