Need an ADSL modem

sepulchre · 18 Apr 2006 at 00:04

I'm looking into buying an ADSL modem/router/wifi box for my father in law, unfortunaley I have no knowledge of ADSL at all as I've only ever used BY cable.

So could you recommend a model to go for, so far I've seen the Linksys WAG354G which looks ok, but it mentions ADLS 2+ is this OK with common ADSL?

Thanks in advance.

tolien · 18 Apr 2006 at 00:04

ADSL2+ modems are backwards compatible with ADSL, yes.

sepulchre · 18 Apr 2006 at 00:07

OK thats good, thanks, So model wise whats a good one?

Nemesis · 18 Apr 2006 at 07:03

Linksys WAG54GS SPEEDBOOSTER MODEM ROUTER and Linksys WUSB54GS USB ADAPTER price inc vat £64.99.

Linksys WAG54GS and Linksys WUSB54GS

125g Modem Router & Wireless USB Adapter

ADSL Connection for BT Phone Line

With NEW Speedbooster Technology

Enjoy Faster Internet Connection

Ethernet Network & Share your Network

Wireless Networking via USB2.0

No Tools Setup on any Desktop or Laptop

802.11b Compatible

Bought mine last week been great, im running four pc's on my network one wire-less three wired.

Can get it from that high street store, the one that likes to over charge but in this case quite a good deal.

ADLS 2+ not a problem will work fine.

FunkyT · 18 Apr 2006 at 08:01

NETGEAR DG834G.

sepulchre · 18 Apr 2006 at 17:46

Thanks for the replies, I'll give the linksys a bash!

Sep

FunkyT · 18 Apr 2006 at 18:04

There is normally a reason why things are on offer...

Nemesis · 19 Apr 2006 at 06:01

FunkyT said:
There is normally a reason why things are on offer...

Don't believe the hype ive used linksys for 5 years now and been happy with the three routers ive had in that time, the first one i bought was used for cable so when i moved home i had to move to ADSL so i bought the WAG54G with built in modem, great router yet many claim its rubbish, in the two years that i have used this router i have only ever had one problem and that was loss of the lan connection, but that has fixed now, i was looking to buy a usb wireless adaptor and instead bought the WAG54GS which came with WUSB54GS, many people that can't set there routers up bitch and moan and i have read quite a few forums before i bought this, but truth is its a solid router and running my network fast and not dropping wireless con, i tend to set my wireless to 11 and not the default 6 which i found to be a better setting.

I also have a NETGEAR DG632 which i bought a few years ago and although only used it for a month or two it was quite a solid router as-well, but is not wireless so can't comment on that.

bigredshark · 19 Apr 2006 at 07:11

wouldn't ever buy netgear personally, linksys ain't bad for the money though

FunkyT · 19 Apr 2006 at 07:25

Nemesis said:
Don't believe the hype ive used linksys for 5 years now and been happy with the three routers ive had in that time, the first one i bought was used for cable so when i moved home i had to move to ADSL so i bought the WAG54G with built in modem, great router yet many claim its rubbish, in the two years that i have used this router i have only ever had one problem and that was loss of the lan connection, but that has fixed now, i was looking to buy a usb wireless adaptor and instead bought the WAG54GS which came with WUSB54GS, many people that can't set there routers up bitch and moan and i have read quite a few forums before i bought this, but truth is its a solid router and running my network fast and not dropping wireless con, i tend to set my wireless to 11 and not the default 6 which i found to be a better setting.

I also have a NETGEAR DG632 which i bought a few years ago and although only used it for a month or two it was quite a solid router as-well, but is not wireless so can't comment on that.

The WAG54G isn't very good at all in my opinion. I had 5 of them at one stage! Here are the faults:

Unable to FTP
Lousy UPnP - just try using a webcam with it
Awful UI which is very flakey indeed

Once setup they work fine as long as you don't want to use FTP or a webcam etc

I've done extensive tests of WAG54G vs DG834G and the wireless range is better on the NETGEAR.

I previously owned a Linksys wireless print server and that was a right fiddle to setup.

I currently own a Linksys ATA and VoIP telephone...

Skilldibop · 19 Apr 2006 at 12:30

moved home i had to move to ADSL so i bought the WAG54G with built in modem, great router yet many claim its rubbish,

That's because people forget there are 2 versions, one of which was the original which sucked and is now all but discontinued. The newer revision is rock solid and all the issues with the v1 are pretty much sorted out.

The reason some linksys kit is on offer is because there is a new line out, the 54GX series so all the older 54G stuff is being shifted to make way for the GS and GXs. Like any product, when a new line has been out a little bit then the older models are flogged off to clear the stock.

I previously owned a Linksys wireless print server and that was a right fiddle to setup.

I have no idea how you managed that as there's nothing complicated ABOUT a print server to set up.

FunkyT · 19 Apr 2006 at 12:48

Skilldibop said:
That's because people forget there are 2 versions, one of which was the original which sucked and is now all but discontinued. The newer revision is rock solid and all the issues with the v1 are pretty much sorted out.

As I understand it v2 still doesn't work with FTP.

Skilldibop said:
I have no idea how you managed that as there's nothing complicated ABOUT a print server to set up.

It was a while ago (when the wifi print server first came out) but I can say for the sure that the UI left a lot to be desired...

tolien · 19 Apr 2006 at 13:06

Personally I've found the UI on my WRT54GS to be better than the Netgear (though command line "for the winn0r" and all that), but it's subjective I guess...

Skilldibop · 19 Apr 2006 at 13:11

FunkyT said:
As I understand it v2 still doesn't work with FTP.

Yes it does. you just need to configure the ports properly. Never have i heard of a router that singled out a particular protocol. Even if it is blocking it it's only the port, switch your FTP server to another port or do it from within the DMZ

It was a while ago (when the wifi print server first came out) but I can say for the sure that the UI left a lot to be desired...

That would be prior to Linksys moving over to linux based IOS and a completely new look web configuration dialog.

Networks change rapidly, you can't generalise based on an old product. That would be like saying Intel CPUs are slow because you once used a P150.

Infact newer linksys kit autoconfigures most of the stuff anyway. pretty much all you need do is enter ISP login details Wifi config and security etc can be done by running a CD wizard for newbies that does it all for you.

shuntfield · 20 Apr 2006 at 18:00

I can confrim funkys comment about FTP.

I have an NSLU2 running FTP behind my Router. I had a Linksys WAG54G, I switched off the firewall, I used DMZ even Linksys Technical Support tried to get it to work via remote connection. It still wouldnt work.

I then tried to FTP from my computer to a remote FTP Site - no chance. Again linksys support connected. In the end they said it was faulty. Replaced it with a WAG354G - Same thing same interface an no FTP.

Swapped it for a NETGEAR DG834G and hey presto - FTP back working in and out.

Dont be fooled into thinking Linksys Kit is Cisco Kit. Its not, it never has been. How come a Linksys Router costs <£80 and Cisco's kit is well above £200.

In my opinion, Netgear's and Linksys support is as bad as one another. The DG834G supports ADSL2+