BT Infinity

[GlynM]

Originally Posted by Morelli

... Currently the DSL LED is blinking which I understand indicates the router is negotiating the best possible speed. The powerplugs seem to be working OK.
So far so good.
Morelli

Good to hear that you got your DGND3700 running on BT Infinity .

The DSL LED is flashing continuously on my infinity connected DGND3700 as well. I obviously do not have anything connected to the DSL socket and it even keeps flashing if I set the "WAN Preference" to "Must use Ethernet WAN" (in Advanced WAN Setup) so I just assume it is another low-level bug which will hopefully one-day get fixed.

Glyn

[Morelli]

It's not although there aren't enough lights when taking into account the extra three on the modem.
Is this odd?
Laptop speed check
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1640795630.png
PC speed check
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1640796821.png

Given that the speed checks were carried out back to back is it something LAN side of the router, e.g. Laptop is wireless G whereas the PC is connected via 200mb PowerPlugs (these two plugs are on separate ring mains).

Another issue re the firmware is the display under Maintenance, Router Status, Show Statistics http://www.routerlogin.net/RST_statistics.htmwhich still has the display for a ADSL connection although obviously blank. Given that the 3700 is for alternative connections, either fibre or ADSL, couldn't the display reflect this and show Fibre data when the 3700 is set for the router function only.
Morelli

[Scubbie]

The missing connection information is annoying, as you say, but since it is taken from the router's connection speed, I guess it would be misleading to put the Ethernet connection speed between the DGND3700 and the modem.

When I connected mine via the Sky router, I also found that the connection time on the Traffic Meter page is also missing, despite it being available on the WNDR3700, for example.

As for the speedtest results, these are often unreliable. You need to connect your laptop directly to the router via an Ethernet cable in order to get something closer to accurate. As far as WiFi is concerned, it will always be variable, and it would appear that you have a bottleneck with those HomePlug/PowerLine Adapters.

I would also recommend running the speed test at different times of the day, on different days and using different servers. The site gets a hammering at the best of times and the results vary dramatically.

Only by running multiple tests can you get some idea as to how good or bad a connection is.

Personally I've run some tests in the past, using the same setup, and have had results varying from 10Mb/s to 23Mb/s on the downstream. My connection is a stable 20Mb/s, less the overheads, the speed test should show around 17Mb/s.

Fair reflection of my connection:


Somewhat inaccurate reflections of my connection:

[GlynM]

Originally Posted by Scubbie

As for the speedtest results, these are often unreliable. You need to connect your laptop directly to the router via an Ethernet cable in order to get something closer to accurate. As far as WiFi is concerned, it will always be variable, and it would appear that you have a bottleneck with those HomePlug/PowerLine Adapters.

I would also recommend running the speed test at different times of the day, on different days and using different servers. The site gets a hammering at the best of times and the results vary dramatically.

Only by running multiple tests can you get some idea as to how good or bad a connection is.

I have to agree with this very sensible advice. Certainly now with the rates I am getting on FTTC speedtest.net often seams to be testing the server performance rather than the circuits. I found that some experimentation was needed using different servers and then sticking with the one that came out best with consistent results. I have also been slowly moving over to wired gigabyte ethernet around the house just leaving the wireless for my netbook and visitors. With wired desktop PC I have been getting the following result almost constantly for the last few months from my chosen server:



As an aside since last night we are are having some interesting issues. The phone line failed late last night but the FTTC internet is still working.

It sounds like a cable theft. I found the post office in a local shop couldn't operate and they confirmed that there were lots of people with BT line issues.

The BT fault report update is currently saying it will not be fixed until Thursday. Fortunately the thieving idiots obviously did not pull out the fibre as well otherwise I would be really in trouble but I guess that there are many ADSL customers completely off.

It is obviously a prevalent problem as a neighbouring village was cut-off by a cable theft only a few weeks ago and they don't have fibre yet, were of for about 5 days and then had problems with some of the reconnections being crossed.

Glyn

[Scubbie]

Originally Posted by GlynM

As an aside since last night we are are having some interesting issues. The phone line failed late last night but the FTTC internet is still working.

I'm not familiar enough with FTTC to know the ins & outs, but with ADSL it is possible for 1 wire to become disconnected and for the telephone to be dead, whilst the broadband will continue working, although at a slower speed.

[GlynM]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but I recently took up the BT offer of increased FTTC speeds and thought you might like to know that its is working fine on my DGND3700:





Glyn

[Scubbie]

Following what has been posted regarding Sky's FTTC product, your post confirms that the DGND3700 is able to sync to the BT Servers.

Sky uses a non-standard method to log in to their servers and despite asking, Netgear hasn't made any progress on introducing a fix for this.

Billion has released a fix and are now in the process of adding it in the firmware for many of their current routers.

It might be worth adding any other ISPs which the DGND3700 can connect to in the UK over FTTC (or FTTP) to this list.

[malbry]

Hi folks,

Quick question. I'm getting BT Infinity 2 installed soon, and I'm planning to use my existing DGND3700 as the router to replace the BT-supplied Homehub. From this thread, I see that I'll need to set the IP address for the DGND3700 to 192.168.1.254 (it is currently at the default of 192.168.0.1). I currently have reserved addresses for all my connected devices in the 192.168.0.x range. Will I need to change them all to the 192.168.1.x range?

Thanks,
Malcolm

[Scubbie]

Yes, all your devices will need to be on the same range as your router if you want them to talk to one another and the router.

However, from what I have learn on the SkyUser forum, I don't think that you have to change to use the 192.168.1.nnn range. Just the WAN Ethernet port on the DGND3700 needs to be in the correct range for the BTO Modem, which is 192.168.1.1.

If you hack the BTO Modem, then there is a way that you can access it whilst connected to your own router. This would involve you connecting LAN2 on the Modem to one of the LAN ports on the router and using the 192.168.1.nnn range on the router. LAN1 still connects to the WAN Ethernet port on the DGND3700.

[malbry]

Thanks Scubbie. Here's another question for you (and others). I currently use Parental Controls on my DGND3700 which is connected to BT via ADSL line. I think (but I could be wrong) that OpenDNS currently knows the DGND3700 from its MAC address. So once BT Infinity is installed, I'll be connecting the DGND3700 through a separate BT modem - which presumably has its own MAC address. Not sure if this will mean that Parental Controls stops working. Does anyone have any experience of operating Netgear Parental Controls using a Netgear router connected through a non-Netgear modem?

Thanks,
Malcolm