Ethernet problems

[Ed P]

I may soon be getting a full fibre connection. In preparation I had a look at what options I would have for replacing the crappy equipment BT supply, and discovered that I should really use an ‘approved’ VDSL modem/router. (I suppose it makes a degree of sense in that unapproved kit has a slight chance of screwing things up.)

If all this is news to you as well, you may be interested in this list of approved kit. Incidentally if you (say) have Sky or heaven help you, TalkTalk sitting on a BT fibre line then you still need to take a look as they could in theory refuse support. (It is thankfully quite a long list – but no TPLink!)

link

[Ed P]

I could not add a further edit, but I wanted to add this link to the rationale for requiring MCT tested kit.

link

[Ed P]

My post completely disappeared – the original post said I was about to go full fibre and wanted an alternate to BTs crappy kit. I found to my surprise that I had to have an approved VDSL modem/router. link

My big surprise was that TPLink is not approved! Approval is also required if you are using (say) Sky on a BT backbone.

Sorry my posts have got out of order, I have no idea what happened!

[JayCeeDee]

I had Sky ADSL,  17 Meg ( Sky Hub SR102 ), I went to Sky Fibre ( 37Meg ) in August 2018, ( kept Sky Hub SR102 ) upped it to 66 meg in April 2020 and have not changed my ( Sky Hub SR102 ) in that whole time. Even the initial upgrade to fibre was handled remotely.

I recall lots of people that had early BT or TalkTalk fibre who had problems because of the ( White Box ) fibre modem ( BL and Steve come to mind ) but that has all passed me by, I’m glad to say.

[Bob Williams]

Ed P wrote:

My post completely disappeared – the original post said I was about to go full fibre and wanted an alternate to BTs crappy kit. I found to my surprise that I had to have an approved VDSL modem/router. link My big surprise was that TPLink is not approved! Approval is also required if you are using (say) Sky on a BT backbone. Sorry my posts have got out of order, I have no idea what happened!

Strange Ed: the TP-Link Archer V400 I just bought is advertised as ” for Phone Line Connections (BT Infinity, TalkTalk, EE and PlusNet Fibre)  ”

https://tinyurl.com/ybusy9rm

And it works a treat!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

The fact that Tecnicolors are approved tells you need to know.

The Draytek Vigors are all on the list, including the Vigor 130 which is a true bridge. Plug that in and use any “Ethernet” router you like, such as the high end Asus and Synology. The 130 disappears having done it’s job of turning the VDSL into Ethernet.

[Ed P]

As the link says Bob, most equipment will work, it is only if things go wrong that your ISP may refuse to give you support if your equipment has caused the problem.  I think I would be tempted to drop a note to TPLink UK and ask them if your Archer V400 has received BT Openreach MCT approval, and if not, will they help in the event that your ISP jibes at the use of unapproved equipment? (I posted the question on Amazon whether the product has BT Openreach MCT approval).

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Ed, I will try that tomorrow.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

I wouldn’t worry about it, the ISP will want their router putting back on for troubleshooting. They won’t have heard of MCT Approval either. I keep my TT router handy just in case.

All you get are the drones reading scripts, you will not get to speak to any techie. If you want that sort of service you need to go with one of the smaller players who aim at businesses.

[Bob Williams]

I have always had a good relationship with Plusnet over two periods, going back to 2009: at least they talk (Yorkshire) English. Phoned CS and they said, no problem, as long as it works and you retain the same login to the Member Centre and Help Centre. It’s good to go back to a decent router webpage. Plusnet Hub One webpage was not bad, just sparse on detail.

I like to dig into the detail.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[wasbit]

@Bob
Apologies for the delay in replying – forum wouldn’t let me log in. Possibly because I set the router DNS to Adguard.
Since then have installed Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi Zero W then added Forumite to the white list.

Back to the TP-Link AC1200 (Archer VR400)
Often, but not always it’s extremely slow to open the log in page & then won’t go any further. Sometimes F5 will then open the settings, sometimes not. Just timed it & each took 30 seconds.
Happens with both IE & Pale Moon. Settings tell me I have the latest firmware.
Backspace goes back one page & I can’t find a setting to correct it.
Haven’t found a way to access the USB thumb drive. I can FTP into it via Windows Explorer & HTML.
Presume you haven’t had any of these problems & I’ve got a quirky one.

 

--
Regards
wasbit

Rig 1: Optiplex 3050 SFF
Rig 2: Asus ROG G20CB (rebuilt wreck)
Rig 3: HP Elitebook 8440P

Dear Starfleet, hate you, hate the Federation, taking Voyager. - Janeway

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