Router performance on FTTC

My FTTC (with Enta) was installed on Monday

The first thing anyone does is find out how fast their connection is, so I've run a few tests. All are from the same PC (an HP Elitebook 8440p with a Core i7 etc etc on a CAT5 cable).

BT Speedtester reports the IP Profile as 34.1Mbps down / 10Mbps up As the crow-flies, I'm about 300m from the FTTC cabinet, probably 500m following the road. Expected speed was 16.6Mbps / 7.9Mbps, so the checker is as conservative as ever.

Direct into the VDSL modem:



Through a brand-new Zyxel NBG-460N I've borrowed from work:



I had to chuckle at Zyxel sticking a Gigabit WAN port on it.

My rather old (at least 5 years) but trusty SonicWall TZ150:



Will see what others routers I can find to test but I can see FTTC/P causing a few headaches when it shows a lot of routers aren't up to the job.

custom made router, or buy the Netgear WNDR3700

have a look at the review for it by thinkbroadband

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/hardw...3700-dual-band-wireless-n-gigabit-router.html

Also this hardware can DD-wrt if your looking for the extra tweek in performance, although the stock firmware is more than capable of doing what you need.

Very nice.

I'm glad you went with a decent ISP and NOT BT Infinity.

The Draytek Vigor 2130n is definitely capable of handling 40Mb/s WAN. Check out ALIX with PfSense if you're hardcore.

I work for an Enta reseller, so straight forward to move to FTTC.

ALIX / PfSense looks like an interesting little project, though I want the router to do wireless (can't be bothered with loads of boxes at home anymore).

I've grabbed a SonicWall TZ200 for testing next and if I can bothered to take it out of our test rack, I can try a Cisco 2651XM.

Cool. The ALIX can do wireless (802.11g only at the moment). It's just a case of slotting the WiFi card in the mobo and connecting the antenna.

The only other box you'll need is a gigabit switch unless you go for something like the Draytek.

Interesting, thanks fluff.

Factory fresh SonicWall TZ200



Much better.

Did you try different servers on speedtest.net? For me Birmingham isn't very consistent and doesn't reflect the actual throughput I can receive.



I get much more accurate results with Maidenhead, London or Manchester.

Chris, i notice you are in Stoke-on-Trent like me!! May i ask how much you are paying for FTTC? Didn't think Stoke was enable yet!

Ah, I actually live near Crewe now. I've never got round to updating my profile.

I work for an Enta reseller, so it's £22.25+VAT per month for a Business 45 account. Setup was £47+VAT (had an option of 40/2Mbps for £35+VAT).

I've tried a few other Speedtest.net servers but didn't see anything hugely different from Birmingham.

Next up for testing is NetGear WNR1000 - pretty cheap but thought I'd test it whilst it's kicking about in the office.

#Chri5# said:

Ah, I actually live near Crewe now. I've never got round to updating my profile.

I work for an Enta reseller, so it's £22.25+VAT per month for a Business 45 account. Setup was £47+VAT (had an option of 40/2Mbps for £35+VAT).

I've tried a few other Speedtest.net servers but didn't see anything hugely different from Birmingham.

Next up for testing is NetGear WNR1000 - pretty cheap but thought I'd test it whilst it's kicking about in the office.

Click to expand...

Aww shame Back to the waiting game!

So, tonight's test is a brand-new WNR1000





Not bad for a £30 router, better than the twice-the-price Zyxel (though it's only B/G WiFi and 10/100 Ethernet)

For a reference point for tonight, another one from my TZ150:

Not acceptable!

Today's test is a NetGear DGFV338. Not much difference between Birmingham and Maidstone:

Nice.

#Chri5# said:

Not much difference between Birmingham and Maidstone

Click to expand...

Of course, that's not down to the router

@#Chri5# - you should use something like smokeping and post the results so we can see what happens when the off-peak period kicks in.