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Best VDSL2 routers?

wanstronian
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎22-02-2020

Best VDSL2 routers?

Hi folks,

 

My old Billion router has given up the ghost so I need a new router. As a Plusnet FTTC customer I'm looking for a VDSL2 router so I can free up an extra ethernet port.

 

What do you recommend?

9 REPLIES 9
dvorak
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Re: Best VDSL2 routers?


Moderators Note


This topic has been moved from Fibre to My Router

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dvorak
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Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

Best is very subjective Smiley

I guess knowing the price bracket you are looking at would help other recommend also uses: multicast IPTV, VoIP etc?

For a basic-ish all in one a fair few of us have BT Business Smarthub which can be picked up on ebay for a reasonable price (£30 or so).
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wanstronian
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎22-02-2020

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

Thanks dvorak, yes I clearly missed some useful info.

Price bracket is up to ~£150. Main uses are: Sky Q, phones, tablets, smart TV over wifi, and some devices (main computer, file server, printer) connected by ethernet. I occasionally work from home (although all the time at the moment) so using Teams, Slack, Zoom etc. for voice/video calls. Occasionally there'll be three devices streaming Netflix etc., but usually just one.

I'd rather buy new so I have decent consumer protection in the event of problems.

Thanks

 

starfry
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Registered: ‎14-09-2007

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

Hello, it depends on how tech-savvy you are. The Plusnet Hub One (which is a BT HomeHub 5A) is actually a decent piece of kit, as long as you replace its firmware with something open, such as OpenWRT. There is a healthy discussion thread on here about that [1] but you do need to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in Smiley

[1] https://community.plus.net/t5/Tech-Help-Software-Hardware-etc/Running-OpenWRT-on-the-Plusnet-Hub-One...

wanstronian
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎22-02-2020

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

Thanks Starfry, I'm reasonable at that sort of thing, but really I just want a plug and go solution to arrive in a cardboard box 🙂 Also, I don't have a Plusnet router to work with!

pint
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Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

What model of router did you have? and how did it give up the ghost?

wanstronian
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎22-02-2020

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

I have a Billion Bipac 7800DXL. The behaviour is very weird. Seemingly at random, it will disconnect my Sky Q box (wifi, 2.4G) and all the ethernet connections, while leaving all other wireless devices connected, on both 2.4 and 5G. 

 

Sometimes it will stay up for a couple of days, other times it will drop several times a day. The only solution is to pull the power cable out and reconnect it after 5 minutes.

 

I have the latest firmware, and it was absolutely rock solid until about a month ago.

 

Normally I'd expect a router to either work, or stop working altogether, but intermittent dropping of some wireless connections and all ethernet connections has me beat.

pint
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Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

I'm using a Bilion 8800nl R2 that just sits there and does its thing with no fuss

you could see if you can find a solution on the billion forum here http://www.billion.uk.com/forum/

 

wanstronian
Hooked
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎22-02-2020

Re: Best VDSL2 routers?

Yep, mine used to do the same. Nothing changed about the setup, it just started misbehaving. I've already spent some time on the Billion forum, the best advice I got was to upgrade to the latest firmware, which I'd already done. I even did a full factory reset, but that didn't help either.

The problem is, it's not really behaving like you'd expect a faulty router to; but neither is it showing symptoms of something so straightforward as a configuration problem. At a time when it's essential that I have reliable connectivity so I can work from home, I need a quick and simple solution. Hence a new router required!