I currently have an Origo (cheap) wireless modem (802.11b) which was fine until my ADSL connection was upgraded to MAX ADSL (8Mbps max). It is fine much of the time but seems to perform less well with time. A reboot fixes it for a while.
So I thought I might upgrade to an 802.11g wireless ADSL modem. I don't actually need any ethernet ports as all PCs in my network (2-off) are connected wirelessly. So I am looking for product recommendations, especially ones known to cope well with the current higher ADSL speeds. (some extra range would be nice too).
Ian
On 11-Jun-06 Ian bell wrote:
I currently have an Origo (cheap) wireless modem (802.11b) which was fine until my ADSL connection was upgraded to MAX ADSL (8Mbps max). It is fine much of the time but seems to perform less well with time. A reboot fixes it for a while.
So I thought I might upgrade to an 802.11g wireless ADSL modem. I don't actually need any ethernet ports as all PCs in my network (2-off) are connected wirelessly. So I am looking for product recommendations, especially ones known to cope well with the current higher ADSL speeds. (some extra range would be nice too).
Ian
Are you sure it's the modem? Compared with old ADSL, MAX tends to fluctuate a lot, and you can easily get temporary disconnections when it switches to a different sync rate. This especially occurs during the first few (can be up to double figures) days.
When you reboot, it's all fresh and easy-going for a while, until it decides to fiddle with things. For all that MAX claims to home in on your "maximum stable rate", a lot of people have found it to be persistently *un*stable.
Even when it holds the sync rate steady, the actual download throughput can vary considerably.
For protracted discussions of this sort of phenomenon, have a trawl throught the Zen Broadband Support Forum:
http://forum.zensupport.co.uk/8/ShowForum.aspx
Hoping this helps! Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 11-Jun-06 Time: 20:58:22 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
(Ted Harding) wrote:
On 11-Jun-06 Ian bell wrote:
I currently have an Origo (cheap) wireless modem (802.11b) which was fine until my ADSL connection was upgraded to MAX ADSL (8Mbps max). It is fine much of the time but seems to perform less well with time. A reboot fixes it for a while.
So I thought I might upgrade to an 802.11g wireless ADSL modem. I don't actually need any ethernet ports as all PCs in my network (2-off) are connected wirelessly. So I am looking for product recommendations, especially ones known to cope well with the current higher ADSL speeds. (some extra range would be nice too).
Ian
Are you sure it's the modem?
No.
Compared with old ADSL, MAX tends
to fluctuate a lot, and you can easily get temporary disconnections when it switches to a different sync rate. This especially occurs during the first few (can be up to double figures) days.
I am well past the upgrade cycle. I get lots (several tens) of disconnections a day, some lasting a second and some lasting several minutes. Sync rate has settled down though.
When you reboot, it's all fresh and easy-going for a while, until it decides to fiddle with things. For all that MAX claims to home in on your "maximum stable rate", a lot of people have found it to be persistently *un*stable.
That's me. In some ways I was happier with my 2Mbps link - at least it was pretty consistent.
Even when it holds the sync rate steady, the actual download throughput can vary considerably.
I am aware of that. At present I get a steady deterioration. Ealier this evening it was down to 190kbps - then after a reset it was back to its normal 3800kbps.
For protracted discussions of this sort of phenomenon, have a trawl throught the Zen Broadband Support Forum:
There has been a lot of discussion of this too on my isp's (ukfsn) forum.
Ian
On 11-Jun-06 Ian bell wrote:
(Ted Harding) wrote:
[...] Compared with old ADSL, MAX tends to fluctuate a lot, and you can easily get temporary disconnections when it switches to a different sync rate. This especially occurs during the first few (can be up to double figures) days.
I am well past the upgrade cycle. I get lots (several tens) of disconnections a day, some lasting a second and some lasting several minutes. Sync rate has settled down though.
That's a lot of disconnections! Whle (on a relatively poor line) I was getting up to say 20/day during the first 3-4 weeks, t did later settle down to say 3-6. But sync rate tended to fluctuate (until I did something about it), mainly I suspect because "BT" reckoned I could be speeded up during good line conditions, only to drop me a bit later when this proved unsustainable. Now I've set a config parameter in my router which caps its sync rate, and I've been sync'ing at a fixed rate ever since (a bit lower than the cap), and also getting absolutely steady throughput. I still get the occasional complete lockout, though, which has nothing to do with re-sync'ing but seems to be related to "congestion" in the router (wherever that comes from).
When you reboot, it's all fresh and easy-going for a while, until it decides to fiddle with things. For all that MAX claims to home in on your "maximum stable rate", a lot of people have found it to be persistently *un*stable.
That's me. In some ways I was happier with my 2Mbps link - at least it was pretty consistent.
Yes ... pre-Max, it was like having a vehicle for which you'd paid to be allowed to drive it up to 20mph, and you could take it on ordinary quiet roads without too much grief. Post-Max, your vehicle has been "upgraded" so that you are allowed to take it onto the big fast roads -- its built-in speed control mechanism will adapt to set the speed at "the maximum sustainable speed" -- which, on A11/A14, is ... ?
Even when it holds the sync rate steady, the actual download throughput can vary considerably.
I am aware of that. At present I get a steady deterioration. Ealier this evening it was down to 190kbps - then after a reset it was back to its normal 3800kbps.
Again, this was my regular experience prior to capping the sync. Early in the day it would usually be at the high end, then drop a bit, and usually stay steady until sometime in the evening, when it would drop markedly. This sort of thing is usually put down to (a) increased contention in the evenings; (b) deterioration of line quality in the course of the evening and overnight.
However, mine never dropeed to anything as low as your 190Kbit/s. That looks exceptionaly low to me (though, again, there have been punters on the Zen forum who reported similar rates on what were nominally connections as good as yours, i.e. syncing at 8128).
For protracted discussions of this sort of phenomenon, have a trawl throught the Zen Broadband Support Forum:
There has been a lot of discussion of this too on my isp's (ukfsn) forum.
I've tried a few times to find a forum on UKFSN's website -- since I'm interested in reading what their users say -- but never found a link to one on their website. Is it restricted to UKFSN subscribers, or am I simply missing something?
Frankly, this Max is proving a bit bewildering to many people. It has a tendency to perform unsatisfactorily, and it seems to be impossible to probe into the background reasons. In particular, it always raises the question of whether it's BT, or the line, or the user's own equipment.
I've also seen people asking for advice on whether there are better routers than the one they're using; but few replies have really addressed the question.
Hopefully, someone on ALUG will be more expert (and more forthcoming) about such questions.
Good luck! (And, if there's a URL for the UKFSN forum, I'd be obliged to learn it).
Best wishes, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 12-Jun-06 Time: 09:07:51 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
(Ted Harding) wrote:
That's a lot of disconnections! Whle (on a relatively poor line) I was getting up to say 20/day during the first 3-4 weeks, t did later settle down to say 3-6. But sync rate tended to fluctuate (until I did something about it), mainly I suspect because "BT" reckoned I could be speeded up during good line conditions, only to drop me a bit later when this proved unsustainable. Now I've set a config parameter in my router which caps its sync rate,
Which paramter would that be and which router do you have?
snip
I've tried a few times to find a forum on UKFSN's website -- since I'm interested in reading what their users say -- but never found a link to one on their website. Is it restricted to UKFSN subscribers, or am I simply missing something?
main@lists.alug.org.uk
I don't know if it is limited only to ukfsn users though.
Frankly, this Max is proving a bit bewildering to many people. It has a tendency to perform unsatisfactorily, and it seems to be impossible to probe into the background reasons. In particular, it always raises the question of whether it's BT, or the line, or the user's own equipment.
Precisely. I have moved the router from a convenient phone socket to the (less convenient) master socket. This improved the signal/noise by a dB or so but little else has changed. I need to eliminate my own wiring before blaming BT. Next test is to disconnect internal phone wiring altogether at the master socket. If the problem persists I'll complain to BT. I complained pre ADSL becuase e have always had a lot of hum on the line. BT came out and checked it, said the hum was ecceptable and anyway that the Overstrand Exhange was known to hum - go figure.
I've also seen people asking for advice on whether there are better routers than the one they're using; but few replies have really addressed the question.
Jason Clifford, who runs UKFSN, replied to this same question as follows:
QUOTE I recently switched to the PTI-845G router on the linuxadsl website and it is a significant improvement over what I was using before.
My line had a maximum speed of 1Mb before MAX and then about 3Mb. With the new router I'm getting over 6Mb sync and nearly 6Mb/s download.
I don't have any stock in at present however I'm going to try and get some in this week. I'm also getting in stock of the other wireless router we sell a lot of.
Jason
UNQUOTE
So even the guy running the ISP has problems with it.
IAn
On 12-Jun-06 Ian bell wrote:
(Ted Harding) wrote:
That's a lot of disconnections! Whle (on a relatively poor line) I was getting up to say 20/day during the first 3-4 weeks, t did later settle down to say 3-6. But sync rate tended to fluctuate (until I did something about it), mainly I suspect because "BT" reckoned I could be speeded up during good line conditions, only to drop me a bit later when this proved unsustainable. Now I've set a config parameter in my router which caps its sync rate,
Which paramter would that be and which router do you have?
It's a "BT Voyager 205" (therefore low-end).
But if you telnet into it you can do
modify dsl config maxdnrate <hex> commit
where <hex> = (max sync rate bits/sec)/32 + 1
E.g. I set mine at 4224 (0x85) and constantly sync at 3776 (with throughput ca 350 Kbytes/sec.
Cheers, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 12-Jun-06 Time: 11:03:58 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
On 12-Jun-06 Ian bell wrote:
(Ted Harding) wrote:
[...] I've tried a few times to find a forum on UKFSN's website -- since I'm interested in reading what their users say -- but never found a link to one on their website. Is it restricted to UKFSN subscribers, or am I simply missing something?
main@lists.alug.org.uk
I don't know if it is limited only to ukfsn users though.
I don't think you meant that, Ian!
Cheers, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 12-Jun-06 Time: 11:00:31 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
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Ian bell -
Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk