trakman: sage advice, I won't touch those settings!
Lastly, are usernames and passwords still needed?
I remember when I was on another provider (Orcon) I didn't need to enter valid credentials so you could enter 'anything@orcon.net.nz' as the username and anything for the password.
Is this be the same for Telecom Xtra?
Or once my BB is installed, do I need to call up the Helpdesk team to get a username and password set up?
Cheers!
I refer back to my previous post:
plambrechtsen: What he said. You shouldn't need to touch you modem apart from plugging it in to the power and ADSL. Don't go around changing your username or DNS servers. That all comes off the network and just breaks stuff when you mess around with it.
It doesn't matter even if you're on an older style connection it will still authenticate just fine with a user@xtrabb.co.nz username and password of "password". Which is the default values that all Telecom modems get shipped with these days. The mostly static IP address is assigned from the network so it really doesn't benefit you to change it as it's meaninless.
The 582n's are pretty decent routers, they are small, 802.11n, no external aerials, and don't seem to have any of the issues the 585's had and they are free with the 12 month signup. I have a 2Wire at work as well which is a rock solid router too.
If I had to put my hand in my pocket I agree with everyone else here the Draytek 120 is great since you can put it into bridge mode and have the Public IP address terminated on your own router which is good for all the geeks in us. As are the majority of TP-Link's routers too. But if you're getting a good quality "free" modem which fits your needs why bother with anything else.
