Airport Extreme with Thompson TG585

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RockResearch

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#43894 23-Oct-2009 10:51

I currently have a WDS setup with Airport Extreme and Airport Express hooked via Motorola Surfboard to TCL cable.

Am considering switching to Telecom (mainly because of TiVo) and see they provide a Thompson TG585. I assume the best way to set this up would be to connect the Extreme to the Thompson via Ethernet cable and keep the same config as I currently have.

I am concerned that the Thompson may have a negative impact on the network. I don't know why it would but just have a feeling. Does anyone foresee any issues with this set-up?

Thanks,

Rock Research - NZ's online marketing research experts. We like to blog too.

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#266328 23-Oct-2009 11:27

Cable uses PPPOE and bridges easily with other devices, ADSL in NZ uses PPPOA and it a bit more is involved in getting things working smoothly imo.

My advice would be don't take the Thompson.

Firstly (I think) when you don't take the "free" hardware offer you only have a 12 month contract instead of a 24 month contract period (you should double check that is correct this but I think it's right).

Secondly this means you get to choose your own ADSL modem since you don't need wireless it should be <$100 and you can choose one which supports ppoa half bridge (also known as ip extension), that would make bridging it with your existing devices easier (imo).

As far as I know the Thompson doesn't support half bridge, it's a good all in one device for the average user/family but not for power users imo.

chiefie

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#266332 23-Oct-2009 11:41

Hmmm... I personally don't see all the greatness of TiVo now... I'd much rather stick with TelstraClear cable if I were you.

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Ragnor

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#266347 23-Oct-2009 12:38

TP Link TD-8840 <$70, solid broadcom chipset, not as ugly as the Dynalink and DSE alternatives.

nzbnw

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#266353 23-Oct-2009 12:59

The Thomson is free on a 12month contract at free (except on Total Home). You might as well take it.

nzbnw

RockResearch

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#266359 23-Oct-2009 13:11

The other choice is the Thomson ST 536, I guess for $ value the TG585 is the better choice and if it is no good, go from there.

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Ragnor

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#266450 23-Oct-2009 19:34

I don't think either do ppoa half bridge or ip extension so you with have set it up in double NAT or disable DHCP and NAT on your Airport and have the router do it.

plod

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#266469 23-Oct-2009 21:06

I have just made the switch from TCcable to telecom Big Time. Got the thompson modem that came free. Also have airport extreme. I think I only changed one setting in the extreme to get it working.Piece of cake.

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RockResearch

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#266607 24-Oct-2009 20:42

plod: I have just made the switch from TCcable to telecom Big Time. Got the thompson modem that came free. Also have airport extreme. I think I only changed one setting in the extreme to get it working.Piece of cake.

Thanks for that, any regrets about making the change?

Rock Research - NZ's online marketing research experts. We like to blog too.

plod

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#266653 25-Oct-2009 09:11

Not at all, I was regulary going over my 20GB limit and then having to tell my two children not to go on youtube and the likes.
We don'e game on line on the consoles. Most things are the same. I have had it for 7 days now and used just over 100Gb, work that one out if you were with telstra

RockResearch

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#270735 6-Nov-2009 20:57

Made the switch and have connected the TG585 to the Extreme with no issues. Just had to reset router to DHCP. Setting up the WDS with the Express was a little trickier as I couldn't remember how I did it last time but all sorted now.

Quite pleasantly surprised with the download speeds I'm getting around 12mbps, upload is slower but I can live with that. And as I'm now with total home the savings are considerable.

Rock Research - NZ's online marketing research experts. We like to blog too.

whitephoenix

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#278962 3-Dec-2009 10:10

RockResearch: Made the switch and have connected the TG585 to the Extreme with no issues. Just had to reset router to DHCP. Setting up the WDS with the Express was a little trickier as I couldn't remember how I did it last time but all sorted now.

Quite pleasantly surprised with the download speeds I'm getting around 12mbps, upload is slower but I can live with that. And as I'm now with total home the savings are considerable.

Hi there

Just joined the Big Time account as well with the TG585. So do you have to turn off the wireless function of the router before you connect it up to the Airport Extreme? I'll experiment with my setup once everyone's left the house (flatting situation and don't want to interrupt anyone's connection at the moment).

Cheers
W

RockResearch

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#278973 3-Dec-2009 10:50

I couldn't figure out how to turn the wireless function off so just left it on. Works fine. Would like to know how to turn if off though as would be interested to see if there is any increase in performance.

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cyril7

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#278976 3-Dec-2009 11:03

The wireless function in the Thompson is pretty straight forward to turn off did it for a job the other day.

Make sure the NAT router in the Airport is turned off (just run as an AP), you no longer need that aspect as its provided by the Thompson. These routers are quite good, use the Broadcom chipset, which is good, the firmware is a bit different to most others, as I said to one chap the other day, bit like hopping into a Citreon DS after being in a Corolla, the controls are all there and work quite well, but just in funny unexpected places.

Cheers
Cyril

Ragnor

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#279034 3-Dec-2009 14:20

Yeah double NAT will cause you grief with gaming, p2p, instant messaging down the line.. definitely worth taking the time to either disable NAT in the Airport (WAN Bypass Mode) or use a half bridge ADSL modem imo.

RockResearch

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#279045 3-Dec-2009 14:57

cyril7: The wireless function in the Thompson is pretty straight forward to turn off did it for a job the other day.

Make sure the NAT router in the Airport is turned off (just run as an AP), you no longer need that aspect as its provided by the Thompson. These routers are quite good, use the Broadcom chipset, which is good, the firmware is a bit different to most others, as I said to one chap the other day, bit like hopping into a Citreon DS after being in a Corolla, the controls are all there and work quite well, but just in funny unexpected places.

Cheers
Cyril

Can you please tell me how you turn the wireless off on the Thompson.

Thanks,

Rock Research - NZ's online marketing research experts. We like to blog too.

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