What'S The Best Vdsl Modem ?

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Hi yall, you'll be able to quickly gauge my recent level of 'knowledge' when I admit I went out to Pantip to replace / upgrade my True-issued ZTE ZXDSL 931 Series. And returned, chuffed and oblivious to the fact that I'd just purchased a 4500 bt Wireless Router (D-Link DIR-655) which - after 4 hours of frustration with another of this industry's fine MAJORITY group of 'experts' who are expert in nothing bar incompetence in tandem with multiple TrueOnline 'experts' who were expert in nothing bar perhaps an inability to realise there is a distinction between ADSL and VDSL - the paying client, rather than the paid 'experts' finally worked out that my D-Link DIR-655 is unable to connect to my Internet as it does not have. a. freaking. modem. lol. Let alone a VDSL modem.

We had a good laugh, I was invoiced as this world is full of white-collared 'professionals' who expect payment for their dismal failure to solve problems, and I set out to pick up what I thought would be the easiest thing in the world to acquire - a simple VDSL modem.

That was a week ago.

Good sirs, where might an exasperated individual whose patience has been frayed with endless 'complications' and 'failure to carry listed products on websites' and 'out of stock' stock-standard nonsense, acquire a VDSL modem in Bangkok?

TrueOnline say they're out of stock of VDSL modems for sale. I found the claim somewhat surprising, I admit. As I'm unable to connect to their Internet without such a modem, and if someone in Bangkok is in the business of selling them, I could give that person some pretty freaking valuable advice directly related to Internet marketing.

TrueOnline - for whom I have the utmost respect (or contempt - I get the two confused sometimes) - cannot see why I don't just use the one they gave me. I would happily do so, and did, for 6 weeks after the TrueOnline technicians installed it without 'bothering' with activating the hardware firewall or any security whatsoever (and that includes the admin / admin password which remained admin / admin until my stupid face was overwhelmed by rootkits and malware and unattended silent installations of the exploitable joke that is Microsoft Windows).

When I ask TrueOnline if that is standard practice for their technicians installing modems, I get the patented genius Thai evasion we all know very well which could mean just about anything innocent but which gives one the distinct impression the evader is guilty of no less than being an active participant in a grand conspiracy (which is unlikely, but this is the game one plays when one evades direct and simple questions).

Furthermore, as I've now swapped over to Linux (attempted both Mint and Ubuntu), the unattended installations continue (so much for Linux being immune to this sort of thing - they're also immune to any capacity to provide answers on how to eliminate the Samba workgroup that I neither installed nor desire but which exists regardless in the form of a .local domain which Avahi doesn't recommend and switches itself off upon detecting).

TrueOnline say this is not part of their VDSL service. Which is a relief because I don't care for it's existence.

Ubuntu experts don't know how to get rid of it. Which is not surprising because this industry is full of experts who aren't interested in challenges or learning and who simply ignore anything that falls outside their (usually very limited) fields of expertise.

But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Samba .local Windows Network which I do not have permissions to access or remove is the fact that when I go to remove Samba, I'm told Samba had never been installed on my low-level formatted (DBAN and KillDisk) hard drive which has had it's MBR erased and rebuilt, and requisite BIOS flashing etc.

I include all this information for the potential interest of (competent, intelligent) readers who aren't frightened of what they do not know, nor of admitting the fact. I know squat, or I did, but I am learning rapidly. Probably the most surprising aspect of the learning curve, is the realisation that I (ostensibly) know more than many of the Internet's huge glut of networking / Windows7 'experts' (not really, but I know some things they don't, because I'm trying to get rid of stuff they say is impossible, even AFTER I show them the evidence of the issues - at which point silence fills the intraweb so predictably it's almost laughable).

But my single question, for anyone uninterested in the above, is the one in my thread title:

Please, can someone tell me what the best VDSL modem is that is available (without - ahem - charming cultural hassles and excuses and unavoidable delays) for purchase in Bangkok?

I've been to Pantip a couple times since. I've found some networking stores. I found a lot of people who believed ADSL and VDSL were the same thing. I do not have a VDSL modem. I find it all very humorous, if a little bit exhausting. I find TrueOnline to be exhausting, but far less amusing.

[someoneelse]

I suspect you're not going to find a VDSL modem anywhere in Thailand, except for those True supplies with their services.

But the best VDSL modem has to be the Fritz!Box Fon 7390:

http://www.fritzbox.eu/en/products/FRITZBox_Fon_WLAN_7390/index.php

It's got VoIP, can work as a DECT base station, voicemail to email, DLNA media server, NAS, print server, baby monitor, dual radio WLAN, gigabit ethernet, German engineering, very easy to set up. Drool.

Worth about 10,000 baht. Might be difficult to get it shipped to Thailand, might not work on True's VDSL setup. I'm going to buy one in Australia next time I go back and see if it works here.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

I suspect you're not going to find a VDSL modem anywhere in Thailand, except for those True supplies with their services.

But the best VDSL modem has to be the Fritz!Box Fon 7390:

http://www.fritzbox...._7390/index.php

It's got VoIP, can work as a DECT base station, voicemail to email, DLNA media server, NAS, print server, baby monitor, dual radio WLAN, gigabit ethernet, German engineering, very easy to set up. Drool.

Worth about 10,000 baht. Might be difficult to get it shipped to Thailand, might not work on True's VDSL setup. I'm going to buy one in Australia next time I go back and see if it works here.

Sweet thanks for the tip! But a random example of my retardation displayed itself tonight. I would put 100,000 bt on a wager that the first place I checked a week ago was the ZTE website - but I can't explain it, maybe I was looking at a wrong fake site or god knows what...but today I stumbled upon this little glorious trove of options:

http://www.zyxel.com...v2_series.shtml

[TheyCallmeScooter]

The really baffling thing about it all is that I am a huge fan of InvadeIT and they were also checked earlier this week first thing. And lo and behold today I see a VSDL modem clearly labelled on there, which is proof I'm going blind or something. It's a crappy one though (I think?) only 80/40 max....

Hoping against hope that the Thailand site would carry at least some of the range boasted on the main site, I almost fell off my chair at seeing this:

Now my biggest problem is one of too much choice.

I have a D-Link DIR-655 Wireless Router I'm perfectly happy with. And I want the fastest / best / +? VDSL modem of the options listed...but all this technician stuff does my retarded head in. I would be greatly obliged to anyone who just said "Look moron, this is the one you want. Done."

One time...

[stevendante]

Hi there,

don't know if you are still searching, but I found a shop that sells all the FRITZ!Box products from AVM here in Thailand. I was searching for the VDSL router/modem FRITZ!Box Fon 7390 for some time now as I didn't want to order it abroad. So actually the official distributor is here in Bangkok and they sell it for just 9,900 Baht....quite a good deal. I think. Bought one last week and extremely satisfied. They have a website so you can even order the products online and they will ship them free of charge in Thailand. It is www.voip-thailand.com

Hope that helps

[Pib]

TrueOnline - for whom I have the utmost respect (or contempt - I get the two confused sometimes) - cannot see why I don't just use the one they gave me. I would happily do so, and did, for 6 weeks after the TrueOnline technicians installed it without 'bothering' with activating the hardware firewall or any security whatsoever (and that includes the admin / admin password which remained admin / admin until my stupid face was overwhelmed by rootkits and malware and unattended silent installations of the exploitable joke that is Microsoft Windows).

I had True Cable Internet installed a little over two weeks ago and the True wireless router/modem (a Cisco model) came with no password installed, but that is kinda common or modems come with a default/factory password that is talked about in the manual or simply by googling. While watching the tech setup the router/modem I noticed he Disabled the modem/hardware based Firewall and the IP Flood Protection...the modem default was to have these Enabled to help protect against hackers. Anyway, after he left I Re-Enabled the Firewall and IP Flood Protection, installed a password, and changed the default encryption from WPA to the stronger WPA2 with a PassPhrase. While the tech was still setting up the modem I mentioned to him I'm going to change the wireless encryption from WPA to WPA2 but he said I shouldn't do that as it may not work with the system...I thought that to be strange as we are only talking encryption of the wireless signal being broadcast from the router to the client devices (i.e., your computers) and not how the modem interfaces with the TrueOnline cable signal/system. But he probably thought I would just mess up the wireless router/modem setting to where I couldn't get a connection, he would have to come back for a service call, etc. I can understand this concern as some people are just clueless or like a bull in a china shop when changing/playing with router/modem/computer settings.

I guess the morale of this story (and I know I'm preaching to the choir), but internet modems come from the factory/ISP with default settings that seem to be more geared toward ensuring easy/quick setup/max compatibility with customer equipment which can vary greatly....of course this kind of setup also leaves more doors opened or weakly locked for hackers, which can even be your neighbors tapping into your wireless signal. Every few days I see a couple of wireless router signals from some of my neighbors which are completely unsecured (i.e., no WEP, WPA or WPA2 encryption running)...and I can easily connect to...and I will have to admit I've done this once or twice for minute or so just to see if I could connect...connected no problem. Guess I was a hacker for a minute, but I really didn't have to do any hacking/chopping/breaking through the door as the door was brightly marked, easily seen, and wide open---come on in!

[Pib]

Anyway, after he left I Re-Enabled the Firewall and IP Flood Protection, installed a password, and changed the default encryption from WPA to the stronger WPA2 with a PassPhrase.

Just an update to part of my above post. Where I said I Enabled IP Flood Protection, well, I have now Disabled it. Turns out the IP Flood Protection caused a problem with my VOIP service. I could still call out and people could call in no problem, but when I called a number which had you Press number so-and-so to select the service/help you wanted (i.e., like press 2 for English, Press 1 of Checking, Press 2 for Savings, Press 3 for Debit Card, Enter your PIN Code to Access your Voice Mail, etc.) the service would not respond or said they could not detect my entry/what number I pressed/then hang up. This created a real problem because being able to select such entries/services when calling a certain number is the only way to get into a service, speak to a representative, etc.

So I switched my VOIP adapter back over to my TOT ADSL service/modem and didn't have above problem. So, I hooked the VOIP adapter back to the True Cable Internet modem/service and decided I would try to change a few settings. I started off my Disabling the Cable Modem Firewall and IP Flood Protection since the True tech had Disabled these during installation.. Hey, the VOIP then worked properly. I then Re-Enabled the Firewall....the VOIP service still worked properly. But as soon as Re-enabled the IP Flood Protection the above VOIP problem reappeared. On my TOT ADSL modem there isn't even a IP Flood Protection selection.

Maybe the True tech new there were certain problems caused by Enabling the Firewall and/or IP Flood Protection on the Cable modem and that is why he disabled them during setup. Regardless, Firewall is Enabled and IP Flooding is Disabled....my VOIP adapter is now happy/fully working again with my True Cable Router/Modem. This info may come in handy for anyone who has a VOIP service and experience a similar problem like I had.