Stable ADSL Hardware / Cisco SOHO 98

Brian Morrison asked me to post on my experiences with the Cisco SOHO 98
that I bought in my quest for ADSL hardware that doesn't suck.

Basically: gw uptime is 1 week, 6 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes

I know it isn't exactly months but that's since I first plugged it in.
Setup was tricky and took a while but hey, I only plan on doing it once.

On the flip side I've been trying to set up wireless NAT for my Mum using
a Netgear DG834G and have had nothing but trouble. Basically running it
from a default setup everything seems fine but as soon as you bring up the
ADSL connection the wireless varies between as stable as a monkey with a
machine gun and completely dead. I read that changing the mode setting to
"g only" helps but as soon as I tried that the web interface died. Now
when I try to reconnect it doesn't accept the admin password and the ADSL
connection has seemingly died. This has happened twice with a reset in
between.

--
"Being a social outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really important
things, like thinking and hacking." - Eric S. Raymond

Simon Morgan wrote:
> Brian Morrison asked me to post on my experiences with the Cisco SOHO 98
> that I bought in my quest for ADSL hardware that doesn't suck.
>
> Basically: gw uptime is 1 week, 6 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes
>
> I know it isn't exactly months but that's since I first plugged it in.
> Setup was tricky and took a while but hey, I only plan on doing it once.

Interesting, and a further report in a while longer would be useful for
everyone even if I don't see it ;-)

>
> On the flip side I've been trying to set up wireless NAT for my Mum using
> a Netgear DG834G and have had nothing but trouble. Basically running it
> from a default setup everything seems fine but as soon as you bring up the
> ADSL connection the wireless varies between as stable as a monkey with a
> machine gun and completely dead. I read that changing the mode setting to
> "g only" helps but as soon as I tried that the web interface died. Now
> when I try to reconnect it doesn't accept the admin password and the ADSL
> connection has seemingly died. This has happened twice with a reset in
> between.
>

I have heard little good about Netgear ADSL routers, but then I've not
had one myself. My Draytek 2600 is fine, but does occasionally fail to
restart a PPP session when the ATM network decides to do something odd
and the connection is interrupted.

Good luck with the Cisco, I hope it doesn't suffer from the recent
revelations about IOS security vulnerabilities, or that you've patched
it already.

--

Brian Morrison

please observe reply-to address

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 21:56:20 +0100, Brian Morrison wrote:

> Interesting, and a further report in a while longer would be useful for
> everyone even if I don't see it ;-)

The reason I posted today was that I was worried I'd forget if I waited
that long. I'll endeavour to remember.

> I have heard little good about Netgear ADSL routers, but then I've not
> had one myself. My Draytek 2600 is fine, but does occasionally fail to
> restart a PPP session when the ATM network decides to do something odd
> and the connection is interrupted.

That's the main problem I seem to have with stuff I've used in the past.
Fair enough if the DSLAM completely spazes out there's not much you can
do, but once the line is in a serviceable state the connection should be
brought up ASAP.

> Good luck with the Cisco, I hope it doesn't suffer from the recent
> revelations about IOS security vulnerabilities, or that you've patched
> it already.

Have they even admitted there's a problem yet? Last I heard they were
instigating a "move along, nothing to see here" policy. Either way,
getting IOS updates out of them is like getting blood out of a stone.

--
"Being a social outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really important
things, like thinking and hacking." - Eric S. Raymond

"Simon Morgan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 21:56:20 +0100, Brian Morrison wrote:
>
> > Interesting, and a further report in a while longer would be useful for
> > everyone even if I don't see it ;-)
>
> The reason I posted today was that I was worried I'd forget if I waited
> that long. I'll endeavour to remember.
>
> > I have heard little good about Netgear ADSL routers, but then I've not
> > had one myself. My Draytek 2600 is fine, but does occasionally fail to
> > restart a PPP session when the ATM network decides to do something odd
> > and the connection is interrupted.
>
> That's the main problem I seem to have with stuff I've used in the past.
> Fair enough if the DSLAM completely spazes out there's not much you can
> do, but once the line is in a serviceable state the connection should be
> brought up ASAP.

we use 837s, 1721, 1751, and soon the newer ISRs on UK DSLAMs as part of a
private BT Datastream service

although this isnt "raw" Internet, i havent heard of any issues where the
box needs to be bounced to resolve a glitch
>
> > Good luck with the Cisco, I hope it doesn't suffer from the recent
> > revelations about IOS security vulnerabilities, or that you've patched
> > it already.
>
> Have they even admitted there's a problem yet? Last I heard they were
> instigating a "move along, nothing to see here" policy. Either way,
> getting IOS updates out of them is like getting blood out of a stone.

cisco normally charge for updates since they target enterprise customers via
resellers, and that and the other after sales service is where they make a
big chunk of money, but they will issue patches FOC when a major
vulnerability comes up

it is worth asking your supplier what they can do for software only updates

security vulnerability page:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/...s_listing.html

Policy on update
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/...ty_policy.html

>
> --
> "Being a social outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really
important
> things, like thinking and hacking." - Eric S. Raymond
>
--
Regards

(E-Mail Removed) - replace xyz with ntl