Billion UK Forum

I got a 8800AXL from Broadbandbuyer and installed it on my BT Infinity line on 13th Nov to replace a 8200N.
Installation was very easy by simply following the prompts and my internet connection was up and running in a few minutes. Since installing the router my WAN speed has gone from 4709/19989 to 5516/28282 kbps. Experience so far is;

1. The improved WAN speed appears stable.
2. The 5g wifi has not been so reliable. It drops often and doesn't always reconnect. Yesterday I changed some of the settings on the advanced page; enabled XPress Tech, changed regulatory mode to 802.11h, RIFS Advertisement to Auto. So far it is ok and I'll keep monitoring it.
3. The 2.4g wifi range is not as good as the 8200N. This might be due to internal vs external antenna on the 8200N. Again. I've changed the advanced settings to see if any improvement.
4. Today the router locked up and lost its internet connection, although the DSL lamp was still lit. The 2.4g wifi stopped working completely. Using a PC with a fixed IP address and cable connection, I couldn't connect to the router via its web I/f. Had to power it down and wait a few minutes before powering up. Router restarted and is working ok again.

I'll see how it performs over the next week or so and post an update.

John.

JohnRF wrote:I got a 8800AXL from Broadbandbuyer and installed it on my BT Infinity line on 13th Nov to replace a 8200N.
Installation was very easy by simply following the prompts and my internet connection was up and running in a few minutes. Since installing the router my WAN speed has gone from 4709/19989 to 5516/28282 kbps. Experience so far is;

1. The improved WAN speed appears stable.
2. The 5g wifi has not been so reliable. It drops often and doesn't always reconnect. Yesterday I changed some of the settings on the advanced page; enabled XPress Tech, changed regulatory mode to 802.11h, RIFS Advertisement to Auto. So far it is ok and I'll keep monitoring it.
3. The 2.4g wifi range is not as good as the 8200N. This might be due to internal vs external antenna on the 8200N. Again. I've changed the advanced settings to see if any improvement.
4. Today the router locked up and lost its internet connection, although the DSL lamp was still lit. The 2.4g wifi stopped working completely. Using a PC with a fixed IP address and cable connection, I couldn't connect to the router via its web I/f. Had to power it down and wait a few minutes before powering up. Router restarted and is working ok again.

I'll see how it performs over the next week or so and post an update.

John.

Regarding the 5Ghz try changing the channel, you might have some improvement on a higher channel

I just changed the channel from Auto to 124/80 (Bandwidth is 80MHz). I see how that works.

thanks,
John.

JohnRF wrote:I just changed the channel from Auto to 124/80 (Bandwidth is 80MHz). I see how that works.

thanks,
John.

I have positive results on the same channel

I was looking at possibly purchasing this modem/router. On the Billion website it shows that the DSL port has ADSL2+ but on the 8800N the diagram shows VDSL/ADSL2+. Does this support a direct VDSL connection so you can do away with the ECI modem supplied by BT?

michty_me wrote:I was looking at possibly purchasing this modem/router. On the Billion website it shows that the DSL port has ADSL2+ but on the 8800N the diagram shows VDSL/ADSL2+. Does this support a direct VDSL connection so you can do away with the ECI modem supplied by BT?

Yes this Bipac 8800AXL supports both ADSL and VDSL modem built in

Excellent. Thank you for confirming!!

It is absolutely great. Dumped an Asus DSL router which was useless. This holds the connection solidly day after day and provides really useful stats. Highly recommended.

Calligrapher wrote:It is absolutely great. Dumped an Asus DSL router which was useless. This holds the connection solidly day after day and provides really useful stats. Highly recommended.

Probably the DSL router I was initially going to buy but didn't due to the same issues. Is there going to be a VDSL modem router from billion that has external antennas? I've got a fairly large house so a bit worried about range.

michty_me wrote:

Calligrapher wrote:It is absolutely great. Dumped an Asus DSL router which was useless. This holds the connection solidly day after day and provides really useful stats. Highly recommended.

Probably the DSL router I was initially going to buy but didn't due to the same issues. Is there going to be a VDSL modem router from billion that has external antennas? I've got a fairly large house so a bit worried about range.

The Bipac 8900AX will have three external antenna's one of which is detachable. (this model supports AC wireless/VDSL/VPN)