Modem Only options

23JMZ07 · 12 Feb 2015 at 17:59

Evening All,

Currently we have 3x DSL lines coming in each with a BT Business Hub 3 running 3 different internal networks.

Due to multiple reasons we are moving to a Draytek 3200 to allow us to load-balance and use the redundancy of the 3 lines along with many other features that the Draytek allows.

My only concern now is being able to use the Business hub 3's as pure DSL modems and handle the encapsulation on the Draytek. There seems to be some conflicting info around as to whether the BH3 is capable of this and we are trying to nail down all of the variables before doing the switchover to minimise supprises and downtime.

Does anyone have experience with the BH3 being a "transparent" modem or is the Draytek 120 the best solution??

Edit: The lines are ADSL not Fibre so we need to be able to bridge PPPoA to PPPoE for the router to handle the encap.

Cheers

Danny091 · 12 Feb 2015 at 18:32

Seems the BT business hub does not have a modem only mode. Which means if you do use it you will have to just assign a static ip to your draytek (you will be running double NAT)

about the PPPoE thing, if i remember rightly BT supports connections with PPPoE and PPPoA now and have for a while, you just need a modem or router to try it with that supports being a modem only.

link to people talking about PPPoE adsl on plusnet forums http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,88269.0.html/

If you or a friend has a hg612 fibre modem thats unlocked you can plug that into an ADSL line try and bring up a PPPoE connection with it or have a look around for cheap routers that support modem only mode's and see if it works (using the draytek if you already have it or a router that you can make a PPPoE connection with).

The 120 was mainly used for sky who don't support PPPoE over ADSL so it was used to convert it.

23JMZ07 · 12 Feb 2015 at 18:40

Excellent, thanks for your input.

The other reason for the 120 was that it is relatively cheap and small. If I can find a cheap router which has a faultless bridge mode that will be great.

#Chri5# · 13 Feb 2015 at 10:19

We've got loads of V120s out with customers. Just a no-hassle option when using firewalls / UTM appliances with ADSL.

If FTTC is along any-time soon, the new Vigor 130 is VDSL/ADSL in a single unit (but more expensive than the 120).

23JMZ07 · 13 Feb 2015 at 10:54

I am still leaning towards the v120's as Draytek is a brand ive always had a lot of time for. My only concern is there are a few people suggesting it is not a great modem for long lines (we are around 1.4km from the exchange as the crow flies). Also seen some complains of premature failiures.

Also at 50 quid each for just a modem they are expensive. I need to find a company with a batch of them being binned!!

Edit - The 130 allows line stats to be monitored through the router too. At ~£75 each though that is excessive.

#Chri5# · 13 Feb 2015 at 11:14

There was a dodgy batch of 120s. We could spot them as the Ethernet port would go from 100Mbps Full Duplex to 10Mpbs Half Duplex. SEG, the UK Draytek distributor swapped them all out for us though.

Danny091 · 13 Feb 2015 at 14:02

23JMZ07 said:
I am still leaning towards the v120's as Draytek is a brand ive always had a lot of time for. My only concern is there are a few people suggesting it is not a great modem for long lines (we are around 1.4km from the exchange as the crow flies). Also seen some complains of premature failiures.

Also at 50 quid each for just a modem they are expensive. I need to find a company with a batch of them being binned!!

Edit - The 130 allows line stats to be monitored through the router too. At ~£75 each though that is excessive.

I actually have a 120 that i don't use anymore due to moving to fibre if your interested we could move to Members Market?

You can monitor the 120 line stats too, you just need to set a static route in your router. The lan port of the 120 has a local ip address that you can change so you tell your router that for example 192.168.3.1 is actually out on the WAN port via a static route. This is how i used to check mine.

Armageus · 13 Feb 2015 at 15:01

23JMZ07 said:
Due to multiple reasons we are moving to a Draytek 3200 to allow us to load-balance and use the redundancy of the 3 lines along with many other features that the Draytek allows.

We have a Draytek 3200 at work load balancing an MPLS, 2 ADSL lines (With Vigor 100 Modems) and a Satellite connection.

We tried Vigor 120's but a batch of them also had an issue with power adapters that didn't supply enough power and caused issues.

Only issue we had the 3200 was with the firmware that added IPv6 (3.6.5.1 iirc), that had a show stopping bug that broke DNS, all fixed in later versions though.