Thinking of a cisco router for my new Be connection

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I want to start getting into using Cisco routers at home, for a number of reasons, the advanced features it has apon netgear, and also the fact that I need to refresh memory on how to use the IOS again.

What do you think would be the best router to go for which will give me good learnability but doesnt cost a bomb.
 
I have installed dozens of xdsl lines on cisco 800 series routers and never had an issue with slow speeds due to the chipset. We had test lines in our office to setup both Cisco and the cheaper Zyxel/Netgear routers and if anything the Cisco seemed a bit faster and more stable.
 
Find it hard to believe if you like but I have first hand experience with Cisco and O2/Be. Great routers overall which you obviously cannot compare to the likes of Netgear but depending on line conditions their best synch can be as much as a few Mb lower than broadcom based routers even with lots of tweaking. I just thought I'd mention this as I know most people like the fastest speeds possible at home.
 
Could always leave the DSL connection to a standalone modem such as the linksys AM200, and then pass your external address over to a cisco routers wan port.
 
Could always leave the DSL connection to a standalone modem such as the linksys AM200, and then pass your external address over to a cisco routers wan port.

I was thinking of doing this before, heard that you can switch netgear routers to working in half bridge mode, basically so you can use it as an ethernet ADSL modem?

I could have

Interweb>Netgear DG834GT (ADSL 2+ router acting as ethernet modem) > Cisco box for dedicated routing > Rest of network

Do you think this something that is going to outsee or match the performance of say a standard home set-up with a netgear router? what problems could i face?

Also can we start talking about Cisco models that are good for home use :) nothing thats going to cost an arm and a leg though!
 
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[Sniper][Wolf];12014003 said:
I was thinking of doing this before, heard that you can switch netgear routers to working in half bridge mode, basically so you can use it as an ethernet ADSL modem?

I could have

Interweb>Netgear DG834GT (ADSL 2+ router acting as ethernet modem) > Cisco box for dedicated routing > Rest of network

Do you think this something that is going to outsee or match the performance of say a standard home set-up with a netgear router? what problems could i face?

Before i set this in stone and say yes I am going to do this, is there any other Be Unlimited LLU customers doing it this way? want to know your experiences with performance before I think about and start buying the kit.

Which cisco routers are you using at home?
 
I had some trouble when i tried to use my DG834GT as a modem in half bridge. It wouldn't pass the external WAN IP across as it should. Ended up buying the AM200, as it's full bridge mode passes over the entire link as PPPOE to the WAN of my router which i then configure the correct external IP on.

I'm running my AM200 with be* and it matches the performance of my netgear router.
Your benefit wont be the internet connection speed but you will have a lot more advanced routing features open to you obviously.
 
I had some trouble when i tried to use my DG834GT as a modem in half bridge. It wouldn't pass the external WAN IP across as it should. Ended up buying the AM200, as it's full bridge mode passes over the entire link as PPPOE to the WAN of my router which i then configure the correct external IP on.

I'm running my AM200 with be* and it matches the performance of my netgear router.
Your benefit wont be the internet connection speed but you will have a lot more advanced routing features open to you obviously.

Can you post up some line stat's and speed results so i can get a good look :) Thanks ans yes you are right, im quite happy downloading at speeds that I am recieving now (400-500kbps on some torrents), syncing at 7648kbps, line stats are as follows:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 7648 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 21 db 5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 27 db

obviously the speed increase is a bonus, im hoping I could get more out of my line (calculators suggest around 1700-1800kb/s download speeds based on my line stats) but what I want to get out of this aswel is advanced routing features and the ability to learn.

Think im going to go down the route of:

AM200 > Cisco Router (Reccomendations please) > Switch > Workstations
 
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