DSL Modem choice

[Control_Phreak]

Finally looking at jetstart now that they upgraded our exchange. Looking at a DSL Router but not sure what to buy. I Found the asus AAM6000EV which is only $279inc. Its configurable over http/telnet which is useful and some dont include...

http://www.asus.com.tw/communication/adsl/performance_6000ev.htm

Only thing is i'm not sure whether you can do stuff like port forwarding/NAT with it. Whats a good/cheap dsl router you guys could suggest?

[Antimatter]

http://www.dlink.co.nz/products/broadband/dsl500/

Not as cheap at $420 RRP but works well.
You might be able to find it for as little as $350. ;)

[fatsanchez]

i have a dlink 500, and can totally reccomend it, the crappy internal modem i originally bought wouldent even connect here, after some fiddling with the jackpoints, and the router, i get 5mbit :)

[whetu]

keep your eyes on trademe.. you can pick up reasonably good modems/routers for cheap... me and tijs picked up a nokia ni500 for 130 and learnt the hard way that its a complete piece of ARSE.

Some old reliable Nokia M11's were recently seen going for a hundred odd... gutted I wasnt able to pick one up :( I'm completely gutted that I wasnt able to secure an Alcatel SpeedTouch Home.. that would have been the PERFECT router for geekflat's needs... was only 160 or so too...

currently sealing a deal that will get me a Danam ethernet based router for 110.. the guy also has a usb version... though i'm cautious seeing as Danam dont appear on the telepermit list... I'll tell ya how it goes

[SilverPriest]

Nokia M11's rock.
It's what i've got :D
Here's what to look out for.
AFAIK M10's look the same, but don't work with current standards, anyone else know anything about that?

[Antimatter]

The only problem with the Nokia is that the firmware upgrades are not made available. Apart from that they're not to bad.

I would suggest avoiding Dynalink. I don't know what they think they're making but it can often be defined as crap.

[Control_Phreak]

that DSL-500 doesn't look too bad... has NAT/DHCP. The asus one makes no mention of them so it could probably be assumed it doesn't have em...

Looks like QMB is the cheapest vendor listed on pricespy @ $336inc

and another thing... Is D-link = Dynalink?

Thanks for the input, it's given me something to think about and save up for... :)

[RockBoy]

D-link IS NOT dynalink

i dont know antimatter i know alot of people using the Dynalink Modem/router without any complaints at all me inclusive certainly wouldnt call it crap thats for sure

Cheers RB

[AcurA]

Stay away from 3com homeconnect range.... i still see my dual link floating around here and there - nice for a discontinued range.

[Control_Phreak]

yeh I thought D-Link and dynalink were different but it's hard to know with names as similar as that...

[Antimatter]

Originally posted by RockBoy
...i know alot of people using the Dynalink Modem/router without any complaints at all me inclusive certainly wouldnt call it crap thats for sure

I'll just say I've had issues with them not working on several occasions. Straight out of the box and have to spend ages phoning Telecom and the line installation contractors only to find out the modem was faulty from the start. :mad:

If they do work, they seem to go fine though.

[whetu]

Originally posted by AcurA
Stay away from 3com homeconnect range.... i still see my dual link floating around here and there - nice for a discontinued range.

I agree, spent several days haxing one in an attempt to get it to work but to no avail, gave up and sold it to some unlucky bastard on trademe and got the Ni500

[godboy]

I've been using a 3com dual link modem for over a year now and have found it to be a solid performer, although it does require a bit of "know how" to make it work under certain circumstances.

I can assure you that it works nicely under Win98, ME, W2K, XP and Linux... although it needs to be connected to an Ethernet card if you want to do the Linux thingy... Also you can supposedly install the 812 router firmware onto the Dual LInk to make it a full-blooded router :)

The Nokia M11's are sexy looking and perform well (I use a few of them on some of my networks), although Nokia did TWO recalls of them because of electrocution risks... which was a pain in the backside because not many networks can afford to lose their Internet connections for a few days while their routers get replaced... twice. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[whetu]

by my understanding the electrocution risks were primarily an M11/M1122 problem, and only occured when you unplugged the cord.. the pins could come out of the cord and leave bare conductors for your fat greasy hand to get a jolt of loving.

My dad asked me if I reckoned he should get his M1122 replaced, I said "are you going to unplug it anytime soon, let alone EVER???" He said "no" I replied "there's your answer"

Ok, fresh roundup of personal opinion:

when buying secondhand CHECK AROUND
* check http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/
* specifially check http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/problems.html to see what potential problems you can come across
* check that the modem is capable of hooking up to NZ's dsl system, the standard specs of which can be viewed here:
http://www.telepermit.co.nz/ADSLModemSetUp.html
* check that the modem is on the telepermit list:
http://www.telepermit.co.nz/cgi-bin/b.pl
If it is not, tell the seller to shove it.

*avoid nokia ni500's.. they are the devil.
*avoid internal pci dsl modems for the timebeing, chances are they are itex chipset based, and as itex are dead you can expect limited support in the future (xp drivers exist but further down the track things wont be so rosy.. like 3dfx in a way) You can buy one and sell if off later.. you should just keep this in mind
*If buying nokia, dont buy anything other than an M series.. everything else sucks

And my personal choice? Alcatel SpeedTouch series.

[Control_Phreak]

well just so you guys know, I ended up getting a D-link DSL-500

It has all the features I was looking for without totally breaking the bank balance....

I would hate to think what sort of connection I would have got (if any) if I'd just gone with a PCI modem. We're about 5.2km away from the exchange and the external router is connected at only 1.2 - 1.4mbit/s :eek:

[City_Idiot]

Originally posted by SilverPriest
Nokia M11's rock.
It's what i've got :D
Here's what to look out for.
AFAIK M10's look the same, but don't work with current standards, anyone else know anything about that?


Looks at m10 sitting in room that he got for free from mate who had it sitting around awaiting ADSL connection.

WHAT!

dammit so therre is no chance in hell of a m10 working in NZ???

[Agent666]

never had a problem with the ni500 I am using off a mate....... agree if you got one which does the overheat/disconnect thing it would be a pain in the butt....... but the one I got here works champion.......

[extremerigman]

I love my Alcatel Speedtouch USB or stingray.

Heres a pic:

[-=DEI[]v[]OS=-]

Hehe ph33r teh aqua stingray :p

I got one of them too, bought it after I sold my internal POS 3-COM home always disconnect. Arrgh that thing was the most horrible piece of hardware I've ever owned !!

[RageX]

O.k. i have been interested in DSL since before they even announced the lower-hutt trials. I have owned about 4 different ADSL routers and have sold/installed many many more. From my experience these are my rankings for commonly available routers in NZ:

1. Cisco 827
2. Alcatel Speed Touch Pro
3. ZyXEL Prestige ADSL
4. Nokia M11 series
5. SpeedStream Efficient ADSL Router
6. D-Link ADSL Router
7. Dynalink RTA210
8. Dynalink RTA020

Anything PCI/USB is generally a POS in my opinion as they are not as "future proof" as Ethernet which has been round since adam was a boy.

If I did have to get a USB modem it would be an Alcatel Stingray beast.

[AcurA]

the cisco that me a pricy customer wouldn't it???
Anyway why would u recommend one on top of the other? feature spec? speed?

[RageX]

Mainly spec, quality of design/workmanship and ease of use.

The cisco is by far the hardest to set up, but they are such and excellent router.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by RageX
O.k. i have been interested in DSL since before they even announced the lower-hutt trials. I have owned about 4 different ADSL routers and have sold/installed many many more. From my experience these are my rankings for commonly available routers in NZ:

1. Cisco 827
2. Alcatel Speed Touch Pro
3. ZyXEL Prestige ADSL
4. Nokia M11 series
5. SpeedStream Efficient ADSL Router
6. D-Link ADSL Router
7. Dynalink RTA210
8. Dynalink RTA020

Anything PCI/USB is generally a POS in my opinion as they are not as "future proof" as Ethernet which has been round since adam was a boy.

If I did have to get a USB modem it would be an Alcatel Stingray beast.

The Allied Telesyn DSL router is pretty nice too