ADSL Modem for Small Office

Irish_Tom · 13 Jul 2009 at 16:38

Lo all,

I work in a small office (10 people) and we've been experiencing internet problems for quite a while but it's now got so bad that my boss wants to do something about it.

After speaking to the service provider we've come to the conclusion that it's a hardware fault at our end rather than a problem with the service.

We've got a Netgear DG834G (don't laugh) connected to a 24-port switch which links all of the computers in the office.

I'm pretty sure it's the Netgear router that can't cope with the traffic and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or recommendations for a replacement.

I'm not really sure how an office would usually connect to the internet as I've only got experience with home networking so any information you could give me would be a great help.

Cheers,

Panzer

Liquidfox · 13 Jul 2009 at 16:48

We use Linksys AG241 routers for most of our clients, and they work just fine.

You could also go to Billion 7300 routers if you don't like Linksys (for some strange reason)

Duke · 13 Jul 2009 at 16:48

Go for a Draytek

http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor2820.html

wij · 13 Jul 2009 at 17:05

As above, DrayTek and a half decent switch, has loads of features you may find helpful such as being able to act as a VPN end point and also easy to set up lan-lan VPN links.

Yamahahahahaha · 13 Jul 2009 at 17:06

Cisco 877-M.

RSR · 14 Jul 2009 at 10:55

Agreed. Cisco 87X Series is idea for the SOHO environment

Irish_Tom · 14 Jul 2009 at 16:41

Cheers for the suggestions guys.

I'll present them to my boss and see what he says.

Panzer

Duke · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:41

andyd said:
Agreed. Cisco 87X Series is idea for the SOHO environment

Bit excessive, especially given the OP is coming from a Netgear. I think the Draytek is a good stepping stone, unless he is getting the Cicso set up for him or something.

wij · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:50

^ My thoughts too, though if he uses SDM Express to configure the Cisco it is not that much harder than the DrayTek or any other SMB level router.

Either would be a good option, and the DrayTek likely comes in at a lower price point whilst offering more features (no licences needed for SSL VPN etc).

RSR · 15 Jul 2009 at 10:16

Duke said:
Bit excessive, especially given the OP is coming from a Netgear. I think the Draytek is a good stepping stone, unless he is getting the Cicso set up for him or something.

Most of the new Cisco stuff is wizard driven, so its not too hard to setup. However, i do think if you have not used Cisco stuff before it can be a bit mind boggling.

I'm personally not a huge fan of Drayteks, ive had one in the past 2800VG iirc and i wasnt too impressed with it. The model i had wasnt stable at all, on a ironic note i down graded it to a Netgear and thats been fine since.

Andy

Confused · 15 Jul 2009 at 14:53

Within the last week we've upgraded from an old Netgear DG834 to a Draytek 2820.

The Netgear was freezing up every few hours, requiring a cold boot. We were getting roughly 5mbps on speed tests (despite syncing at 8mb)

We swapped it out for the new Draytek 2820. The difference was instantly noticeable.

We've not had a single dropped connection/lock-up since, and our line is now syncing at 22mbps, and we're getting speed tests of roughly 19mbps!

For the £130 we paid for it, a 3x speed increase and so far zero hassles - well recommended!