Looking for a stable ADSL2+ modem

In few months of time i will be using ADSL2+ for my basic home networking. And is quite essential to choose the right modem (combo with router) fits for my demanding needs.

Basic need; system stability, for endured streaming large packets of data over LAN, as well bittorrenting plus servers, all for days of continues use among with other WLAN devices.

Few modems i used were DLinks long ago, simply crashed with that kind of usage. Frozen until given a soft reset. Aztech modems lasted bit longer but end up lagging net as a problem.

I also researched several network chipset maker like Ralink and Broadcom for some info plus the modem manufactures such as Aztech and Asus recently. Few looks good but i couldn't make up my mind to get a decent one. I understands home network modems need frequent restarts to free up the modem resources like Windows OS, but i need one that is atleast better then the others.

Just help me out with the one you use or let me know the one you think is good! Thanks

 

i use the modem from my provider, and then a gblan switch for all my devices. my choice: an 8x gbswitch from tp-link ( not that one, but can't find mine. mine's white) and a wlan access point from tp-link. both together where more cheap than any other similar solution.

having the modem from the provider means it's 100% their fault if the internet doesn't work.

so far i only had to ever reset anything when i had to unplug the stuff to move it around. works for weeks/months without problem.

 

Oh gee, that's very nice! I generally restarts after a week or 2. But months that's new.

And i do get paranoid with ISP's "free" modem sometimes, since the firmware and device has been altered by them, can't really know what they done to it. Might even strip some performance off for compatibility.

My ideal of performance actually suggest having modem and router in one together. So there's no need to wire up extra devices. But in theory concerns me that modem and router working under one chipset can cause high processing and crash or overflow easier etc.. Thing like that does happen?

 

the provider-provided modems normally don't have gblan, which is the biggest performance bottleneck on a network you can have (copying a 1gb file is a matter of 10 seconds on my net, 1.5 minutes on a 100mb lan). and yes, reducing the work on the provider-provided devices helps in stability. they're often for the ordinary "lets check some mails" users tested. not the ones with a big home network.

 

I see, atleast i learned something about modem today. So guess i'm forced to reduce the workload and prioritize the tasks few by few then maybe i could live with the router modem. Because buying a switch in this couple months can excess my budget. I'll keep in mind of that setup for future upgrade.

I don't have a Gblan NIC for the moment, running just 100Mbps at most. Should able to deal with LAN transfers for now as i don't really have a fast HDD able to write 1GB in just 10 seconds. haha

 

In general standalone ADSL modem and external router are better than a combo. More processing power for routing, more RAM (RAM is "shared" between modem and router whereas standalone modem would have 16MB for its use and router 32/64MB for its use).
Additionally there's no 3rd party firmware for combos (due to GPLed drivers not being released) and if we're talking branded devices- more often than not there's no support at all.

Buying separate devices may not be very expensive though- check out TP-Link modems. These are good Broadcom based devices that are rather cheap.
You can add a router of your choosing to this setup and have more flexibility and better firmware support.

 

Never used TP-Link product but looks like a promising brand. I will compare it against Asus. As for the external router setup, i only afraid the compatibility with each other device, one causes packets loss within the user environment is unacceptable. Though i guess there's no other way to prevent it, or i just being paranoid. Just hope i can increase budget for the non-combo setup in next couple months before ADSL2+ come say hi to me.

 

There's going to be no packet loss as long as the Ethernet cable is not cracked
TP-Link is a good brand but it's not cheap everywhere- in spite of the usual routine it's a lot cheaper in Europe than in the US.
You have to confirm how much is it where you live.

The setup I'm considering for my upcoming upgrade is TD-8840T modem and TL-WR1043ND router.

Modem is just a basic one based on Broadcom chipset while router has some pretty decent hardware and DD-WRT support. I won't write more about it as I have already done this may times so it can be easily found in this sub-forum.

 

I'm actually having my eyes on TD-8616 modem and TL-WR340GD router. Both units doesn't have alot features, but modem will bridge to that router and should be good for endure use. Checked both units price over the web, modem price is very affordable in my area but no price list for the router.

Other then that, both Asus DSL-G31 and RT-10 are combo modems. But i wouldn't know which chipset being used and what are the difference with both. G31 price is much higher but in exchange use lowend 54G wifi then the cheaper N150 wifi on N10, yet other functions looks the same. Curious which one is better.

And from what i quick read about DD-WRT, is community that focus on custom firmware that add more features to the device. Or atleast something like that, hope it really benefits.

EDIT: Oh nvm about the Asus modems. Just found out RT-N10 one doesn't support ADSL2+ modular. Scraped it out of my list.

EDIT: Another question just pops up in my head; As i found out the speed for my ISP's ADSL2+ plan wouldn't be as great as real ADSL2+, so if the speed is around ADSL and i switch that modular, would it achieve better stability or speed in the "cloud" (internet)? It may not be a difference by down speed but stability? Lower latency/ping is possible?