Fibre questions

[#1]

Howdi
So we got a nice new fibre connection with a BTOR modem and a PN router. Now I'm a tad confused here... I thought we'd done away with modems moons ago?
So assuming that modems are now the in thing again... why do we need a seperate router? - Why aren't they all in one?
Is the router a special one designed for fibre or would any old router do? - eg my old cisco ADSL router - would that have worked? - eg Is it simply that the plusnet router is a faster one than a normal ADSL router or does it have some special capability that is used with fibre - after the modem has done its bit?
The router we've got for fibre... will that also work with ADSL if we move again?
Not having had fibre before i'm just wanting to get a clearer idea of how it works in my head... that and i'm mulling over selling my old cisco to get a few quid back on it.

[#2]

Technically, unfortunately you do not actually have a Fibre connection, but VDSL, i.e. another flavour of DSL.  The fibre only goes as far as the cabinet (FTTC) which is connected to the original telephone cabinet which supplies your telephone line.  
adie:quote

[#3]

All so-called standard ADSL routers actually contain a modem ( in fact they contain lots of "virtual" modems - read this for more info:  http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adsl_technology.htm) The same with so called fibre modems, only differnece is they contain many more virtual modems to achieve a faster speed . With FTTC , there is a fibre link to the nearest green cabinet. From there to your home the link is over copper but the distance limit with VDSL is much shorter, only about a mile before the fibre speed gain becomes meaningless.
The BT Modem is 2 a port modem / router without the abilty to log in to your PLus Net  conenction, and the additional  router you've been supplied with , the 2704n, is a FTTC router and is where you log in . It is not configured the same as the old router you used on standard ADSL . The 2704n is  a cheap and cheerful peice of kit and is not brilliant.

If you have been sent Plus nets 2704n  router then I'd recommend you don't use it  as it's not a good peice of kit . The older TG582 router is actually slightly better & can be configured to work as as a Fibre router via a flash upgrade . It's ethernet port one then becomes the input from the BT modem leaving you with just 3 ethernet ports.

There are combined single unit  VDSL modem routers which you can buy and instal yourself. Plus net are soon to introduce such a device in line with BT and other FTTC providers.
If  you cannot wait look up http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=14436.0 for advice.

[#4]

But what i'm asking is ... is there a reason why i couldn't just connect my old adsl router to the fibre modem? - or does it have to be a special fibre router?

[#5]

You couldn't because you need a cable router interface to work and only a few ADSL routers have that option
Of course if you have the TG582 you can flash it with the fibre firmware as said earlier

[#6]

you cannot just plug  in the TG582 : it will not accept the incoming signal if you do, so I  flashed my old  TG582 and it works fine: much better than the 2704n.
its not too dfficult a process!

[#7]

Quote

I thought we'd done away with modems moons ago?

Not quite, we've just started on making the move over to self-installed fibre services with an all-in-one modem/router.
You'll definitely need to use the router we supplied but do post back here if you encounter any problems.

[#8]

Quote from: _Adam_Walker_

You'll definitely need to use the router we supplied but do post back here if you encounter any problems.

As this may seem to be a little ambiguous, may I make it clearer.
You'll definitely need to use the old router supplied by Plusnet along with the BTOR modem.
or obtain a Hub One (modem and router, all in one) from Plusnet or purchase a 3rd Party modem/router from the Link provided by gpsmout (scroll back up)
So far the Billion BiPAC 8800NL have no major reported issues, the new replacement version Billion BiPAC 8800AXL is not readily available on the market.
The rest of the devices on the list may need further Firmware upgrades to become compatible with Plusnet VDSL.
Note Plusnet UK VDSL Modulation is G.993.2 Annex B Standard.

[#9]

Confusion would certainly be less if people used the correct terminology to describe the various boxes.
On ADSL we have be using Modem/Routers for years now - that's a box that's got a Modem & Router all in one, unfortunately too many people just refer to them as routers. When vDSL technology started, devices were quite expensive and Openreach simply supplied a compatible Modem leaving ISPs and/or users to supply their own Routers - the choice of which might depend on their own LAN requirements.
ADSL Modem/Routers or even just ADSL Modems will not work on vDSL (Fibre) because the technology is different and the frequencies that are used for vDSL go much higher up the spectrum. The converse may not be true. There are now many devices on the market that are vDSL/ADSL compatible.
Two of the recently supplied boxes from Plusnet, the TG582n and the 2704n are both 4-port ADSL Modem/routers that have the ability to be made to function just as 3-port Routers (providing they have the correct firmware). So for Fibre you need a vDSL capable Modem and a Router or as has been mentioned a combined vDSL capable Modem/Router.
The most recent Plusnet supplied device  - named the Hub One, is based on BT's Home Hub 5A. These devices are vDSL/ADSL compatible Modem/Routers and can also be used as just Routers because in addition to the DSL socket which you'd plug into the phone line, they have a WAN socket which you could connect to a separate Modem instead of using the DSL connection on it.
I hope that gives a better understanding.