Tuesday, 22 October 2019

ADSL Modem Goes Slower Than Dialup


I have two ADSL modems, the first one does not have wireless, but is configured and working fine at around 6 - 7 mbps (ADSL) on Orcon in New Zealand.


I bought a Belkin N150 wireless router to replace the first one. I configured it exactly the same as the first one, but a speed test confirms that it is running slower than dial up.


One difference I noticed is that the first modem (a linksys) came from Orcon, and didn't have an ADSL username and password set up. The Belkin modem on the other hand wouldn't let me leave the username and password field blank.


Any ideas? I am a techy guy, so it doesn't appear to be anything obvious with the settings I have missed.


Thanks.



Answer



Not all ADSL modems are created equal. Here in the UK it is well worthwhile getting a modem based on an Alcatel chipset if British Telecom is your local loop supplier. Why? Because if you have a fault and your ISP gets a BT engineer to call around, they will plug in their own Alcatel based modem and if it works, you will be charged for wasting the engineers time.


I know your situation is different, but I would still recommend using hardware supported by your ISP. That way, if something goes wrong you can say you were just doing what they wanted, so it's their fault.


If you really want flexibility, the best option is to use the supplied router/modem as just a modem (most support PPPoE) and add your own router to do the clever stuff. This will allow you to keep the same router (and thus configuration) whatever technology your ISP uses (ADSL, ADSL2+, cable modem etc.). I've been meaning to do this for a while (with a Linksys WRT54G and DD-WRT) but I'm still wait for my delivery of the round tuits.


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