BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

So I guess we're going to have to play a "guessing game" to when GFAST will be rolled out in which areas now, or is there a schedule somewhere I don't know about.
 
So I now have Plusnet Fibre and the router is, as most say, usable to a point. What good routers can be had for around £100? I don't mind going over £20 or so.

How about the NETGEAR R7800 or the ASUS RT-AC66U?
 
Greg0986 said:
So I now have Plusnet Fibre and the router is, as most say, usable to a point. What good routers can be had for around £100? I don't mind going over £20 or so.

How about the NETGEAR R7800 or the ASUS RT-AC66U?
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If you can stretch to £140, the RT-AC86U is a nice bit of kit. Merlin is using it as his dev unit for his new firmware's if you're into that
 
I've went from a N66U to the AC86U, both are very good but the 86U is a cracking bit of kit.

Also a Merlin user here too.


I've also just got a Raspberry Pi Zero W running off the routers USB port (for power, the only connection it needs) that runs DSL Stats from my unlocked HG612 and logs the data 24/7 set up, its rather handy to see what your line's doing if you're interested in that kid of thing.
 
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Jumping in here, been looking at new routers for ages now as my HH5 is getting really unreliable. What modem do people recommend with the RT-AC86U? Would an openreach modem on Ebay suffice or should I go for something else?
 
The HG612 3B is the standard recommendation. Don't pay significantly extra for an unlocked version (allowing access to line stats); it takes five minutes with an ethernet cable.
 
Yep, unlocked HG612 and AC86U here too, great combo and 100% reliable. Its dead easy, just like flashing a new FW with a couple of extra steps.



Anyone running an unlocked HG612 I highly recommend investing in a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w']Raspberry Pi Zero W or https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w

Something like the kits they supply will give you all you need will need a case too. It can be powered by the USB socket on the router and needs no other connections as it has WiFi built in.

Install DSLStats on it and you have a system that will monitor the quality of your connection 24/7. It can be set up to email you if the connection drops or if your SNR drops below a certain level.

Have it upload to https://www.mydslwebstats.co.uk/Container.htm and you can see a wealth of info on your line. Super handy if you have issues. (like I have in the past)


That is even easier than unlocking the modem. :)
 
FYI the Huawei modems are getting on a bit now and it's not inconceivable that if you pick one up today that it's already done six years of service. They are still a decent option, but don't pay over the odds. A TP Link TD-W9970 for example can be bridged and act as just a modem, and is only £30 new.
 
Don't bother with the DM200 - I picked one up on sale with the idea of keeping it as a backup modem but in testing it seemed like a piece of trash with some odd results where certain things just wouldn't work like certain video streaming sites.

Might give the TD-W9970 a test at some point.
 
thewanted said:
Apart from the 100mbit switch ports, I really can't fault mine in modem-only mode. It's been up for 50 days and the only time it's dropped the connection is when DLM has been doing its thing.
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It’s a shame about the 100Mbit LAN. I want to buy my parents BT Whole Home Wi-Fi but the 100Mbit LAN would bottleneck the network :(. I don’t want a separate modem, router and mesh points it’s too much.

Their FTTC line is very long and nothing has come close to syncing at a similar speed to the current HG612 :(.
 
So is there some reason I seem to be syncing with a lower noise margin these days?

I used to get 76000 or around there with a 6db noise margin. Very occasionally a resync would see me get max, but mostly 76000 or so. Over the last couple of months though I seem to be sitting on max all the time with the noise margin sitting between 3-4.

It's stable, so I don't care, but I thought fttc would always attempt to run with 6db noise margin?
 
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