Anyone Using an Asus DSL-AC68U

Ixel said:
Re-enabling TCM seemed to make the FEC go wild quicker than it did when it was disabled at 72Mbps downstream sync rate.

Also, as a note, BT Openreach are supposed to be rolling out G.INP to VDSL2 connections (FTTC) this month - it's unknown as to whether this will be applied by DLM or whether it will just be enabled on all connections by default anyway (would seem more sensible since G.INP is a dynamic form of interleaving and so is non-intrusive compared to the conventional interleaving and INP). If it's mandatory then disabling G.INP on the ASUS DSL-AC68U may result in no sync when G.INP is enabled on your connection.
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Regular VDSL2 is G.993.2
Vectored VDSL2 is G.993.5

There is very little difference Vectored G.993.5 basically just improves FEXT (far-end crosstalk) in the downstream and upstream directions. Technically BT could raise the speed to around 100Mb also but BT have already stated they are unlikely to do that. Vectored will not be the saviour of poor lines either and any real benefit you are likely to have to be around 400M or less from the cabinet. Long line will still be poor, although vectoring will help slightly but a 2000+M line is not suddenly going to see 76Mb with no problem.

The Asus may be G.993.5 ready already. Look on web config for a screen with modulation settings and see if there is anyway to not only select Annex and connection type (IE ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, VDSL etc) but also change the G.xxx.x value.

Vectoring either manages to cancel noise or it does not, anyone with a really bad line where there is so much far end crosstalk the correction routine can not keep up is unlikely to see much difference.

For sensible length lines though it should help in regards to at least DLM which at the moment will all too easily interfere even if you have a good line.

chriscatt said:
So I have to look at the adsl uptime to see that my modem is as unstable at holding a connection as any others? Can I ask again if there would be anything gained by updating to the latest firmware?
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Install something like routerstats http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/internet/files.htm and leave that running in the system tray if you really want to check if your connection is staying up or dropping over several days.
 
bitsNbobs said:
Regular VDSL2 is G.993.2
Vectored VDSL2 is G.993.5

There is very little difference Vectored G.993.5 basically just improves FEXT (far-end crosstalk) in the downstream and upstream directions. Technically BT could raise the speed to around 100Mb also but BT have already stated they are unlikely to do that. Vectored will not be the saviour of poor lines either and any real benefit you are likely to have to be around 400M or less from the cabinet. Long line will still be poor, although vectoring will help slightly but a 2000+M line is not suddenly going to see 76Mb with no problem.

The Asus may be G.993.5 ready already. Look on web config for a screen with modulation settings and see if there is anyway to not only select Annex and connection type (IE ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, VDSL etc) but also change the G.xxx.x value.

Vectoring either manages to cancel noise or it does not, anyone with a really bad line where there is so much far end crosstalk the correction routine can not keep up is unlikely to see much difference.

For sensible length lines though it should help in regards to at least DLM which at the moment will all too easily interfere even if you have a good line.



Install something like routerstats http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/internet/files.htm and leave that running in the system tray if you really want to check if your connection is staying up or dropping over several days.
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Yeah, but in this case I was talking about G.INP. G.vector is still unknown and presumably being analysed by BT Openreach as to how to proceed - as no mention of a rollout for G.vector was mentioned unfortunately although an engineer has stated that they believe it might begin from February of this year based on the limited information they've seen (though I somehow doubt it will).
 
I happy to telnet in to see my stats but thanks for the advice, what about the firmware, install it or wait for the next one in the hope asus sort out the spectrum?
 
Ixel said:
Make sure you kill the spectrum process as it is still causing instability until ASUS make changes to that.

Do the following via telnet (e.g. using PuTTY software, and assuming you enabled telnet access via the administrative settings on the device):
Code: 
killall -9 spectrum

But yes, excellent progress in improving the stability of this device is being made for sure.
.
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Well after a almost 60hrs of use what a difference this device is compared to mid November when I returned mine for a refund. It would seem your right about the 'spectrum' process, and having disabled it the Asus has been rock solid on my line to the point DLM for the first time in ages took positive action on my line.

I've got the use of this device until roughly the end of January so it will be really interesting to see how it runs long term.

I'm almost tempted to go buy one again, they are only £159.99 at PC World.
 
Ixel said:
Yeah, but in this case I was talking about G.INP. G.vector is still unknown and presumably being analysed by BT Openreach as to how to proceed - as no mention of a rollout for G.vector was mentioned unfortunately although an engineer has stated that they believe it might begin from February of this year based on the limited information they've seen (though I somehow doubt it will).
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G.998.4 (Previously known as G.INP) will make even less of a difference, its just an upgrade basically to Impulse Noise Protection (INP). On a line like yours and how low errors and FEC actually is (see stats from your HG612 rather than what the Asus reports) its unlikely to make any difference at all. Though i guess its possible for whatever reason the Asus device may end up preferring it.

chriscatt said:
I happy to telnet in to see my stats but thanks for the advice, what about the firmware, install it or wait for the next one in the hope asus sort out the spectrum?
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If you believe your line is stable then personally id leave the firmware alone, if it is not broke do not fix it ;) The spectrum thing being discussed needs killing it whatever firmware version you have.

chriscatt said:
Interesting:
ADSLUpTime=4 days, 6:14, 33 secs

Still showing the same figure...
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As i said ignore that it could be anything from reporting actual up time to shortest or longest or prior period. Not unusual for devices to report things like that inaccurately (or rather named inaccurately). You are far better off with monitoring software installed if you really want to see what your line is doing and if its dropping or not. Personally if i were you and you do not notice your line dropping and the error figures (IGNORE FEC) are all reasonable and speed has not dropped to stupid levels (IE loss of more than 15(ish)Mb) then id just leave the device well alone.
 
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bitsNbobs said:
G.998.4 (Previously known as G.INP) will make even less of a difference, its just an upgrade basically to Impulse Noise Protection (INP). On a line like yours and how low errors and FEC actually is (see stats from your HG612 rather than what the Asus reports) its unlikely to make any difference at all. Though i guess its possible for whatever reason the Asus device may end up preferring it.



If you believe your line is stable then personally id leave the firmware alone, if it is not broke do not fix it ;) The spectrum thing being discussed needs killing it whatever firmware version you have.



As i said ignore that it could be anything from reporting actual up time to shortest or longest or prior period. Not unusual for devices to report things like that inaccurately (or rather named inaccurately). You are far better off with monitoring software installed if you really want to see what your line is doing and if its dropping or not. Personally if i were you and you do not notice your line dropping and the error figures (IGNORE FEC) are all reasonable and speed has not dropped to stupid levels (IE loss of more than 15(ish)Mb) then id just leave the device well alone.
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Ok I get it now and I've disabled the spectrum. Many thanks for your patience in answering my queries and your help...
 
@chriscatt

No problem, without looking back im not sure what speeds etc you are getting compared to openreach supplied gear, but if you have had 4 days, 9 days or even more uptime then its pretty safe to assume your line with the Asus is pretty stable. Ideally no connection should drop at all but if you are syncing for several days then its likely there would not be much you could do to make it even better. If a line is unstable it will normally lose connection within 24 hours or 48 hours at most. Yours obviously stays up longer than that regardless of any uptime figure its reporting :)
 
Cheers for that and thanks for your help again, I think I am being to understand some of the 'foibles' of this device now...
 
The only issue you have is that you are interleaved. Now that might be because the DSL portion isn't staying up for a long enough period to allow DLM to remove that interleaving. However, if you're not gaming online then you're probably not going to notice much impact of interleaving and you're getting the full sync for Infinity 1.
 
New firmware released today - security fix and no changes to the DSL side of things (at least according to the info on the Asus site):

ASUS DSL-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.376_2160
-Fixed infosvr security issue.
-Fixed Cross-site request forgery security issue
 
At the moment I'm 8ms downstream and 8ms upstream, and for some reason I'm not noticing the effects as much as I used to (that being I can still snipe reasonably well on Team Fortress 2 for example). While I'd prefer having 8ms only on the downstream - in time that will happen once DLM makes positive changes, it was my own doing as I think I may have re-synced too many times in one day without realising. Having a light form of interleaving on the downstream is pretty important for my line, despite the speed it can achieve. I'm hoping once G.INP is rolled out that this will no longer be needed and G.INP can automatically handle errors as and when they occasionally occur in very small amounts.

P.S. It's now confirmed that G.INP is rolling out as of today (UK FTTC on BT's network) [1].

[1] http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=14867.msg277882#msg277882
 
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Ixel said:
At the moment I'm 8ms downstream and 8ms upstream, and for some reason I'm not noticing the effects as much as I used to (that being I can still snipe reasonably well on Team Fortress 2 for example). While I'd prefer having 8ms only on the downstream - in time that will happen once DLM makes positive changes, it was my own doing as I think I may have re-synced too many times in one day without realising. Having a light form of interleaving on the downstream is pretty important for my line, despite the speed it can achieve. I'm hoping once G.INP is rolled out that this will no longer be needed and G.INP can automatically handle errors as and when they occasionally occur in very small amounts.

P.S. It's now confirmed that G.INP is rolling out as of today (UK FTTC on BT's network) [1].

[1] http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=14867.msg277882#msg277882
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May be worth everyone monitoring their connection for a week or so as your actual connection will likely have to drop if they set things up for devices to automatically use G.998.4 (AKA G.INP) and resync. Expect some stats in addition to error rates etc to change also. If they tie the resync in some manner to their DLM system then expect it to happen between 6pm to 4am.
 
bitsNbobs said:
May be worth everyone monitoring their connection for a week or so as your actual connection will likely have to drop if they set things up for devices to automatically use G.998.4 (AKA G.INP) and resync. Expect some stats in addition to error rates etc to change also. If they tie the resync in some manner to their DLM system then expect it to happen between 6pm to 4am.
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Yeah, as of tonight I will probably go back to connection settings specified by DLM at the moment - until the rollout is effective on my line (assuming G.INP will be enabled all of the time rather than when DLM sees fit - it would seem stupid if it's not enabled in the background all of the time).
 
So why aren't Asus releasing firmware that works towards fixing the issues this modem has instead of window dressing?
 
chriscatt said:
So why aren't Asus releasing firmware that works towards fixing the issues this modem has instead of window dressing?
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Good question, maybe they aren't convinced that spectrum is causing problems still? Or... perhaps they need more time to make changes to spectrum? I don't know, but it's a good question however.
 
Evil Shubunkin said:
The only issue you have is that you are interleaved. Now that might be because the DSL portion isn't staying up for a long enough period to allow DLM to remove that interleaving. However, if you're not gaming online then you're probably not going to notice much impact of interleaving and you're getting the full sync for Infinity 1.
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If it is anything to go by the BT Wholesale test has my d/load at 31.9Mbps, my upload at 8.69Mbps and ping at 19.63ms.
 
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