TP-Link

[ProAsm]

I've often seen people asking what ADSL modem to buy.
Well up here in Hilton we get many storms and they come very suddenly.
In the last 5 years I have gone through 7 ADSL modems all due to lightning strikes via the phone line.
Last night we were hit again.
I've had a Cisco, 2 x Billion, 2 x Netgear and 2 x D-Link and all I could get today was a TP-Link and boy what a surprise I got.
This thing is so easy to setup and it's quick and when all is done it displays everything you want to know in one status page.
It's also the cheapest modem I've ever bought, I paid R539 although it is R499 at Matrix.

 

[sand_man]

They make some great routers, TP-Link. Next time you in the market for one drop kernel a PM and he'll get one delivered to you and at a reduced rate.

Which model did you get? W8961N? W8960N?

You should ask Telkom to bump your line up to 10mb. With those SNR margins it should be doable...

 

[ProAsm]

W8961N
I have contacted Telkom several times about bumping my line up to 10 mbit but they reckon it's not available here.
I even pm'ed Telkomza and he also confirmed that my max is 4 mbit, although he rekons we are getting a ISAM here in January so then I'll go to 20 mbit.

 

[sand_man]

Good stuff!!

 

[Jake45]

TP-Link also have the TL-W8960N and TL-W8968 models. The W8961N uses a Ralink/Mediatek chipset while the W8960N has a Broadcom chipset (v.5 BCM6318). If you have a long noisy telephone line the W8960N may produce better speeds than the other models.
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TD-W8961ND_v3.x
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TD-W8960N_v5.x
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TD-W8968_v3

I recently purchased one of the low end Broadcom BCM6318 based Tenda routers and have been really happy with the ADSL performance. The wireless range is really impressive. The D301 model also includes a USB port for <R350 which is a lot cheaper than the similarly equipped TD-W8968.
http://www.russalpc.co.za/catalog/p.../8213/osCsid/41001b04e99cbac26e14b07f60c30a06

 

[Willy Strong]

What about lighting protection or is it not worthed?

 

[Jake45]

The TP-Link and Tenda routers do have some very rudimentary internal lightning protection but I'm sure that this will not be adequate in this case. Look for the Kung-Fu Panda ...
http://tendacn.com/en/product/D301.html

 

[CamiKaze]

So how much does an Archer D9 go for? or the D7?

 

[sand_man]

So how much does an Archer D9 go for? or the D7?

D9 R2900, D7 R2000....

 

[ProAsm]

What about lighting protection or is it not worthed?

I do have a telephone line earthing box in place but it does nothing really.
The best is to pull the line out but you have to be quick, like last night, I heard the 1st bang and ran to unplug the line from the modem but before I got there, crash! and the next bolt hit and obviously I was too late
1 x Billion 7300NX fried. (only 7 months old)
The AC/DC power box survives every time and is plugged into my inverter anyways.

Jake45, what does the USB port do on a modem/router as I see my last modem, the Billion had a USB port ?

 

[CamiKaze]

D9 R2900, D7 R2000....

Hmm, think I might just get me a D9. Where you get the prices from? Is there a price for the D10?

 

[sand_man]

Hmm, think I might just get me a D9. Where you get the prices from? Is there a price for the D10?

D10? Don't think that model is out yet.

Prices from uniterm direct.

 

[CamiKaze]

Would this be a waste if fiber gets rolled out to my area?

 

[sand_man]

Would this be a waste if fiber gets rolled out to my area?

Not at all. You could use it instead of the cheapie the isp you sign up with is likely to give you.

 

[Genisys]

I do have a telephone line earthing box in place but it does nothing really.
The best is to pull the line out but you have to be quick, like last night, I heard the 1st bang and ran to unplug the line from the modem but before I got there, crash! and the next bolt hit and obviously I was too late
1 x Billion 7300NX fried. (only 7 months old)
The AC/DC power box survives every time and is plugged into my inverter anyways.

Jake45, what does the USB port do on a modem/router as I see my last modem, the Billion had a USB port ?

Depends on the router really. It can be used for 3g/lte fail over, or file storage, or even as a print server. I think my Mikrotik can even monitor my UPS if I really want to monitor my UPS. At the end of the day it all depends on what the Manufacturer wants to allow you to do.

 

[Rickster]

Best thing to do is get a router from Telkom (yea i know the firmware is meh but the Huawei is rather good) then if it does get hit they will replace it with a new one as many times within 2 years.

 

[Jake45]

Jake45, what does the USB port do on a modem/router as I see my last modem, the Billion had a USB port ?

@ProAsm: I think that you can either share one or more USB flash drives/hard drives (using powered USB hub) or connect a USB printer to the USB port on the Tenda D301. They used to sell a D303 model which also allowed connection/fallover to a compatible 3G USB modem but it appears that this has now been replaced by the 4G630 which no longer supports ADSL as well as flash drives/printers/3G-4G modems. You can find details on how to access one or more flash/hard drives in the Amazon India review below. The Billion 7300NX which is no longer working also supports this type of functionality.
http://tendacn.com/en/product/4G630.html
http://www.amazon.in/gp/customer-re...f=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00LWVZNM6
http://www.takealot.com/billion-7300nx-3g-adsl2-wireless-modem-router/PLID17022071

Amazon India reviews (Ramptel RD151 is similar to D301 but excludes the USB port). The good WiFi range opens up a lot of possibilities for wireless IP security cameras etc.
http://www.amazon.in/Ramptel-RD151-...s/B00VV8BE3C/ref=dpx_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1

Tenda D301 manual (second link from bottom)
http://tendacn.com/en/product/download/D301.html
Broadcom CLI guide (command line interface)
http://www.zhone.com/support/manuals/docs/62/6211-A2-GB23-00.pdf

Both the TP-Link Archer D7 and D9 use the same BCM6318 ADSL processor as the D301 and TD-W8960/8 etc. so the ADSL performance should be identical. The D7 and D9 use more capable Qualcomm/Atheros QCA9558 and Broadcom BCM4709A processors to manage the gigabit switch and dual band WiFi etc.
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=55580
https://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer-d9
Tenda D301 circuit board pics (Broadcom BCM6318 ADSL processor)
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Tenda_D301

Tenda also makes several gigabit dual band routers with similar functionality to the Archer C7 and C9 models.

Tenda AC15 (~R1600) reviews
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...-smart-dual-band-gigabit-wifi-router-reviewed
https://www.amazon.com/Tenda-AC15-W...pe=all_reviews&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

Tenda AC9 (~R1000) reviews
http://www.wegotserved.com/2016/09/09/review-tenda-ac9-wireless-ac1200-router/
https://www.amazon.com/TENDA-Wirele...pe=all_reviews&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

 

[ProAsm]

Looks like these modems are going 'smart' so to speak.
I see the Tenda you can use the USB port for a 3G modem which could be very cool as when we loose electricity here which happens about 50 hours a month, my lights, PC's, modems and TV's all run off an inverter but Telkom dies in 30 minutes as that's all their batteries give so we sit without Internet, whereas the 3G would still work as the Vodacom tower here has a generator.