ADVICE : ADSL modem for long line

[Chunkers]

ADSL ethernet modem for long line

Note : I originally posted this on SNB forums, before I knew about this one (just in case any of you also read those too)

I live in a rural area in the UK and have ADSL broadband (not ADSL2), I am about 5km from the exchange and originally had problems with noisy line / dropping connections. I tried a Draytek 2600 and then a Netgear 834G both of which performed terribly and then was advised by my ISP (ZEN) to get a Speedtouch 585 v6. I bought one of these on ebay for £9.99 and it has been rock solid for years. I believe the success has been down to the Broadcomm chipset and sturdy design.

I am now planning an adsl modem connected in bridge mode to a home-build Pfsense or ClearOs router, I am initially testing Pfsense on a laptop (its impressive) and want to buy a suitable adsl modem or cheap router which I can use in bridge mode. My main objective here is to make full use of the web content and blacklist functions as I have children in the house. If the laptop proves successful then I will probably put together an Atom based homebuild.

Given my relatively poor line I am tending towards a Speedtouch 510 v6 (cheap to find on ebay) which has the Broadcomm 6348 chipset which works well here.

The other options I have considered are the Billion 7800N and the TP-Link 8960N both of which I believe also have the Broadcomm chips, its a shame to buy them just for the modem though.

I would prefer a purpose-made small ethernet modem rather than a gimped router. I am avoiding the Draytek 120 which, although well reviewed, is poor value and an Infineon chipset.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced ethernet adsl modem with good noisy / long line performance?

Any other suggestions welcome.

Chunks

[silver]

adsl modem with ethernet (and not a router) is a small target market, most casual users want/expect (or see no downside at least) to an inbuilt router

pfsense, I'm not sure but it may have drivers to support usb modems, I used for many years the old speedtouch frog usb modem hooked up to ipcop and it was very stable

[Chunkers]

Great idea, I have scanned the pfsense forums and the only response i could find was in 2009 :

Q : Does pfSense support USB ADSL modems using PPPoA (needed in the UK)?

A : pfSense doesnt support any modem currently.
It only supports PPPoE authentication on the primary WAN.

Not to worry, I have options - you are right ethernet modems are a niche in many respects and of the few that are sold there seem to be quite a few crappy ones.

Chunks

[silver]

ah - the other thing thinking about it would be a pci adsl modem card, again I have no idea if pfsense natively supports such cards,. one example (I don't know how common they are these days)

http://linitx.com/product/12181

if it were me I'd probably go with a decent router,. you can always switch off the router part on most of them as needed,.

the other approach to blacklisting is to run some software on the PC itself that can restrict usage,. this has potential drawbacks as it could likely be got round with enough persistence but saves having another box setup

I did used to run 2 ipcop boxes and all kinds of servers and it was fun and certainly kept me busy,. these days I am after saving on the leccy bills and an easy life

[Chunkers]

Good point, I think I might just buy a decent router and then if I get fed up of fiddling with Pfsense I can use it.

My feeling is that the Billion BiPac 7800N is probably the one.

Thanks for the responses!

Chunks

[Azzaka]

Personally I would look to get my hands on an old Netgear DG834Gv3. The TI chip in the modem allows for a more stable connection on long lines especially on 2+ or Fixed rate connections.

I would suggest a F/W update, however I would steer away from the 4.01.40 and go for the 4.01.38 version.