[WXC/VFX] Configuration of new fusion service

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dolsen

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#18925 29-Jan-2008 20:36

I'm looking at signing up for the naked adsl fusion service from xnet / vfx. Before I do, I'd like some advice on the optimal way of setting up my service.

Note - I don't currently have any broadband due to moving, and will be moving again before getting this connected. My pervious setup was a

RTA1320 adsl2 modem -> WRT54g

The wrt54g had the dd-wrt firmware loaded. The adsl modem was set up with the ip address of the WRT54g (WAN side) being the dmz host. The wrt54g then provided the routing and nat for my local network (a few ports (SSH, http, https, and a few high ports for other devices (tivos)) were forwarded to different ip address on my local network so that I could access them remotely). All this worked well.

I am now looking at getting a SPA2102 for my fusion service to add into the mix. Now, I assume that I could put the SPA2102 behind the wrt54g and set up the QoS provided by the dd-wrt firmware on the wrt54g, however, I have found the wrt54g to lock up occasionally (~6 times a year). This was fine when it was just the computers that were affected, however, with this now providing telephone access I am concerned about the stability of this approach. Because of this, I am looking at having the setup as

RTA1320 -> SPA2102 -> wrt54g

This way, if the wrt54g locks up, it will still be just the computers that lose access.

As I am not aware of the limitations / setup of the SPA2102 device, and what can be set up after the configuration has been set by the service provider, I have a few questions about this set up.

Does anyone forsee any problems with this?

Due to xnet now charging $10 a month for a static ip, I want to set the dyndns features of the wrt54g to automatically update when I get a new ip address. if I use the routing / nat features of the SPA2102, would the wrt54g know when a new ip address is assigned? If not, could I use the bridge mode of the device after the configuration is loaded onto it via the service provider?

How stable is the SPA2102? is this likely to have more outages than the WRT54g router?

Note - I haven't brought the SPA2102 yet.

grant_k

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#107477 29-Jan-2008 22:27

dolsen: My pervious setup was a

RTA1320 adsl2 modem -> WRT54g

I am now looking at getting a SPA2102 for my fusion service to add into the mix. Now, I assume that I could put the SPA2102 behind the wrt54g and set up the QoS provided by the dd-wrt firmware on the wrt54g, however, I have found the wrt54g to lock up occasionally (~6 times a year).

As the owner of both a SPA2102 and a WRTP54G (at different sites) I would heartily recommend that you ditch your WRT54G and replace it with a WRTP54G, rather than buying a SPA2102.

My WRTP54G has been going for 4 months now without a single problem, and it has QoS built in. So long as Xnet is your ISP, you don't have to worry about heavy downloads or uploads affecting call quality.

dolsen: As I am not aware of the limitations / setup of the SPA2102 device, and what can be set up after the configuration has been set by the service provider, I have a few questions about this set up.

Does anyone forsee any problems with this?

Due to xnet now charging $10 a month for a static ip, I want to set the dyndns features of the wrt54g to automatically update when I get a new ip address. if I use the routing / nat features of the SPA2102, would the wrt54g know when a new ip address is assigned?

I am also using the DynDNS facility of the WRTP54G and it works brilliantly. Xnet are unable to offer me a Static IP on my Xtencity connection, but after trying DynDNS, I am sold. I can login remotely to my PC from anywhere, and DynDNS even works with an old H.323 VoIP system I use, which needs to know the address of the remote gateway before it can initiate a call. Previously I had a Static IP to fulfill both of these requirements, but in my experience, DynDNS works just as well.

I don't recall seeing any DynDNS facilities in the SPA2102, but I may have missed it.

However, I definitely wouldn't recommend using the SPA2102 as a router for your entire network. When using its built-in web server, SPA2102 seems quite sluggish to respond compared to my WRTP54G. The router functions are also much more limited.

dolsen: If not, could I use the bridge mode of the device after the configuration is loaded onto it via the service provider?

After spending several hours, I could not get the bridge mode of SPA2102 to work at all. If I didn't have NAT selected, the WAN port ended up being totally inaccessible, and the VoIP functions didn't work.

dolsen: How stable is the SPA2102? is this likely to have more outages than the WRT54g router?

Note - I haven't brought the SPA2102 yet.

SPA2102 certainly seems stable enough, once I got it setup correctly. There have been no outages at all during the year that I have been using it. SPA2102 provides both incoming lines for our business, so we rely on it to work faultlessly every day. There have been no disappointments on that score. Please note however that I am using the SPA2102 solely as a 2-port ATA, without any of the router functions being connected.

For your situation where you need a router, I would definitely recommend the WRTP54G. It will give you everything you need in one box, and you can get rid of your existing WRT54G.

dolsen

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#107806 31-Jan-2008 16:56

Ok, I've decided to go with the WRTP54G as my router. Instead of selling the old wrt54g, I'll use it as a wireless bridge for the devices next to the TV where it would be difficult to run a cable to (not my house).

Thanks for the input.