3rd party router replacement

[Jeff+TH]

I just want to say a big "thanks" to all of the posters who gave responses to this question.

After being confused from reading so many "yes you can, but", "no you can't because", "you need to get...." - well, I took the plunge and bought a TPLink VR2100 and plugged it in, choosing Sky (MER) VDSL option during set-up and used the anonymous username / password of  "abcdefgh@skydsl" and "1234567890abcdef" (without the " " rabbit ears).  Within 2 minutes, it had connected to Sky and I was getting a test download speed of 62 Mbps and an upload of 18 Mbps.  Slightly better than the 59 Mbps the Sky router was reporting.  However, the major reason for the change was better wifi and, gosh, have I got a much better wifi connection through the bungalow.

What a great community!

[pearsori]

Hi All,

HELP, I'm really confused,

today I was going to push the button buying the following products...

DrayTek Vigor 130 (Modem)

Synology RT2600ac (Router)

I need to understand what to do to get this working with Sky FTTC, there are lots of links etc but I'm not clear on how to set both devices up, any help would be really appreciated.

[GSnave]

Hi,

       I've just joined, and been following this helpful thread.

I tried to purchase a VR2100 which appears to be packaged as an AC2100, and ordered from Arg*s.  However I appear to have ordered an AC2100 VR600v3.  The specification sheets check out to be the same for both the AC2100/VR2100 and AC2100/VR600v3. 

Is the VR2100 version just a re-packaging exercise of the VR600v3, or is there a tangible difference?  

Appreciate any insight you can share.  Thanks.

[BrianGJSteer]

This is what I bought

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0851D1MF3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 it cost about £99, but is £81.44 now.

[GSnave]

Thanks Brian.   "Unfortunately?" I have already purchased the AC2100/VR600v3 and it should be here on Monday (£74.99 from Arg*s).

My query is whether anybody knows if there is a difference between the VR2100 and VR600v3 versions of the AC2100?  The specs look the same.  Could be just repackaging/branding?

Basically......ha,ha, did I get a good deal, or should I try and send it back?

Thanks, Geoff

[cookiemonsteruk]

@GSnave 

The vr600v3 seems to be a ac1600 as opposed to the vr2100 which is an ac2100. As vdsl line speeds don't exceed 80Mbps theres little difference from a wan perspective. The only difference would be on the lan whereby ac2100 can handle 2.1Gbps of lan traffic in a mesh setup whereby ac1600 can do 1.6Gbps of lan traffic. Even here its unlikely you will need 1.6Gbps of lan traffic between devices let alone 2.1Gbps 

[GSnave]

@cookiemonsteruk 

Hi cookiemonster,

                                        Thank you for the reply.  I don't begin to understand all the terms, etc.., so forgive me if I am wrong.  I believe the feedback you have given is true for a VR600 version 2 (AC1600).

The VR600 version 3 is shown as a AC2100.  As we know the VR2100 is also an AC2100 and appears to have an identicle spec.

From your reply I understand I would not notice a difference?  For information I was early to get broadband superfast, and so am still running the SR-102 router.

Thanks, Geoff

[GSnave]

Hi,

You may be interested in this information I received from TP-Link support, regarding the VR600V3 version of the AC2100?

"VR2100 and VR600 both supports IEEE 802.11ac for Wireless Standards, meanwhile their Signal rate of 2.4G and 5G are almost 2100Mbps, therefore they're all AC2100 series.

Although they have very slight difference, their performance nearly the same. Actually, VR600 V3 is more hot-sale than VR2100."

Geoff

[M3rk]

---

@cookiemonsteruk wrote:

@pearsori 

"DrayTek Vigor 130 ADSL/VDSL"

Hard to get hold off and expensive

The tp link td w9970 is £35 and can be put into modem bridge mode

Instructions for setting up tp link td w9970 as modem bridge

select sky vdsl from isp list
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/1332/

---

HI @cookiemonsteruk  you had already given me advice on another thread regards this router and using eeros.

am i right in saying if i did the above to my w9970, bridge mode, then my main gateway eero would deal with all the routing , so no issues of double nat'ing etc..? 

[cookiemonsteruk]

@M3rk 

The primary eero would need to support dhcp option 61 to function as a router

[pearsori]

Hiya,

im really stuck, bought the drektek 130 plugged it in locally put it in bridge mode then reconnected the wan to the new Synology router, looks like the drektek picks up the internet but for some reason the Synology just can't be found, and the IP address with the modem running just comes up as self assigned - what am I doing wrong please? Do I need to put it all back and configure the Synology router first?

[GBR22114]

Found this thread while searching for others with similar symptoms, hope someone can help me. I've been using a Draytek 2762n on Sky FTTC for a few years, and I'm trying to replace it with a Draytek 2860ac - a better router obviously.

My problem is that the DSL keeps dropping on the 2860ac - I've configured it the same as the 2762n in all the settings that I've seen mentioned here, apart from changing the Option 61 details to use the MAC address of the new router as the username@skydsl. The first time I connected it up, it dropped out every few minutes; second attempt it managed almost 3 hours before dropping the DSL.

Am I missing something? I'm using the latest firmware (3.9.1 BT) and I read something about using a different firmware whether vectoring is supported or not - is this the case? I don't get what vectoring means...  I've not been able to test the router elsewhere as I don't have any access to a different DSL line, never mind a Sky one.

Cheers,

Loz

[mae-3]

@GBR22114 

Vectoring is not supported in the UK or Ireland on VDSL2 FTTC, so you should be using non-vectoring firmware. Also, when you change over from one router to another it is wise to leave the router completely disconnected for about half an hour and so Sky's backend releases the appropriate tokens before establishing the new connection with the replacement router after that time.

[GBR22114]

Thanks @mae-3 , I'll give that a try over the weekend  🙂

[GBR22114]

Unfortunately I've tried what you suggested @mae-3 and the 2860ac is still dropping out at random intervals (and annoyingly also this causes the web interface to log out). I'm on the non-vectoring firmware; modem code is default; customer VDSL2 tag 101; MPoA is enabled; encapsulation is 1483 Bridged IP LLP; VPI 0; VCI 38; modulation is multimode; MTU 1500... what else could I try?