Linksys AM300 Modem

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Oubadah

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#77946 24-Feb-2011 20:17

This modem is the most inconsistent POS...

It was supposed to replace my RTA1320 (caps were bursting), but every time I save a setting to it or restart it the internet connection is lost, and it seems entirely up to luck whether I can get it back.

ATM I'm using the RTA1320 with a bunch of odd caps rigged into it, but even in this state it is 100x more reliable than the AM300 which is supposed to be from a quality brand.

Anyway, I'm trying to run the AM300 in half bridge mode with my DIR655. Here are my current settings:

AM300:

DIR655:

All other settings are default.

EDIT: Tried G.DMT and Auto BTW.

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#443216 24-Feb-2011 23:09

I actually have all three of the common half bridge modems here, Linksys AM300, RTA 1320 and TP Link TD-8840.

I haven't seen any disconnection issues with my AM300 and had been using it for several years. Make sure it's running the the last firmware (1.19.04 I think).

Otherwise I advise sending it back as it's probably faulty.

I highly recommend getting the TP Link TD-8840, it's about $65.. it's using a similar broadcom chipset to the RTA 1320 but doesn't suffer from the overheating and dodgy caps.

In my experience it also sync's much higher than the Linksys AM300. Our AM300 is back in it's box on a shelf now since we got the TP Link.

Hope that helps.

Oubadah

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#443328 25-Feb-2011 10:37

Ragnor: I actually have all three of the common half bridge modems here, Linksys AM300, RTA 1320 and TP Link TD-8840.

I haven't seen any disconnection issues with my AM300 and had been using it for several years. Make sure it's running the the last firmware (1.19.04 I think).

Otherwise I advise sending it back as it's probably faulty.

I highly recommend getting the TP Link TD-8840, it's about $65.. it's using a similar broadcom chipset to the RTA 1320 but doesn't suffer from the overheating and dodgy caps.

In my experience it also sync's much higher than the Linksys AM300. Our AM300 is back in it's box on a shelf now since we got the TP Link.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your input. What router are you using with the TD-8840? Is it easy to set up for half bridge mode? (my knowledge is severely limited in this field).

Oubadah

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#443338 25-Feb-2011 11:00

I've also seen the DrayTek Vigor 120 recommended. How does that stack up against the TD-8840?

Zeon

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#443341 25-Feb-2011 11:12

Oubadah: I've also seen the DrayTek Vigor 120 recommended. How does that stack up against the TD-8840?

I have a am300 but if i had my time again I would get the Draytek. It ahs full bridging and would be much more reliable than the am300 (I have had them freeze due to overheating and also not run their DHCP server properly on half bridge).

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Oubadah

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#443343 25-Feb-2011 11:14

I think I'm right out of the loop... Whatever happened to VDSL2? is it available yet?

Ragnor

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#443358 25-Feb-2011 11:45

The TP Link has the same implementation of ip extension/half bridge as your old Dynalink RTA1320.

The Draytek Vigor 120 does a full translation between PPPoA to PPPoE, it is a cleaner solution than half bridge/ip extensions but the Draytek is ~2x the price of the TP Link TD-8840.

VDSL2 is still being piloted/trialled by Telecom Wholesale, it will be available to residential end users sometime this year. Very few consumer VDSL2 modems around in retail atm, it's likely Telecom will be supplying the Alcatel Cellpipe unit to start with.

At home I'm using a Linksys WRT54GL running tomato as my router, probably going to upgrade to something with N and gigabit at some stage. Have a 5 port gigabit switch so not much urgency to do it atm.

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Oubadah

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#443375 25-Feb-2011 12:36

The price of the DrayTek 120 is no concern, it's just there seems to be very little stock - I thought it might be EOL, but I can't see any replacement...

Ragnor

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#443377 25-Feb-2011 12:48

It's a just not very common unit, probably due the the price.. ~$110 for just a stand alone modem is fairly steep.. but it does have unique features.

Telecom wholesale use broadcom and ikanos line cards in their cabinets and exchanges. The TP Link is a broadcom chipset and know to work well.

The Draytek uses an infineon chipset so it a somewhat unknown quantity, I would try and find someone running one on a cabinet sucessfully before I took the plunge.

You can see from the Linksys AM300 (which uses a Texas Instruments chipset) that compatability with the ISAM does seem to matter. Mine doesn't have the same problem as yours (disconnecting) but my TP Link and even the old Dynalink RTA1320 sync and much higher line rates than the AM300 both on upload and download..

That would be my concern with the Draytek, they do seem to offer different firmware optimized for different ISAM's though, perhaps contact their customer support and ask about it.
http://www.draytek.com.au/downloads.php?type=Vigor120

cyril7

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#443462 25-Feb-2011 17:54

Hi, I will backup the TD-8840 as a very good modem, that said your RTA with new caps and reasonable ventilation is probably still as good as it will get.

As Ragnor says the drayteks do seem to have issues with some DSLAMs and they do have firmware to match, I understand that snappernet have the right firmware for the Telecom ISAMs, this was not always the case and gave much grief.

My last point, you ask what router was used with these modems, my comment would be, things have changed alot in the last couple of years in the capability of stock firmware from most vendors, most stock nat routers will not blink and eye at 200+ open connections (bit torrents on full blast), which is something a couple of years ago was not the case. That all said for the advanced user the flexibility of stock router firmware may be lacking so a good reason for options like DD-WRT and Tomato etc.

As for VDSL2, its on soft release trial at the moment, snap were going to furnish me with a trial connection about now, but being ChCh based I have not bothered them as to where the trail is at for obvious reasons. As soon as I do have it up and running I will report on GZ, you can be sure.

Cheers
Cyril

Oubadah

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#443611 26-Feb-2011 11:20

cyril7: ...that said your RTA with new caps and reasonable ventilation is probably still as good as it will get.

I'm not going to re-use my current RTA (when I did the first re-cap, the solder wasn't taking to the traces for some reason, and it ended up quite a mess). With that in mind, is there any reason to buy another RTA1320 over the TD-8840?

As Ragnor says the drayteks do seem to have issues with some DSLAMs and they do have firmware to match, I understand that snappernet have the right firmware for the Telecom ISAMs, this was not always the case and gave much grief.

So basically what you're saying is that the vigor 120 is a safe choice these days, but the TD-8840 is safer?

cyril7

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#443833 27-Feb-2011 10:17

If it were me, go the 8840

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Ragnor

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#443991 28-Feb-2011 01:12

There are slightly different solutions to the same problem, either will do the job well enough imo.

Oubadah

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#444027 28-Feb-2011 09:44

OK, thanks guys.

In the mean time, here are my stats with the RTA1320:

I'm in Birkenhead on Auckland's North Shore, any idea why my line rate is always so poor?

Ragnor

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#444040 28-Feb-2011 10:13

Well GMT is a form of ADSL1 and caps out at <8Mbit so you should really just look at using ADSL2+ imo.

8-10Mbit is about right for 33dB line attenuation.

If your line travels ~2km from the exchange/cabinet then 30-33dB is about normal.

You could likely see higher line rate (lower attenuation) by getting a master filter/splitter installed to isolate the phone jack used for ADSL from the rest of your house phone wiring.

How many phone jacks are there in your house? Do you have an alarm that is connected to the phone wiring etc (even it not currently actively monitored it can cause issues)?

Also getting interleaving turned off can often provide a slight sync rate increase in my experience.

Oubadah

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#444049 28-Feb-2011 10:28

Ragnor: Well GMT is a form of ADSL1 and caps out at <8Mbit so you should really just look at using ADSL2+ imo.

8-10Mbit is about right for 33dB line attenuation.

If your line travels ~2km from the exchange/cabinet then 30-33dB is about normal.

Is there a map of cabinet and exchange locations?

Ragnor: You could likely see higher line rate (lower attenuation) by getting a master filter/splitter installed to isolate the phone jack used for ADSL from the rest of your house phone wiring.

I've already done this. I have about 2m of CAT6 from the demarc to the master filter, and then the modem is positioned right next to it.

No alarm. I only have two phone lines from the output on the master filter, but I don't suppose that's relevant...

Ragnor: Also getting interleaving turned off can often provide a slight sync rate increase in my experience.

Does the ISP do this?

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