Spec me a wifi router for plusnet fibre.

Caporegime
Joined
24 Dec 2005
Posts
40,150
Location
Autonomy
After having 8mb internet since time began before dial up I have discovered that fibre 78mb is available now...

I did a deal with plusnet and they are sending me out a new router...but on reading up its a bit naff...

Anyone recommend a wifi router I connect to the BT modem thingy they will be installing

Cheers :)
 
Do Plusnet still give a modem? BT HH5 is combined modem/router. I use a Netgear D6400 with BT. That has a modem but I believe can be used with an external DSL connection.

Andi.
 
You don't need a router as there's pretty decent all in one solutions like the TP-Link W9980 (requires the latest firmware before you connect it to the line since it supports G.inp) or the asus DSL-AC68U if you want wireless AC (it has been reported in here and elsewhere to be not as reliable, but there is a TP-Link ADSL/VDSL modem/router with wireless AC due out but the release date hasn't been confirmed) and keep the BTOR modem and the crappy zero hub they send (I know this as they sent me one to replace the older model that I had that was faulty and it wasn't that better as it dropped the connection every 24 hours), but if you do want a stand alone router to connect to the modem then I would suggest anything from the netgear line (I've found netgear routers to be more reliable then those from other manufacturers).
 
Interesting thread to me - my Plusnet is being installed tomorrow and I just assumed the basic kit would be all I'd need!

In fact, having read the booklet that came with the router I was surprised to learn that I'll be getting a new master socket as well as a BT Openreach box that then connects to the router!?!? :confused:

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the provided equipment as opposed to going for something like the TP-Link one mentioned above? (my main PC in the top room is fed through200MB homeplugs and so the only wireless devices are my laptop, which rarely leaves the room that the router will be in and a couple of smartphones!)
 
I went for this

TP-LINK TD-W9980 N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit VDSL2/ADSL2+ Modem Router (2.4 GHz 300Mbps, 5 GHz 300Mbps, 2 USB Ports for Storage Sharing, Media/Print Server)

Seemd a good price and gets good feedback on the PS forums.
 
Interesting thread to me - my Plusnet is being installed tomorrow and I just assumed the basic kit would be all I'd need!

In fact, having read the booklet that came with the router I was surprised to learn that I'll be getting a new master socket as well as a BT Openreach box that then connects to the router!?!? :confused:

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the provided equipment as opposed to going for something like the TP-Link one mentioned above? (my main PC in the top room is fed through200MB homeplugs and so the only wireless devices are my laptop, which rarely leaves the room that the router will be in and a couple of smartphones!)

Think you will be fine...You have very few wifi devices.The PS router is meant to be ok but the wifi sucks.Plus it doesn't work at its full capacity.

I bought the TP Link mainly for the Wifi and features and stability.

There must be over 20 wifi devices in the household alone not counting the wired network.
 
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the provided equipment as opposed to going for something like the TP-Link one mentioned above? (my main PC in the top room is fed through200MB homeplugs and so the only wireless devices are my laptop, which rarely leaves the room that the router will be in and a couple of smartphones!)

I don't think there would be any advantages into using the provided equipment from your ISP since you have to have two plug sockets available (one for the modem and one for the router) and you lose a LAN socket on the router because it is required to connect the router (which is just an ADSL modem/router which is able to use one of the LAN ports as a WAN port) where you'd only need one plug socket for any all in one solution and you have all 4 LAN ports available to use along with (probably) better wi-fi.
 
Was interested in that same router, so I take it from your update that's 2 thumbs up? I assume it was pretty straight forward to setup/swap over from the plusnet router and open reach modem?
 
Was interested in that same router, so I take it from your update that's 2 thumbs up? I assume it was pretty straight forward to setup/swap over from the plusnet router and open reach modem?

Current using it on ADSL until fibre gets installed in 2 weeks... The whole internet and network as improved greatly.

Easy to setup and using fibre would mean plugging a cable in it and not using the bt home each modem at all
 
So if I buy the TP-Link router here then can I essentially replace both the ugly white and pink Plusnet router (with the Blackpool illumination-style led's blinking constantly right on the front) AND the BT Openreach modem box too??

Is it a fairly simple job to put the relevant usernames and passwords etc into a third-party router these days? (I've had issues before when the setup was "hard-wired" into the provided router and it was tough to extract what you needed!)

Thanks...
 
Last edited:
So if I buy the TP-Link router here then I can essentially replace both the ugly white and pink Plusnet router (with the Blackpool illumination-style led's blinking constantly right on the front) AND the BT Openreach modem box too??

Is it a fairly simple job to put the relevant usernames and passwords etc into a third-party router these days? (I've had issues before when the setup was "hard-wired" into the provided router and it was tough to extract what you needed!)

Thanks...


Yep it's easy... Easy setup select VDSL select plusnet as provider in drop down menu then enter username and password
 
So far impressed...I'm not sure why I haven't upgraded the router sooner.

Bring on Fibre

I've been on Plusnet Fibre unlimited package for almost 2 years now and I can tell you now it's fantastic. Downloading from Steam or any other game client is a doodle, if there is any game on my steam list I want to play it's a case of select, click, click, wait 5 mins and it's ready. No more buffering on Youtube vids either or dropping down to 720p either, 4K is easily doable as well. Latencies in online gaming have dropped like a rock as well, I play lots of Age of Empire 2 HD online and I game with a someone in the US and my delay is only 150ms, locally it's around 50ms.
 
I'm loving mine so far - the only issue I have is the bright white Plusnet and BT boxes stick out like a sore thumb even behind my tinted glass cabinet door - that and I've lost an ethernet port!!

I'll be tempted for one of these routers if it will do the job of the two current boxes (and will free up a power socket that I tend to use now and again!)
 
I'm loving mine so far - the only issue I have is the bright white Plusnet and BT boxes stick out like a sore thumb even behind my tinted glass cabinet door - that and I've lost an ethernet port!!

I'll be tempted for one of these routers if it will do the job of the two current boxes (and will free up a power socket that I tend to use now and again!)

I believe it's worth replacing them. If you use any wireless devices the router will bottleneck the speed you gets. On my desktop I can max around 9Mbps downloading on N wireless 2.4ghz I get 5.5 top whack.
 
The wireless performance of the Plusnet router does seem to leave a lot to be desired!

Definitely tempted with the TP Link one mentioned above if it has a decent wireless speed! Are there any othermodels out there worth considering that will replace both the BT Openreach box and the Plusnet router?
 
The wireless performance of the Plusnet router does seem to leave a lot to be desired!

Definitely tempted with the TP Link one mentioned above if it has a decent wireless speed! Are there any othermodels out there worth considering that will replace both the BT Openreach box and the Plusnet router?

Look at Asus .. But the TP link offers a tremendous bang for buck
 
Back
Top Bottom