[detskpit]

Hi guys,

I'm in the middle of migrating my ISP to BeInternet - it goes active on Mon 15/12/2008.

I've received my Welcome pack (CD, BeBox, Microfilters, etc).
It seems the BeBox is a Thompson TG585 v7.


I've had really bad experiences with Thomson modem/routers and really am not too pleased about having to use this "BeBox".


I've been reading further into setting up the modem and have heard that if you "reset" the modem - you lose all the config settings and have to call BeInternet to get them again.
Is this true - because that would be extremely annoying and tedious.


It also seems that BeInternet do not have a specific username/password setup for the Broadband connection, but rather "settings" to get access.

To be honest - this has confused the sh!t out of me and was wondering if someone could clarify how this is setup.
Maybe it will be all clearer when I actually get to set it up on Monday.


Can I use a different ADSL2 modem/router?
eg I am currently using a Netgear DG834G for the last 2 years and it has been rock solid and importnatly - I know how to configure it inside and out.

Can someone give me a pre-emptive guide on how to use the Netgear on a BeInternet connection?


Cheers

[pataagusata]

I use a Netgear DG834GT on Be... the Thomsons are crap imo.

But... by resetting they mean pressing the little reset button which clears the flash memory & puts it all back to default. Not turning it off and on again.

There are a few settings you need to put in the netgear to get working - there are guides on the Be forum - or you can call support and they'll talk you through it.

I just hope you're not on one of the exchanges which are going through the 'upgrades' at the minute... about 40-50 exchanges are affected, including mind & it means I'm getting atrocious pings of nearly 100ms!

They should have that fixes by January though - or at least that's what they claim.

[suiviouse]

I'm using the bebox, 2 wired, 1 wireless, port forwarding etc...
very stable, stays cool, no real issues.
Able to sync @ 20Mbps

give it a try before you dismiss it.

otherwise you can use your own if you want, DG834G V4 is highly recommended, the other versions V1-V3 are not good (my own V2 can only sync 9Mbps).

[detskpit]

Wow! wasn't expecting anyone to be still up at this time.
Speaking of which - WTF am I still doing up? Got things to do early morning!


Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm going to give the Bebox a go first and see how it goes.

I guess I'm really comfortable with the Netgear config and interface, and so would prefer to use it.
But my DG834G is a v1.



With regards to the BeBox (Thompson) - how is it in the following:

1) If I need to disconnect and reconnect the router - ie change the dynamic IP address.
Will that erase all the data.
I don't want to reset to factory defaults, but just disconnect the connection and then reconnect.
The reason for this is two fold:
Firstly, I often find if the connection is slow or the router hangs - doingthis gets it up to speed again.
Secondly, some free download sites eg similar to Rapidshare often limit how many times or how much you download in 24hrs. I've found by resetting the router and thus renewing the dynamic IP address - it resets the download quota.
(*the content or downloads are not illegal by the way... maybe the loophole of donloading more is bit suspect! )

2) Peer 2 peer. Is it easy to allow ports for downloads on the BeBox.
It was very simple on the Netgear.
But it seems really complicated and difficult on the Thompsons.


Got to get some zzzzzzzzzzzz

I'll catch this up in the morning.


Cheers.

[detskpit]

Been going through the Be Forums.

It would seem that the DG834G can be used, but speeds/performance is very dependent on the version.

Apparently v1-3 yields the poorest performance/sync speed due to the modem chipset (AR7).

v4 will perform very well as it uses the Broadcom chipset ala BeBox.
The DG834GT also uses the same chipset, and in fact they recommend this ADSL modem.


I'm going to setup initially with the BeBox and see how intuitive it is and whether there are any issues.
It will also hopefully give a benchmark or standard for my line or sync speed.


If I do decide to change it to a Netgear - I will have to buy a DG834GT.
Seems no point using my DG834G v1 - I anticipate too many speed issues.




Hey Crowhorse,

can you at some point look into your router settings and tell me what you put into:

1) DNS Settings - did you choose "Automatically getfrom ISP" or input manually.
If manually - what did you enter and where did you get that info from?

2) MAC address - did you chose "default" or did you enter an address. Was it from the Netgear router or from the BeBox?
Guides seem to suggest entering the BeBox MAC address.

[suiviouse]

Switching your router on and off will not reset factory defaults, if you press the small reset button (the one using a pen or something) then it'll wipe all your settings, but this is true for all routers.

Be* dynamic IP isn't very dynamic, there is a block set to each person and often people are assigned the same IP for days/weeks on end. I think there is a way to be assigned a brand new IP you'll need to check the Be* forums.

Port forwarding on the Bebox - rather simple to set up just by looking at it but that would depend on the person.


You will receive all your details in your care package, for myself I've got static IP so I entered my IP and I use OpenDNS so I entered that manually too, I used Be DNS without issue however.

There is a MAC address on the bebox, apparently if you plug in your bebox first, the mac key is then assigned to that IP and then you'll need to use the bebox mac in any new router you then plug in. (this is how you can get assigned a new IP on dynamic btw, just change your mac to anything else)
I could be wrong on the above, not entirely sure, my DG834G worked fine, but I did enter the bebox mac into it.

As you found out V1-3 suck not just due to the chipset but the ADSL2+ modem is crap, apparently its a normal ADSL modem but patched/firmware to get higher speeds, as I mentioned this looks to be true, I can only sync max at 9Mbps, bebox gives me 20Mbps

[pataagusata]

Hey Crowhorse,

can you at some point look into your router settings and tell me what you put into:

1) DNS Settings - did you choose "Automatically getfrom ISP" or input manually.
If manually - what did you enter and where did you get that info from?

2) MAC address - did you chose "default" or did you enter an address. Was it from the Netgear router or from the BeBox?
Guides seem to suggest entering the BeBox MAC address.

1. Configured them manually with the same DNS servers the BeBox had.

2. I used the default address. I remember this... if you want to connect immediately after switching from BeBox -> Netgear, you need to clone the BeBox MAC address, otherwise you have to wait up to an hour for the DHCP lease to renew.

[HexcewlyRette]

You can wipe the config on the BeBox as the forum contains almost every facet of router setup, including the very basic & generic user/pw that allows you to connect to the Be Network.

DNS settings are up in there air at the moment, I've had to hardcode them due to connection issues. The updated DNS servers were supplied by Be support on their forum and I have no idea if the new config's they are sending out contain the old auto discovery method or have the support supplied numbers.

Pretty good service though, I've only had one outage due to the DNS issues as above.

[detskpit]

Looks like Xmas came a day early.

Came baxck to my apartment after visiting the folks this weekend and found my Internet down.

Initially I though Eclipse were being B*stards and cutting my broadband a day early.
But when I looked into the router config to reset (in case the modem had locked up), I found the download speed 7090Kb/s and the upload 1330Kb/s (much higher than normal).


Have connected the BeBox and am now enjoying fast unrestriced Broadband a day earlier than expected. [thumbup]


Was expecting 11Mb/s down and 1.3Mb/s up.

BeBox is reading 15Mb/s down and 1.3Mb/s up.
Realistically via speed tests I am getting about 13Mb/s down and 1.2-1.3Mb/s up.

Pretty good if it holds [fingers crossed]


Big improvement as i was getting 400-500KB/s on a very good day, average normally 200KB/s for a £30/month service.

Now getting 1.4-1.5MB/s for £17.50/month.


It was funny phoning for my MAC code.
The guy at Eclipse was quite good actually, and openly admitted that Eclipse didn't have an equivalent product in the same price range.
All he could recommend was their Business (true unlimited) package at £40+/month. At which point there was a slight pause and he gave me my MAC code without asking anything further lol.


I'm not going to change my router as everything seems to be working well.
My DG834G v1 only syncs at 7.9Mb/s.
So I would have to buy at DG834G v4 onwards or DG834GT.
I'll hold onto that £50 unless i really need to replace the BeBox.

[pataagusata]

The only thing which is particularly bad about the BeBox - when the line drops, it takes 2-5 minutes to resync and reconnect to the internet in my experience... whereas the netgear only takes 30 seconds or so...

With the Netgear I barely notice any line disconnect... with the BeBox FTP transfers etc timed out

[suiviouse]

Megatron, mind posting your Line Attenuation stat

just checking that you're getting the best you can, initially I was only syncing at 14Mbps but my Line Attenuation suggested more (20Mbps).
I found out it was a combination of things limiting me - the router was on an extension, the face plate was old, and my wiring had issues (you only need wires 2 & 5 for phone, but some reason all 6 wires were used).
After rectifying all that I can now sync 20Mbps

I could still get higher if I lowered my SNR to 3dB profile (default is 6dB)

[detskpit]

According to the BeBox settings:

Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 18.0 / 33.0


Seems a bit high TBH.
Looks like there is room for improvement.


I'm using the supplied cables and microfiler.
They are all connected to the main phone socket.


What can I do to improve this?

I've found this on the net - iPlate.
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop...ProductID=7256

Should I install it?

[suiviouse]

I-plate isn't that effective

33db with 15Mbps sync is already much better than average

[detskpit]

Oh OK

I'll leave things as they are as they seem quite good.


The only issue I have is with the Dynamic IP not being as dynamic as it could be.
Restarting the router via the physical off switch and with the reboot settings in the router config does not change the IP address.
But that's a pretty small issue and one I can live with.



My main priority was to have an ISP that doesn't have peak/off peak hours and peak download quota.