I need to replace my D6300 model

[landy]

I have had this D6300 for a number of years and it has been the absolute best Modem/Router I have ever had. Reliable, efficient and the ability to filter users by the use of their MAC Address is an utter must have for me.

Progress goes on and I would like to upgrade my Broadband to Superfast Fibre which I believe, if I go this route, will make it impossible to use my D6300 any longer. Can anyone reccomend a replacement Netgear Modem Router to handle Superfast Fibre and also retain the ability to block any user without my authorising their MAC Address please. Thank you

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

In the UK it is almost certainly FTTC, with delivery to the home over copper and VDSL. It is rare to see "fibre to the premises".

Unfortunately, the 100BASE-Tx isn't the only drawback with the D6300. As @Case850 says, despite the DSL label, it is an ADSL modem that will not handle VDSL.

You could use the D6300 with a modem, but some cable modems supplied in the UK – BT for example – do not allow "modem only" operation. So you have to work out how to use the D6300 in access point mode.

But with 100BASE-Tx, PC to PC communication will be slower than optimum, and it is getting near to the limit for some internet services.

Wait and see what service you sign up for, check the "free" modem that comes with it and then look for a replacement.

[landy]

Hi Thanks for replying to me.

I am actually currently receiving standard broadband from BT but I am not very happy with them as a supplier. I haven't yet chosen another supplier but I do think that if I am to change I should go with the new Superfast Broadband and am considering PlusNet, Sky or Vodaphone.

I did think that since I seem to have the connection points at the back of the D6300 that appear to offer Fibre as an option I could continue to use it (which would make me very happy as I love this piece of kit) but when I read the manual I was not so sure and I have to admit to not being an expert in this matter in any way and the Netgear website is so very difficult to navigate and understand.

I would love to stay with my D6300 but was asking the question in case I do have to change. I would like to be ready.

Thanks again   

[michaelkenward · Accepted solution]

In the UK it is almost certainly FTTC, with delivery to the home over copper and VDSL. It is rare to see "fibre to the premises".

Unfortunately, the 100BASE-Tx isn't the only drawback with the D6300. As @Case850 says, despite the DSL label, it is an ADSL modem that will not handle VDSL.

You could use the D6300 with a modem, but some cable modems supplied in the UK – BT for example – do not allow "modem only" operation. So you have to work out how to use the D6300 in access point mode.

But with 100BASE-Tx, PC to PC communication will be slower than optimum, and it is getting near to the limit for some internet services.

Wait and see what service you sign up for, check the "free" modem that comes with it and then look for a replacement.

[landy]

Hi, Thanks for the advice. I did speak to a neighbour about the supply and although he too was not sure he felt that the Fibre only reaches the supply cabinet in the street and that the overhead cables we have supplying our houses will not be fibre. Also I understand that if we do not use BT (who will only supply to the first point which in my case is upstairs and very inconvenient) the other suppliers cannot use the BT overhead cable and so I assume that they will bury a cable in the ground and that should hopefully mean that I could have the supply basically anywhere into the downstairs of my house. That would be better I think but I assume that too will be by cable from the Fibre cabinet too. I think that I will wait and see what the others offer as a connection as you reccommend and as makes sense to me. Thank you again for your advice and to all those who have kindly replied.

[michaelkenward]

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@landy wrote:

Also I understand that if we do not use BT (who will only supply to the first point which in my case is upstairs and very inconvenient) the other suppliers cannot use the BT overhead cable ...

That is not true.

There is no such thing as "BT". In reality we have BT Openreach, which builds and manages the network. Your broadband comes from BT's consumer arm.

When it comes to domestic broadband you cannot sign up with, or even talk to, BT Openreach. That's the law. It prevents BT Openreach from giving preferential treatment to consumer customers.

I had TalkTalk broadband delivered over BT lines for years, until TalkTalk went into meltdown.

You can sign up for broadband from whoever you like and get it delivered over your existing line.

I don't recall that you said why BT upset you. If it is a speed thing, then Infinity would fix that.

[landy]

Well I know them as BT and they only refer to themselves on all my communications and bills as BT so that is how I call them. 

I too had another provider (Virginmedia) who decided that they no longer wanted to have me on their books (not me personally but anyone in our area) because they had a change in strategy as we didn't buy TV from them due to line speed.

Up to then we too received the standard broadband from them but along the BT managed telephone line. Our supply is a bit rural as we do not have any underground cables only telegraph pole supplied lines.

When, some time ago, I was discussing with a neighbour his decision to go to Sky Fibre for superfast Broadband he told me that they had informed him that they had to string a separate cable to supply him or run a new buried one for Superfast and that they couldn't use the existing catenary wire belonging to BT but he was delighted as he could then have the supply point in his downstairs study. I was simply repeating what he had to say as I am not very well informed in this matter which was why I wrote to the Community in the first place to find out if my D6300 would work with superfast broadband and to see if it is true that superfast cannot come down my existing line. 

It is not so simple to get unbiased and complete information from the providers as they all obvously have vested interests to convince you to do what they want and often don't tell you the unpleasant bits. 

If it is true then that I can get superfast down the existing line from any supplier then it is a much simpler thing to change than I thought.

Thank you for your advice.

Regards

[michaelkenward]

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@landy wrote:

Well I know them as BT and they only refer to themselves on all my communications and bills as BT so that is how I call them.

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That is because you are talking to the bit of BT that deals with consumers. You won't hear from BT Openreach because they don't talk to the likes of you and me.

If you look at the vans parked by the side of poles and cabinets, you will see that they are branded BT Openreach.

If you have a problem on your line, you talk to BT domestic, or your Internet service provider, and they will put in a call to BT Openreach.

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@landy wrote:
I too had another provider (Virginmedia) who decided that they no longer wanted to have me on their books (not me personally but anyone in our area) because they had a change in strategy as we didn't buy TV from them due to line speed.

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That is because Virginmedia, and other Internet service providers, decided to withdraw from the ADSL market, a technology that is dying on its feet outside rural areas beyond the reach of BT Openreach's fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) service.

BT domestic sells FTTC as Infinity which others market under different names. If Infinity is in your area, then you can buy that, or a similar service from any of the competitors. It all goes along the same copper wires from the cabinet to your premises.

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@landy wrote:
Our supply is a bit rural as we do not have any underground cables only telegraph pole supplied lines.

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Most of the country, even in many towns and cities, has "telegraph" poles and copper wires. FTTC and other flavours of fast broadband (anything above the 17 Mbps or so that ADSL2+ delivers) can all use those telegraph poles.

Broadband speed: What is it and how does it work? | BT

BT Openreach manages the poles, but other ISPs can tap into them and deliver your internet.

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@landy wrote:

When, some time ago, I was discussing with a neighbour his decision to go to Sky Fibre for superfast Broadband he told me that they had informed him that they had to string a separate cable to supply him or run a new buried one for Superfast and that they couldn't use the existing catenary wire belonging to BT but he was delighted as he could then have the supply point in his downstairs study.

That is a very different issue. Rivals to BT Openreach are installing separate networks in places where there are enough customers to warrant the investment. As yet, they reach a tiny part of the country.

I suspect that this conversation took place before BT Openreach introduced FTTC in the area. It reached us a couple of years ago.

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@landy wrote:

If it is true then that I can get superfast down the existing line from any supplier then it is a much simpler thing to change than I thought.

Spot on there.

I now get broadband at around 74 Mbps. I can sign up with any number of ISPs. Just plug your postcode into this site and reel back in amazement:

ADSL Broadband Guide - What is ADSL

Then just puzzle over which one you want to sign up for. Good luck in the choice.

If you already have a mobile phone contract, you could see if they will do you a deal.

[landy]

Thank you so much I am much better informed now and I will definitely use the link and see what is out there for me. 

and it's away from BT for me.

Kind regards