which router?

[hardwareguy15]

hey guys which do you think is the better buy?

the Billion 7800DXL ~£130
http://www.billion.uk.com/product/wireless/7800dxl.htm

vs

asus DSL-N66U ~£125
https://www.asus.com/uk/Networking/DSLN66U/

i'm edging towards the billion for it's ability to tweek snr rates, otherwise the asus looks better? thoughts?

[kalniel]

If you want to tweak target snr rates then just ring up your ISP surely?

[DanceswithUnix]

If you upgrade your broadband to FTTC, won't you be gutted at having spent all that money on a router that isn't compatible any more?

Big fan here of keeping the functionality apart. Get a DSL box to do basic connection and primary firewall, put that close that he phone socket for best speed, then get a wifi access point and put that in the best location for coverage.

When I was having ADSL dropouts I was told by my ISP that they had extremely limited ability to tweak the equipment at the exchange. Having said that, replacing the power supply on my router made a massive difference to SNR, seems it was on the way out and injecting noise into the system. Not much they could have done about that

[hardwareguy15]

Bt have said there is no fttc coming to our area ever. But saying that I think both these routers have capability to support fttc?

[DanceswithUnix]

Bt have said there is no fttc coming to our area ever. But saying that I think both these routers have capability to support fttc?

Ah right, it looks like you can configure one of the LAN ports to become a WAN port so it becomes a standard router.

BT left me a VDSL to ethernet box, my ISP sent me a broadband router/firewall, so those two boxes replace the single ADSL router I used to use before. I guess in this case the ISP router is swapped for the one you are looking at.

As I said, my WiFi is in a room upstairs so I get better coverage, and should I decide to update the WiFi to the latest gigabit standard I am not disturbing the router. The two are connected via HomeplugAV adapters which I find faster and more reliable than WiFi as well.

Most expensive router I ever used was about £160 worth, and it never seemed worth the extra money specially when these things go out of date after a few years.

[hardwareguy15]

Most expensive router I ever used was about £160 worth

which router was that?

[Zak33]

Billion are great but SOOO complicated

Best router I have owned?

Draytek Vigor 2920 n followed by the previous one still sat in a box on my shelf the 2820

I swapped as the 2920 has ALL gigabit ports, the 2820 only 1 gig and the others 10/10.... and it makes my network fly.

[peterb]

I'll throw my weight behind the Draytek series too. Had a 2820 which was great, now running a 2920, which I needed when I had FTTC installed. I know that wasn't on the OP's pick list, but worth looking at.

While the Drayteks are excellent, some of the more advanced features can be a little tricky to set up, but the Draytek (UK) pages have some great guides. They are aimed at the SOHO market, but are good top end consumer devices.

[hardwareguy15]

I'll throw my weight behind the Draytek series too. Had a 2820 which was great, now running a 2920.

seems neither of them have an onboard adsl modem and cost closer to £160, they seem more business orientated which is probably overkill for me

which of the 2 i posted would you prefer?

[peterb]

seems neither of them have an onboard adsl modem and cost closer to £160, they seem more business orientated which is probably overkill for me

which of the 2 i posted would you prefer?

I don't have direct experience with either. I know a little more about Asus and that is the one I'd probably go for as it seems to have more networking type facilities. On the other hand, the Billion seems to have more consumer features, the DLNA server for example - so that might be better domestically. It depends whether one has any "must have" features that the other doesn't.

I haven't read the specs in full, or in detail, but they both seem capable devices on paper.