Replacement for iffy fibre modem

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johno1234

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#324996 23-Jun-2026 19:49

Currently on Spark business fibre 500/500 but getting lots and lots of small outages. Otherwise solid and always delivering 500/500 speed. It’s not the wifi, as wired and wireless devices are affected. Have a fairly old Spark Smart Modem 1 and a couple of Spark Smart Mesh access points.
I think the Smart Modem is dying, although the logging says nothing.
Should I replace it all and if so what with?

I run a home office (wired) with a couple of PCs, pi-hole Raspberry Pi and a MFC printer, access point coverage around the house, Apple TV (wifi) and a growing Matter over Threads smart home.

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#3505646 23-Jun-2026 20:25

It could be the connection to your house. Have you logged a fault with your internet provider?

johno1234

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#3505651 23-Jun-2026 21:15

Kiwifruta:

It could be the connection to your house. Have you logged a fault with your internet provider?

It’d be so vague I’m not sure it worth trying. Plus 99% of the time when it’s working it’s perfect.

fe31nz

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#3505659 23-Jun-2026 22:39

If it has a wall wart / plug pack power supply which is getting old, maybe that needs replacing. Or if the ONT is similarly ancient, it could be the problem for the same sort of reasons. I recently was getting my connection going down every month or two and only coming back up when the ONT was power cycled. Getting the ONT replaced with one of the new ones fixed this, but I suspect that just a new power pack would have also fixed it.

robjg63

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#3505756 24-Jun-2026 10:49

This seems to often get asked on Geekzone.

Routers seem to start acting up rather than just dying.

At least if you know a device is dead - you need a new one. Intermittent oddness is a PITA.

Routers usually seem to run quite warm and they are switched on 24/7. In my experience they seem to last somewhere around 3-5 years (Google AI actually said the same thing when I asked).

How old is yours - any clues?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

johno1234

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#3505757 24-Jun-2026 10:54

robjg63:

This seems to often get asked on Geekzone.

Routers seem to start acting up rather than just dying.

At least if you know a device is dead - you need a new one. Intermittent oddness is a PITA.

Routers usually seem to run quite warm and they are switched on 24/7. In my experience they seem to last somewhere around 3-5 years (Google AI actually said the same thing when I asked).

How old is yours - any clues?

At a guess it would be 5-6 years old.

What I'm really doing here is seeking validation from others that I should go buy something shiny.

muppet

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#3505758 24-Jun-2026 10:54

johno1234:

Kiwifruta:

It could be the connection to your house. Have you logged a fault with your internet provider?

It’d be so vague I’m not sure it worth trying. Plus 99% of the time when it’s working it’s perfect.

Your ISP can pretty quickly see if you're authing quite often or not. They can also run checks on the ONT.

Before buying new hardware, at least ask your ISP what they see.

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robjg63

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#3505768 24-Jun-2026 11:12

johno1234:

robjg63:

This seems to often get asked on Geekzone.

Routers seem to start acting up rather than just dying.

At least if you know a device is dead - you need a new one. Intermittent oddness is a PITA.

Routers usually seem to run quite warm and they are switched on 24/7. In my experience they seem to last somewhere around 3-5 years (Google AI actually said the same thing when I asked).

How old is yours - any clues?

At a guess it would be 5-6 years old.

What I'm really doing here is seeking validation from others that I should go buy something shiny.

Yep - You need to buy something shiny!

EDIT:

For what its worth, I replaced my old ISP supplied router with a couple of TP-Link Deco m4 units and they have been awesome.

Each unit has 2 x 1 Gibabit ethernet ports.

You can get a 3 pack from PBtech for around $229.

Hook the first unit up to the ethernet port on the ONT and get your connection set up.

Pop the 2nd (or 3rd) at various places in your house and use the phone app to link them to the wifi mesh network.

I found it really good to be able to have our laser printer connected with an ethernet cable to the second unit upstairs.

Wherever there is an m4 unit you have the 2 ethernet ports available if you want them (except the primary unit which uses 1 port for the ONT).

The wifi coverage seems very good.

Just a suggestion.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Spyware

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#3505770 24-Jun-2026 11:17

Don't buy any Asus products please.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

MikeAqua

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#3505771 24-Jun-2026 11:19

johno1234:

At a guess it would be 5-6 years old.

What I'm really doing here is seeking validation from others that I should go buy something shiny.

This very clear case of Need New Shiny

Mike

johno1234

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#3505772 24-Jun-2026 11:23

MikeAqua:

johno1234:

At a guess it would be 5-6 years old.

What I'm really doing here is seeking validation from others that I should go buy something shiny.

This very clear case of Need New Shiny

Thank you!

johno1234

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#3505773 24-Jun-2026 11:30

Spyware:

Don't buy any Asus products please.

Noted!

How about tp-link X50 3-pack? https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL6553/TP-Link-Deco-X55-AX3000-Dual-Band-WiFi-6-Whole-Hom?qr=product_option - relatively inexpensive but seems to have been around for a while, is it still decent technology?

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enserf

enserf
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#3505796 24-Jun-2026 12:38

Spyware:

Don't buy any Asus products please.

Why is that? My Asus mesh system is great.

Only issue is when the main one (GT-AX11000) needs to reboot (which is only after firmware updates) it needs a couple more goes to pick up the internet connection.

robjg63

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#3505842 24-Jun-2026 15:40

As noted in my post above, I have 2 of the TP-Link Deco M4s and they are great.

The X55s are newer/faster/ and presumably better - and twice the price.

If the price seems good to you then I imagine you would find them pretty good.

All units are identical - i.e. any one of them can connect to your ONT and be the primary router.

You just use the app to link the other units up to each other - they use their own mesh network for that.

I understand you can also mix and match TP-Link mesh models - so if you wanted to add units, you dont need to stick to the X55 (but probably easiest to buy a pack of them - because they are cheaper in packs).

Also I see you are on Spark. You probably need to ensure you enable VLAN10 when setting up the main unit - this seems to cause people issues when they dont know.

https://support.simplybroadband.co.nz/instruction/tp-link-deco-x55-ax3000

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

johno1234

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#3505898 24-Jun-2026 16:01

robjg63:

As noted in my post above, I have 2 of the TP-Link Deco M4s and they are great.

The X55s are newer/faster/ and presumably better - and twice the price.

If the price seems good to you then I imagine you would find them pretty good.

All units are identical - i.e. any one of them can connect to your ONT and be the primary router.

You just use the app to link the other units up to each other - they use their own mesh network for that.

I understand you can also mix and match TP-Link mesh models - so if you wanted to add units, you dont need to stick to the X55 (but probably easiest to buy a pack of them - because they are cheaper in packs).

Also I see you are on Spark. You probably need to ensure you enable VLAN10 when setting up the main unit - this seems to cause people issues when they dont know.

https://support.simplybroadband.co.nz/instruction/tp-link-deco-x55-ax3000

I'm more interested in range than speed - so if the Wifi 5 M4's do at least the same range and can still manage a few hundred Mbps wifi they'll do fine...

Useful info here: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=66&topicid=318330&page_no=1#3328981 suggests X10 might be best bet...

MikeAqua

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#3505902 24-Jun-2026 16:14

johno1234:

I'm more interested in range than speed - so if the Wifi 5 M4's do at least the same range and can still manage a few hundred Mbps wifi they'll do fine...

I have a couple of the M9s (look like a smoke detector) and they do WiFi-5 too. I've been running one as a modem since Jan 2022, with almost no down time. I think in that whole time, I've had to reboot the modem maybe twice. Rock solid. The one I run as a WAP has never needed rebooting.

Mike

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