Do you have the right router for your broadband?
Your broadband router has a significant impact on the quality and speed of your broadband service. You must choose the right router to support the service you are subscribing to, and there are many variations between manufacturers and models.
One wholesale provider, Fluidata, whose software runs on the BE Unlimited LLU platform, has carried out testing on BE LLU broadband connections to identify which routers perform the best.
This testing has identified that some of the most expensive Cisco ADSL routers perform quite poorly in comparison to more common brands, but even Linksys (now owned by Cisco) routers can vary, depending on the actual model.
The testing was carried out on a 1,550m BE LLU phone line capable of an ‘up to 24 meg’ service downstream with 1.3 meg upstream capacity. The speeds shown are in Kbps and represent the average sync speed rather than actual IP throughput over five tests per router.
Device Firmware Average Downstream Average Upstream
Netgear DM111P 3.64p 18,309 1,320
SpeedTouch 608WL 8.2.1.4 17,921 1,313
Netgear DG834 v4 5.01.01 17,719 1,329
Netgear DG834 v4 5.03.14 17,674 1,314
Linksys WAG160N 1.00.14 17,599 1,314
ZyXEL P-660R-D1 3.40(ANZ.6)G1 17,568 1,238
ZyXEL P-660R-D1 3.40(ANZ.6)G0 17,510 1,245
D-Link DSL-320B UK.1.10 17,220 1,304
D-Link DSL-2640B UK.4.00 17,076 1,303
ZyXEL P-660H-D1 3.40(AGD.3)C0 16,586 1,235
Netgear DG834v2 3.01.38 15,833 1,208
SpeedTouch 608WL 6.2.10.3 15,444 1,321
Cisco 1801-M/K9 3.0.33 15,099 1,187
Cisco 877-M-K9 3.0.14 14,976 1,176
Cisco HWIC-1ADSL-M 4.0.15 14,785 1,173
Cisco 857-K9 3.04 14,199 1,185
Cisco 877-K9 3.04 14,199 1,187
Cisco HWIC-1ADSL 4.0.15 14,199 1,188
Linksys WAG54G2 1.00.16 9,997 1,178
ADSL2+ sync speeds. Speeds recorded in Kbps
This data provides an interesting insight into the variations in speed that routers can provide. In particular, we would highlight the SpeedTouch 608WL which is one of the top performers at 17,921 Kbps using the 8.2.1.1 firmware, but which only achieves 15,444 Kbps using the older 6.2.10.3 firmware. Users should note that with a few exceptions (e.g. Cisco), firmware upgrades are free and simply take a few minutes to install.
It is important to note that while the figures above do provide an insight into BE lines, this data may not be accurate for customers on other broadband services.