New Router for BeThere

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Hi all,

my d-link router has bitten the dust so I need a new one for my 20mb ADSL connection with BeThere.

It needs to have a Broadcom chipset. It'll also be used for streaming content up to 1080p to my PS3. Wireless I'm not bothered about, as long as it is decent, G will be fine.


Would rather not spend too much either.

Any recommendations?

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Cheeky bump... would like to get a new router ASAP. Being without internet is no fun

[DDY]

A refurbished or rebranded Netgear 834GT from Ebay should do it.

Why Broadcom chipset out of interest? If you have some time to spare I recommend using the BeBox (if you have one, probably not if you're asking for another router!) in bridge mode connected to a good router. The BeBox isn’t great when it’s heavily loaded but its ADSL speed is pretty damn good, by using the BeBox as a modem only i.e. bridge mode it won’t fall over during heavy loading because its not doing the routing.

[DR]

We use a ton of Draytek ones - why not look at them?

[MadduckUK]

A refurbished or rebranded Netgear 834GT from Ebay should do it.

Why Broadcom chipset out of interest? If you have some time to spare I recommend using the BeBox (if you have one, probably not if you're asking for another router!) in bridge mode connected to a good router. The BeBox isn’t great when it’s heavily loaded but its ADSL speed is pretty damn good, by using the BeBox as a modem only i.e. bridge mode it won’t fall over during heavy loading because its not doing the routing.

Because they get the fastest synch speeds on BE, because the stuff at the other end is broadcom

seconded 834GT, far and away the best choice if G wireless is fine for you. Be and the 834s are made for each other

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A refurbished or rebranded Netgear 834GT from Ebay should do it.

Why Broadcom chipset out of interest? If you have some time to spare I recommend using the BeBox (if you have one, probably not if you're asking for another router!) in bridge mode connected to a good router. The BeBox isn’t great when it’s heavily loaded but its ADSL speed is pretty damn good, by using the BeBox as a modem only i.e. bridge mode it won’t fall over during heavy loading because its not doing the routing.

The BeThere community recommends a Broadcom chipset. Not sure why exactly. I suppose I'll check out the Netgear model then.

I'd try out your BeBox suggestion, but after I stopped using it a while back I seem to have misplaced it. I'm sure it is around somewhere, i just don't know where.

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Is it worth putting the DGTeam firmware on it, or will the stock be fine?

[DDY]

Unless you’re after the added functionality which the DGTeam firmware offers; stick to the stock Netgear firmware. Performance and stability between the two firmwares are similar.

[DDY]

Unless you’re after the added functionality which the DGTeam firmware offers; stick to the stock Netgear firmware. Performance and stability between the two firmwares are similar.

EDIT: what the hell just happened?

[Blastuk]

The thing about broadcom chipsets is true, I've tried it first hand.
I had a draytek 2820 which wouldn't sync at the max speed of my line, then I bought a DG834G v4 off ebay for about 20 quid and it synced at the max speed.
I think the difference was about 1Mb (my top line speed is about 4Mb)

I'm currently using the DGTeam firmware so that I can permanently set the snr ratio to boost the sync slightly.
I'm using a slightly older version though as I tried to upgrade to the latest version a little while back and it had a bug where it wouldn't connect at all.

[abaxas]

Ditch the 834 idea unless you want to keep rebooting it.

Choice is yours, more speed or more stable. Looks like your cant have both.

[smargh]

Netgear DG834GT withthe DGTeam firmware. However, the capacitors inside degrade after 3+ years, or less if the router is placed on top of a radiators or windowsill etc. For that reason, I am generally cautious of GTs on ebay. I have bought six GTs from car boot sale - five for £3 each from different car boot sales, and the sixth was brand new for which I begrudgingly agreed on £6. Two routers had obvious failed capacitors, but they very are easy to replace.

My sister uses a GT, which is also perfect, but I've also replaced the capacitors & PSU on that.

Be-supplied Beboxes (Speedtouch) have a well-known history of overheating and rebooting, though heat is not always necessarily the cause of rebooting.

I've used the same DG834GT for 4 years, but straight from the start I replaced the capacitors with posh Rubycon-branded caps, and I use a nice Mascot-branded power supply rather than the inefficient heavy cheap Chinese OEM brick which comes with the GT. I also added a few heatsinks. I use an Alix 2C3 with m0n0wall to do the NAT, firewalling, traffic shaping and bridging.

Both my GT and my Alix are flawless - the have never needed rebooting, and I have never observed it disconnect - the f8lure graphs seem to confirm this. The hardware inside the GT is perfect, except for the cheap Teapo capacitors, and the retail power supply is not very good but will probably be okay for a long time, it's just not very efficient and can get hot.

The Be exchange equipment is all Broadcom - you must limit your choices to modems with a Broadcom chipset, both to avoid problems and have the fastest link. There are occasional exceptions to this rule, however, particularly on slow lines.

[Blastuk]

Ditch the 834 idea unless you want to keep rebooting it.

Choice is yours, more speed or more stable. Looks like your cant have both.

my v4 doesn't really need rebooting, I reboot it maybe once every 2 months?

[Lucio]

We used a ZyXel at work for our connection, was a bit of a pain to setup properly because they cache the MAC addresses, so it takes about 30-45 minutes before your new router starts working properly, but BeThere's technical support are surprisingly helpful

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We used a ZyXel at work for our connection, was a bit of a pain to setup properly because they cache the MAC addresses, so it takes about 30-45 minutes before your new router starts working properly, but BeThere's technical support are surprisingly helpful

Do they have broadcom chips? If so, what model?

I'm looking the Netgear 834 but apparent stability issues are putting me off. That's what made me switch from the BeBox in the first place. The Dlink I had was fairly solid but has broken after 2 years, sadly.

[Lucio]

Not sure on what chips they use (http://www.zyxel.co.uk/web/product_f...0-DD50096145FE)

but quite frankly, it's a good business class router; cost about £100 though, but was worth it for the massive amount of customisation available. Getting it setup to allow things like RDP through was pretty straight forward.