Vodafone Station - Any good?

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amorpeth

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#175064 16-Jun-2015 10:51

Wondering if anyone can share their opinion on the Vodafone Station WiFi router. I don't need power features just decent wireless signal that covers an average sized house.

Also can anyone tell me the model number? I assume its some kind of Huawei like the older model.

Thanks!

Andrew Morpeth
Lync Server Specialist - Auckland, NZ
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#1326891 17-Jun-2015 23:25

Assuming you are meaning the one with the inbuilt LCD screen? If so it is the SHG1500 which is made by SerComm corp.

I have one that I tried to use as another Wifi AP. You cannot disable DHCP in any of it's settings. As some of the settings on it can only be changed by Vodafone remotely connecting into it. So not recommended to get it if you are not with Vodafone for internet.

The guy who gave it to me claimed that it's Wifi was better than a Fritzbox 7360. He had the Vodafone station working on Snap ADSL.

amorpeth

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#1328200 20-Jun-2015 09:11

Yeah that's the sucker. Trying to decide whether to sign up for 12 months and take the free one, or buy something better.

Andrew Morpeth
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NZFINEST

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#1328220 20-Jun-2015 09:33

buy something better.

Anything I suggest or say is my own thoughts and not provided by anyone else unless stated

johnr

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#1328225 20-Jun-2015 09:41

Would depend on your requirements but as a basic modem they do the job well

amorpeth

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#1328239 20-Jun-2015 10:46

Cheers for your feedback everyone :)

Andrew Morpeth
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kiwiharry

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#1328259 20-Jun-2015 12:47

I am reasonably impressed with the wifi coverage from my Vodafone Station. I had a Linksys router in my home-office at ground floor at one end of the house and even after adding some after-market high-gain antenna's on it, was getting marginal reception in my bedroom upstairs. When I switched to Vodafone last year, I tried the supplied Vodafone Station and despite it having inbuilt antenna's I found reception in the bedroom was more stable that what I had with the Linksys.

I also have a 2Talk VOIP account, and would have liked to have been able to use the VOIP functionality within the Vodafone Station, but it is locked down and can't be used with 3rd party providers.

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richms

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#1328355 20-Jun-2015 15:23

kiwiharry: I am reasonably impressed with the wifi coverage from my Vodafone Station. I had a Linksys router in my home-office at ground floor at one end of the house and even after adding some after-market high-gain antenna's on it, was getting marginal reception in my bedroom upstairs.

If you add higher gain antennas, unless you aim them to hit upstairs then the signal should actually get worse when you are off axis from them.

Richard rich.ms

Andib

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#1328367 20-Jun-2015 16:17

They're great as basic modems that work out of the box.
You can't play with them much in terms of any advance features, But thats the market they're targeted at. The average everyday customer who doesn't want / need the additional features.

I have a near brand new one you're welcome to have if you can pick it up (Auckland).
All you would need to do is register its serial number against your account (You can do this through My Vodafone or ringing them ) so it will automaticly get your PPPoA settings and any updates pushed to it.

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amorpeth

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#1328949 22-Jun-2015 07:33

Andib: They're great as basic modems that work out of the box.
You can't play with them much in terms of any advance features, But thats the market they're targeted at. The average everyday customer who doesn't want / need the additional features.

I have a near brand new one you're welcome to have if you can pick it up (Auckland).
All you would need to do is register its serial number against your account (You can do this through My Vodafone or ringing them ) so it will automaticly get your PPPoA settings and any updates pushed to it.

Thanks very much for the offer! I am starting to think I should buy something a little more flexible, in particular because I am also considering moving telco.

Andrew Morpeth
Lync Server Specialist - Auckland, NZ
Check out my blog

amorpeth

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#1328950 22-Jun-2015 07:35

kiwiharry: I am reasonably impressed with the wifi coverage from my Vodafone Station. I had a Linksys router in my home-office at ground floor at one end of the house and even after adding some after-market high-gain antenna's on it, was getting marginal reception in my bedroom upstairs. When I switched to Vodafone last year, I tried the supplied Vodafone Station and despite it having inbuilt antenna's I found reception in the bedroom was more stable that what I had with the Linksys.

I also have a 2Talk VOIP account, and would have liked to have been able to use the VOIP functionality within the Vodafone Station, but it is locked down and can't be used with 3rd party providers.

I have issues with my current Vodafone router (the older one before the V Station) which is partly why I am asking the question. I am very temped to buy something like this https://www.asus.com/nz/Networking/DSLAC68U/overview/, but they are very pricey!!

Andrew Morpeth
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kiwiharry

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#1328962 22-Jun-2015 08:19

amorpeth:
kiwiharry: I am reasonably impressed with the wifi coverage from my Vodafone Station. I had a Linksys router in my home-office at ground floor at one end of the house and even after adding some after-market high-gain antenna's on it, was getting marginal reception in my bedroom upstairs. When I switched to Vodafone last year, I tried the supplied Vodafone Station and despite it having inbuilt antenna's I found reception in the bedroom was more stable that what I had with the Linksys.

I also have a 2Talk VOIP account, and would have liked to have been able to use the VOIP functionality within the Vodafone Station, but it is locked down and can't be used with 3rd party providers.

I have issues with my current Vodafone router (the older one before the V Station) which is partly why I am asking the question. I am very temped to buy something like this https://www.asus.com/nz/Networking/DSLAC68U/overview/, but they are very pricey!!

I should also add that I had to get a replacement Vodafone Station after 4-5 months. My original one would stop operating and lock up about once per month. There was no connectivity and the touch screen controls on the front panel wouldn't respond so would have to do a power reset to get it going again. They replaced it and it has been rock solid since then.

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timmmay

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#1328970 22-Jun-2015 08:41

NZFINEST: buy something better.

This isn't particularly useful as you haven't given any reasons why.

amorpeth: Thanks very much for the offer! I am starting to think I should buy something a little more flexible, in particular because I am also considering moving telco.

I used an old Linksys WRT54GL with custom ROM for years (OpenWRT I think), until I went to Snap and got a Fritzbox cheap on contract. They work well, but WiFi is limited to something like 50Mbps. That's not really much of a limitation given mobile devices don't always need massive bandwidth. I'm not suggesting that particular unit necessarily, but just showing that you probably don't need a $400 router.

amorpeth

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#1329065 22-Jun-2015 10:25

timmmay:
NZFINEST: buy something better.

This isn't particularly useful as you haven't given any reasons why.

amorpeth: Thanks very much for the offer! I am starting to think I should buy something a little more flexible, in particular because I am also considering moving telco.

I used an old Linksys WRT54GL with custom ROM for years (OpenWRT I think), until I went to Snap and got a Fritzbox cheap on contract. They work well, but WiFi is limited to something like 50Mbps. That's not really much of a limitation given mobile devices don't always need massive bandwidth. I'm not suggesting that particular unit necessarily, but just showing that you probably don't need a $400 router.

Yeah $400 is probably overkill :) Do you get decent WiFi range throughout your house with the Linksys? 50Mbps is fine for me as long as is accessible at the far end of my place (its only 120sqm so not big, currently router chokes badly as you move away from it).

Cheers!

Andrew Morpeth
Lync Server Specialist - Auckland, NZ
Check out my blog

timmmay

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#1329068 22-Jun-2015 10:29

I don't use it any more, but from memory yes WiFi worked quite well. A friend of mine has it now, it's definitely more powerful than the cheap ISP supplier router - not sure what that is though. It's only 2.4GHz though, grab a wifi app for your phone and see if your local area is congested.

Do you really even need 50Mbps to your phone / laptop? 10Mbps is probably good enough in many cases.

richms

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#1329341 22-Jun-2015 15:26

The problem with using a low speed wifi like 802.11g is that it needs the channel for a longer time to send the same amount of data, and the old standards like G used on the wrt54gs etc are ignored by an N network when they have no non N devices connected to it, so they will just transmit over the top of the G transmission, making you have to retransmit.

The best thing to do with a G only router is to put it in the bin and get something that can do N. There are a hell of a lot of openwrt capable 300 meg N routers on aliexpress etc for about $30, which are a huge step up in any way from those old tired linksys ones.

Richard rich.ms

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