Broadband Providers

[Rocket2]

Okay, I'm one of the stupid people who haven't swapped our providers for a long time, still with EE whose prices are going through the roof month on month, entirely my fault.
So looking at comparison sites I note that some of the cheaper providers (Now & Shell) while tempting on cost only supply a "Simple Router", what exactly are these, do I have a complicated router with EE as I can link my TV in & its easy to access & seen throughout my house.
Thanks for the help folks. R2

[Saab Dastard]

Simple router probably means that it is best to use it just as a modem, and provide your own downstream device for wifi, access control, DHCP etc. etc. Or replace it altogether with your own xDSL device.

I suspect that it's probably not so much that the "simple" router can't do these things, more that it's not very good at doing them, at least according to the comparison site reviewers.

[BirdmanBerry]

A simple router will give some people all they need for a few devices but if you start running multiple devices, requiring different frequencies and want better speed and reliability then I would use the router as a simple modem, add in a UniFi USG router and an AC AP pro access point and away you go. It's a small cost for the increased benefits you'd see.

If you use a modem/router/access point in one it's trying to do everything and it will start to struggle, whereas by splitting it down to the separate devices they can all do the job they were intended for.

We only supply a ZyXEL VMG1312 as standard but use the said kit above where more devices are due to connect.

[jimjim1]

If you use a modem/router/access point in one it's trying to do everything and it will start to struggle, whereas by splitting it down to the separate devices they can all do the job they were intended for.


That's interesting, always good to get the results of experience.

What do you suggest for DNS? Say for Windows devices.

Local router cached through ISP or one of the Free providers directly from end device? Or ... :-)

I looked up the devices suggested above.

USG Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway, is an enterprise Gateway router with Gigabit Ethernet
https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-Networks-Security-Gateway-Router/dp/B00LV8YZLK
£113

#

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-NETWORKS-UBI-UAP-AC-PRO-5Ghz-1300Mbps/dp/B016XYQ3WK
£130

#

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zyxel-Wireless-VDSL2-4-port-Gateway/dp/B01DCHV02Y
Zyxel Wireless N VDSL2 4-port Gateway with USB [VMG1312-B10A-GB02V1F]
£75

[BirdmanBerry]

That's interesting, always good to get the results of experience.

What do you suggest for DNS? Say for Windows devices.

Local router cached through ISP or one of the Free providers directly from end device? Or ... :-)

I looked up the devices suggested above.

USG Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway, is an enterprise Gateway router with Gigabit Ethernet
https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-Networks-Security-Gateway-Router/dp/B00LV8YZLK
£113

#

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UBIQUITI-NETWORKS-UBI-UAP-AC-PRO-5Ghz-1300Mbps/dp/B016XYQ3WK
£130

#

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zyxel-Wireless-VDSL2-4-port-Gateway/dp/B01DCHV02Y
Zyxel Wireless N VDSL2 4-port Gateway with USB [VMG1312-B10A-GB02V1F]
£75

I would add Google DNS as primary and secondary, overriding our own/that of the customers if not with us. This is because Google is very unlikely to go down. These are 8.8.8.8 for primary and 8.8.4.4 for secondary. These are quite easily setup in both the USG and VMG and then it will guide all the traffic there from all your endpoints, rather than setting manually in each device.

Those prices may not be the cheapest either, Amazon isn't always. I've seen cheaper but there won't be much in it.

At home here, we have Virgin due to TV package but we've switched of their functionality and replaced with our own UniFi kit. It stops them disabling the wireless when they experience issues (as was happening a lot) and also improves the signal so much. Our newish Samsung TV and iPads used to drop off randomly, the TV more than anything. Adding the AC pro immediately stopped that and I now also have control of blocking devices when the kids are naughty....

I should add, with the VMG we do get a lot of issues with the wifi breaking, sometimes before a year's up and sometimes after. They aren't the best for the money but they do have their uses when it comes to a simple router to run hosted telephony.

[11277m]

I left Virgin a few years ago because of their constantly increasing prices and went to Plusnet. They have been OK for me. They often have quite good rates for new customers...https://www.plus.net/