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Modem/Router combo or separate? Advice please!

peejay1986

Background
We've recently upgraded our broadband package to 20mb with Orange and as part of that we needed to change from the Orange Livebox to a new router which they supplied - Netgear DGN1000 (N150 as Orange refer to it).

Almost immediately I found this router unusable for my needs. I play on Xbox Live (wired) a fair bit and transfer large files via FTP/email frequently. We also stream HD videos from iPlayer. I could do this all fine (not simultaneously obviously) with the Orange Livebox on 8mb but with this router it's near impossible.

I'm experiencing frequent drop outs during gaming and when more than 4 wireless clients (2 laptops + 2 phones) are connected to the router it nearly always throws a fit and needs a reboot. The range is also pathetic and it barely reaches to the back of our relatively small terraced house.

Last week I did an idiotic thing and impulse bought a router on eBay, neglecting to spot it was a cable router and didn't include an ADSL2+ modem. It arrived and I attempted to use it solely as a router and the DGN1000 as a modem but the DGN has such poor firewall options that it's crippling the speed. I'm unable to turn off all the security in the DGN and this means that I've had to resort to using the Linksys effectively just for it's extended range-dualband and not for the increased speed performance it should bring. Needless to say I've abandoned this tonight and returned to just using the DGN1000. The Linksys is sitting unused in the box awaiting my decision on what to do next.

Question
Would I be better off buying a new wired modem to use in conjunction with this new router (Linksys WRT610N) or would I be better off selling it and the DGN and buying an router with a built-in ADSL modem? There's an incredibly poor choice of ADSL routers compared to cables ones but I've been looking at the Netgear DGND3300 as an option (although I would like Gigabit LAN - probably won't notice this).

Is there a speed difference when using separate modem/router or combined? What would be the benefits of using one set-up over the other?

I've a decent knowledge of this sort of thing but I've crossed the line to where my knowledge stretches. I'm looking for someone's advice. I'd like to stress that I do want the best possible solution and I don't care what hassle I need to do to achieve this. If I have to resell the Linksys and buy again that's fine. I'll get my money back and maybe more. Hopefully this set up will stay with me for a while, I'm sick of having a sub-standard set-up in the house.

What I'm after:

- 'N' Connectivity
- Dual-Band (Laptops/Xbox are 'N' / Phones, PSP, DS are 'b/g')
- Performance is main importance. Would like it to be optimised for streaming/gaming.

Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Apologies for the long-winded post but I felt it important to make my situation clear.

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Comments

Voodu Child

The Linksys is a very good router so I would just buy a separate ADSL modem.

The Netgear DGND3300 is not a simultaneous dual-band router, so if you are connecting a lot of 2.4GHz devices (this includes all g and most n devices) then it will spend most of its time operating at 2.4GHz, so its kind of a waste of capability.

peejay1986

Would i see a performance difference using separate devices as opposed to a combo router?

adcrawley

There shouldn't really be any noticeable performance hit with a 2 device setup compared to a single device.
It definitely shouldn't lead to a situation where it would crash or hang.
Maybe the linksys is faulty, because it should definitely be able to handle more than 4 simultaneous clients.

My advice would be to sell the lot and buy the following:
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/UK/en/products/WAG320N

Unfortunately, I don't have first hand experience of it, but Linksys kit has really improved in the last few years ( since the Cisco takeover ).

RogueFaye

Since the modem, whether its bridged or built-in, is not doing any processing or router, the final performance shouldn't make a difference, but myself favors the separate modem + router solution for varies reasons.
all-in-one solution are design for the likes of home user and cost savers, they often lack powerful hardware or advance features.
second is, i reboot the network every night, i notice that in an all-in-one solution, you would be rebooting the router AND modem, whats the problem with that? Not a problem..but it takes extra time, the modem has to go through detecting and line testing before the router performs a PPPoe handshake, it could be 2 mins extra. Now all i have to do is reboot the Router, once router is rebooted in 30secs, it will almost instantly do the handshake and my internet is back.Modem rarely needs a reboot.
Separate device has the advantage of flexible, as in i can take the router out and use it on a different network other than ADSL, it just routes whatever internet connects it goes through, from Cable, from Adsl modem, from a PC...etc
You should check out the Asus RT-N16 for some series DD-WRT performance or the Asus Rt-56U.