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Recommendation for a DSL modem
Hi again Experts,
I have had a Siemens Speedstream 4100 that appears to have gone belly up. I bought it new about 3 years ago and it hasn't been used a lot, so I suspect the quality. Does anyone have a test that proves it is defective? If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? TIA |
#2
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
JD wrote:
Hi again Experts, I have had a Siemens Speedstream 4100 that appears to have gone belly up. I bought it new about 3 years ago and it hasn't been used a lot, so I suspect the quality. Does anyone have a test that proves it is defective? If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? TIA Well, first you have to decide whether you need ADSL2+ or can work with ADSL. I've only had a couple ADSL modems here. The first one, came as a rental with my Sympatico account. It ran cool enough, that the unit had no vents, just a metal box with status LEDs on it. I could leave that running, without worrying about anything. It lasted as long as I had the account (years and years), and because it was a rental, made the supplier a bundle. My current ADSL modem supports ADSL2+ (it seemed a good idea at the time), but my service is still capped at 5 megabits/sec. So a plain ADSL modem would have been sufficient. I got a Speedtouch ST546v6 and it runs hot. It seems to have a few regulator chips inside, and has no cooling other than some vents cut in the plastic. I've mounted a fan next to it, to aid cooling. The unit is a combined modem/router/switch, with four Ethernet ports. The firmware is so bad, I run it in bridge mode, and use an external router that at least I can program with a web browser. There are some protocols I'd like to turn off on the Speedtouch, but I need to master a command line interface (with about a hundred different commands available), to make that happen. Rather than bother with scripting, I just turned off the router, and used bridged mode to turn the box into a "straight piece of wire". There seems to be a trend to incorporate modem and router in the same box. If they put the effort into doing firmware which the end-user could use, I'd be all in favor of that trend. So what lessons did I learn ? 1) The product I bought, seemed designed to please the ISP selling it, rather than being designed to help the end-user. For example, the ISP has the ability to "lock" certain features in the unit, and if the user doesn't have the password for that admin level, there is nothing you can do. Fortunately, the modem belongs to me, so every function is available (even if I'm not interested in spending a couple weeks learning the CLI). 2) I really should have insisted on a proper manual, before buying it. I assumed I'd eventually find a manual, as the documentation I could find seemed a bit brain-dead. The unit does have a web interface, but it doesn't appeal to me. Where should you look instead ? Look for something by TP-Link. That is a company that clones other designs, and the retail price is quite reasonable. If it turns out to be a bust, and you hate it, you'd be out a few less dollars than for the thing I bought. The TP-Link products may be a challenge to understand (numbering scheme, what you're getting and so on), and threads on this site may help you. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...sl-modemrouter http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r236...816-GOOD-MODEM In the table here, you can see that some of the modems share the same main chip. Finding a picture and details of what is inside, should allow you to track down how well that particular chip is known to work. http://www.dslreports.com/r0/downloa....gif/thumb.jpg There is a piece of software called DMT, that displays stats from the modem. I haven't tried it on mine, because I don't know if my operating the unit in bridged mode, makes a difference or not. What DMT does, is give you some idea how much SNR you have, and whether your profile can be raised safely or not. For example, I'm not getting my full 5 megabits/sec, and I think I have excessive margin that could be converted into usable bitrate. If I bothered to run DMT, I'd have the necessary proof, to phone the ISP and get it bumped up. The "versions" of DMT are sorted according to the modems or chipsets they support. http://dmt.mhilfe.de/ http://img.mhilfe.de/DMT.gif The controls on there, may be sensitive to the version of firmware running in the modem. In some cases, if you're a real enthusiast, you want to load an older firmware, that supports some of the sliders in the interface. So whether you can get statistics from the unit, might be another slight concern. That gives you some options, if you're given a profile that is less than what you're paying for. They do that, as a function of the signal to noise ratio. They'll turn down the link, in the interest of guaranteeing it will sync each time you use it. Paul |
#3
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
On Wed, 26 May 2010 19:51:30 -0700, JD
wrote: Hi again Experts, I have had a Siemens Speedstream 4100 that appears to have gone belly up. I bought it new about 3 years ago and it hasn't been used a lot, so I suspect the quality. Does anyone have a test that proves it is defective? If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? TIA Crack it open and inspect for failed capacitors. Use a voltmeter to check power supply voltage. Observe the lights on it to see if it appears to boot. What signs of life does it show? Some modems have configuration pages you can access with your browser (HTTP webpage) if you know the IP #. One common default # is 192.168.100.1 so it would link like http://192.168.100.1 BUT I don't know if that is the right # for yours if yours has a config page at all. The manual should mention that. Often a modem will fail from a power surge over the telephone line. There might be no visible damage from that but while it is open look at the components to see if there appears any damage that could be related. A true qualifed test that "proves" it is defective is probably beyond the capability of anyone but Siemens themselves, rather all you can do is prove that it works or assume it's dead if you can't make it work. I haven't even covered the various issues in labeling something as defective... since it worked when brand new it isn't likely to have a factory manufacturing defect but perhaps a design flaw, poor component lifespan from corner cutting or component defect, or as mentioned above possibly non-defect damage from a power surge or overheating if used in a hot environment. |
#4
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
kony wrote:
On Wed, 26 May 2010 19:51:30 -0700, JD wrote: Hi again Experts, I have had a Siemens Speedstream 4100 that appears to have gone belly up. I bought it new about 3 years ago and it hasn't been used a lot, so I suspect the quality. Does anyone have a test that proves it is defective? If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? TIA Crack it open and inspect for failed capacitors. Use a voltmeter to check power supply voltage. Observe the lights on it to see if it appears to boot. What signs of life does it show? Some modems have configuration pages you can access with your browser (HTTP webpage) if you know the IP #. One common default # is 192.168.100.1 so it would link like http://192.168.100.1 BUT I don't know if that is the right # for yours if yours has a config page at all. The manual should mention that. Often a modem will fail from a power surge over the telephone line. There might be no visible damage from that but while it is open look at the components to see if there appears any damage that could be related. A true qualifed test that "proves" it is defective is probably beyond the capability of anyone but Siemens themselves, rather all you can do is prove that it works or assume it's dead if you can't make it work. I haven't even covered the various issues in labeling something as defective... since it worked when brand new it isn't likely to have a factory manufacturing defect but perhaps a design flaw, poor component lifespan from corner cutting or component defect, or as mentioned above possibly non-defect damage from a power surge or overheating if used in a hot environment. Thank you, thank you, Paul and Kony for these fantastic answers. Now all I need to do is to find the time to study them. The DSL light does not come on now but I need to go through all the cabling and connections to make sure they are ok. Back again soon. Have a great weekend you generous guys :-) |
#5
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
On Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 19:51:30h -0700, JD asked:
If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? Either a D-Link DSL 320B ADSL/2/2+ modem http://www.dlink.co.UK/cs/Satellite?c=Product_C&childpagename=DLinkEurope-GB%2FDLProductCarousel&cid=1197319449218&p=1197318 962342&packedargs=ProductParentID%3D1195808621247% 26locale%3D1195806691854&pagename=DLinkEurope-GB%2FDLWrapper or a Linksys AM200 ADSL/2/2+ modem http://www.linksysbycisco.COM/EU/en/support/AM200 |
#6
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
In my experience speedstreams are the longest lasting, although in your case it appears that you have lost one. It has been years (since upgrade from 95 to 98) since I've been into the ss setup but IIRC there were some diagnostics buried in there. |
#7
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
On Thu, 27 May 2010 00:36:27 -0400, Paul typed this message:
JD wrote: Hi again Experts, I have had a Siemens Speedstream 4100 that appears to have gone belly up. I bought it new about 3 years ago and it hasn't been used a lot, so I suspect the quality. Does anyone have a test that proves it is defective? If you were in my place what would your replace this Siemens with? TIA Well, first you have to decide whether you need ADSL2+ or can work with ADSL. I've only had a couple ADSL modems here. The first one, came as a rental with my Sympatico account. It ran cool enough, that the unit had no vents, just a metal box with status LEDs on it. I could leave that running, without worrying about anything. It lasted as long as I had the account (years and years), and because it was a rental, made the supplier a bundle. My current ADSL modem supports ADSL2+ (it seemed a good idea at the time), but my service is still capped at 5 megabits/sec. So a plain ADSL modem would have been sufficient. I got a Speedtouch ST546v6 and it runs hot. It seems to have a few regulator chips inside, and has no cooling other than some vents cut in the plastic. I've mounted a fan next to it, to aid cooling. The unit is a combined modem/router/switch, with four Ethernet ports. The firmware is so bad, I run it in bridge mode, and use an external router that at least I can program with a web browser. There are some protocols I'd like to turn off on the Speedtouch, but I need to master a command line interface (with about a hundred different commands available), to make that happen. Rather than bother with scripting, I just turned off the router, and used bridged mode to turn the box into a "straight piece of wire". There seems to be a trend to incorporate modem and router in the same box. If they put the effort into doing firmware which the end-user could use, I'd be all in favor of that trend. So what lessons did I learn ? 1) The product I bought, seemed designed to please the ISP selling it, rather than being designed to help the end-user. For example, the ISP has the ability to "lock" certain features in the unit, and if the user doesn't have the password for that admin level, there is nothing you can do. Fortunately, the modem belongs to me, so every function is available (even if I'm not interested in spending a couple weeks learning the CLI). 2) I really should have insisted on a proper manual, before buying it. I assumed I'd eventually find a manual, as the documentation I could find seemed a bit brain-dead. The unit does have a web interface, but it doesn't appeal to me. Where should you look instead ? Look for something by TP-Link. That is a company that clones other designs, and the retail price is quite reasonable. If it turns out to be a bust, and you hate it, you'd be out a few less dollars than for the thing I bought. The TP-Link products may be a challenge to understand (numbering scheme, what you're getting and so on), and threads on this site may help you. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r194...-about-TPLINK- dsl-modemrouter http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r236...816-GOOD-MODEM In the table here, you can see that some of the modems share the same main chip. Finding a picture and details of what is inside, should allow you to track down how well that particular chip is known to work. http://www.dslreports.com/r0/ download/1242980.thumb600~32cd8a5fee2b43b8f50707c1ae9e636c/table.gif/ thumb.jpg There is a piece of software called DMT, that displays stats from the modem. I haven't tried it on mine, because I don't know if my operating the unit in bridged mode, makes a difference or not. What DMT does, is give you some idea how much SNR you have, and whether your profile can be raised safely or not. For example, I'm not getting my full 5 megabits/sec, and I think I have excessive margin that could be converted into usable bitrate. If I bothered to run DMT, I'd have the necessary proof, to phone the ISP and get it bumped up. The "versions" of DMT are sorted according to the modems or chipsets they support. http://dmt.mhilfe.de/ http://img.mhilfe.de/DMT.gif The controls on there, may be sensitive to the version of firmware running in the modem. In some cases, if you're a real enthusiast, you want to load an older firmware, that supports some of the sliders in the interface. So whether you can get statistics from the unit, might be another slight concern. That gives you some options, if you're given a profile that is less than what you're paying for. They do that, as a function of the signal to noise ratio. They'll turn down the link, in the interest of guaranteeing it will sync each time you use it. Paul OMG!!! I "had" to buy a Motorola Surfboard for AT&Ts crappy DSL service. I was very annoyed that its proprietary to AT&T and required Microsoft Windows IE or MAC OSx Safari in order to setup the modem with the service. Now you're saying not only do they have the serial number of this modem but they can also modify the settings and service!!! SH(t -- |
#8
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Recommendation for a DSL modem
edfair wrote:
In my experience speedstreams are the longest lasting, although in your case it appears that you have lost one. It has been years (since upgrade from 95 to 98) since I've been into the ss setup but IIRC there were some diagnostics buried in there. Thank you Edfair. Today I took the modem apart and inside it is pristine. The capacitors look perfect and there are no burn- or other distress- marks anywhere. Will fiddle some more with it tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the weekend :-) |
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