Got my cellpipe

[SPritchard]

Hey all,
I got an activation date - 12/12/12, and i just received my cellpipe today. I had assumed it was just a modem, but now i'm not so sure;




Cellpipe 7130RG. See, i didn't expect it to have Wifi. I haven't received my router (yet), but i'm just wondering whether they've actually switched to an all-in-one, or whether this genuinely is just the modem/cellpipe. Since i opted to go down the Wifi route rather than routing a new cable through to the socket (the signal is exceptional after all), i wanted to setup the Wifi on this to be ready for when i do get switched over on Wednesday. However, when i connected it to my system (but not to the line for obvious reasons), it wouldn't even be picked up. It detected a cable was connected, but Windows reported that there was an "unidentified network" but that no connection could be made to it. The troubleshooter mentioned DHCP (which would tell me it's probably just a modem, but clarification is welcome).

So, is this genuinely just a cellpipe modem (and thus i should expect the router through sometime before activation), or is this an all in one and i simply need to wait for the activation date before i'll be able to access it to set everything up? It does say in the included leaflet that it's plug and play with no config needed, but as the WLAN LED doesn't illuminate automatically, i had assumed i'd need to set that up manually. Is it simply that though the externals indicate it has WLAN, the internals simply don't have the hardware to provide it?

And just as a last question, would any router with an RJ45 WAN port be suitable for connecting to the cellpipe? Ebuyer lists VDSL/Fibre routers as a separate category to Cable routers (with those listed in VDSL being much more expensive).

Regards,
Scott.

[alexatkin]

Nope, its the same old CellPipe as always - the WiFi is disabled.

The reason its a full-blown router (albeit a locked down one) is because if you have other services they can run independent of your Internet connection.

For example you can have VoIP on ethernet port 2, IPTV on port 3, and the QoS in the CellPipe gives them priority over your Internet traffic.

Not only that, but technically the Digital Region network can have your ISP with one company on port 1, your VoIP with a different company on port 2, IPTV with a third company on port 3. It was designed so you are not tied to your ISP for those services.

As for routers, I would expect to receive that separately closer to your activation. The reason is the router is sent from your ISP, but the Cellpipe comes from Digital Region directly.

You are correct that you can use any cable router with your connection, however bear in mind not all routers are capable of the same speeds and there is very little good documentation about what routers can handle what speed of service.

I ended up building an Atom PC as a router, I just wasn't happy that any of the consumer routers were capable of handling the connection optimally. However I'm sure some other people here will have other suggestions.

[SPritchard]

(07-12-2012 10:15 PM)alexatkin Wrote:  As for routers, I would expect to receive that separately closer to your activation. The reason is the router is sent from your ISP, but the Cellpipe comes from Digital Region directly.

You are correct that you can use any cable router with your connection, however bear in mind not all routers are capable of the same speeds and there is very little good documentation about what routers can handle what speed of service.

That's good to know. Seems a bit strange that they've not bothered to remove the externals that indicate it's got wifi capability. I was a little concerned that i might end up having to wait it out and then end up buying a separate router through 3G from iPad (due to being unable to connect to the network or such). I had assumed that any cable router would work provided it had RJ45 WAN but again that was more to be on the safe side.

Thanks again,
Scott.

[bgnx]

You gone live now Scott?

What speeds are you getting? Did you get a router sorted out?

My service is due to go live on Monday.

[SPritchard]

(13-12-2012 11:23 PM)bgnx Wrote:  You gone live now Scott?

What speeds are you getting? Did you get a router sorted out?

My service is due to go live on Monday.

Went live about 1PM on Wednesday. I did get a router sent out by Origin on that day, but decided to buy my own 300Mb/s TP-Link a day prior to that (mostly for the double wireless speed, but a little for the worry that the router Origin sent wouldn't arrive on time).

Speeds started around 25Mb/s, but now sit in the region of 33-34Mb/s... when it's online. Peak speed was just over 35MB/s (connected to a cabinet in the S63 7AH area, likely the one on Doncaster Road about 300M away). Now, i know they said "speeds should stabilize within a few days", but disconnecting every 15-20 minutes, spending 2 minutes for the router to recognize this (Windows shows there's a connection issue before the router log even recognizes the disconnect) is making everything incredibly frustrating.

There's been the odd occasion where it's stayed online for a few hours, and my record is 6 hours... but that was overnight. I have had a 2 hour stretch earlier today where the line was stable while i was using it. Then a disconnect, then an hour stable, then a disconnect. Then the routine of disconnect, stay online for 15 minutes, disconnect again, stay online for 15 minutes, etc.

There's been times where it's been worse though. In the past 30 minutes, i've had 4 disconnects. I'm trying to play Battlefield 3. Each time i reconnect, i'm pitted onto the losing team. Switch back to the winning team (and not because i'm a scumbag gamer, but because i managed to get into it the first time i joined, and was intending to stay there regardless of if they started to lose), and right then, disconnect. It wouldn't be bad, but by the time the connection comes back online, i'm then having to queue to get back on the server. There's been several times where i've been lined up for a perfect shot and then bam, the entire world around me stops, and i just want to flip the table.

I am running it over wireless, but i've checked to make sure it's actually a disconnect at the modem/router. The router itself is reporting PPPoE link down followed by LCP down and not something related to either wireless or the server i was playing on. I've power cycled both the modem and router together once today and once yesterday. The first cycle did work a little and i managed a few hour-long sessions with disconnects in between, but the one today hasn't helped at all. I disconnected once while writing this.

I imagine i should expect this for up to 3-4 days as the BSAN works to find the speed-stability compromise for my line. I mean, speed is great. 4MB/s from Steam quite consistently (up from 1.6MB/s peak on a good day with Demon, my previous ISP), but the stability right now is shocking. Pings are in the region of 35ms to the Xilo Sheffield Speedtest.net server.

So, you should probably expect great speeds as long as the cabinet is nearby, but be prepared for hell with disconnects for a while.

[bgnx]

As far as I'm aware dr don't use DLM or whatever they call it, there's us more of a manual system. If your having those symptoms and your modem isn't connected via a load of extensions then test whilst connected into the test socket behind the master socket, if the problems persist then get in touch with your ISP who should be able to investigate.

[alexatkin]

Did you check the Cellpipe to see if this is a loss of sync (the DSL LED will be out or flashing) or if its just the PPPoE connection dropping.

If its just the PPPoE, then be sure to try the Origin router to make sure its not some weird compatibility issue with the TP-Link.

Failing all that you should definitely be calling up Origin to see if they can tell what is going on.

[SPritchard]

(15-12-2012 12:41 AM)alexatkin Wrote:  Did you check the Cellpipe to see if this is a loss of sync (the DSL LED will be out or flashing) or if its just the PPPoE connection dropping.

If its just the PPPoE, then be sure to try the Origin router to make sure its not some weird compatibility issue with the TP-Link.

Failing all that you should definitely be calling up Origin to see if they can tell what is going on.

It's the line dropping. The DSL LED flashes, then goes off, and then returns after a minute or 2.

The router Origin sent is TP-Link and is exactly the same as the one i bought, just the one i bought is 300Mb/s on the wireless (and thus has 2 aerials). That's the only difference between the 2 models.

I did email origin, and they've run a 24h LQD on the line to see what's going on, probably get the results of that tomorrow. They did previously switch the profile after my first email, but the line still hadn't stabilised. The only thing it appeared to do was drop my downstream from ~33Mb/s to ~26Mb/s. For the sake of the LQD, they did ask me to connect into the test socket, which i did (and which it's still connected), as well as ask that i run some downloads so as to assess the line (which i also did, downloaded almost all my Steam library now to make sure it was in constant use). Right now though, i'm on my 7th disconnect within 1h15m, and the line stability hasn't been too great all day.

Since it's connected to the test socket at the wall (admittedly through a microfilter), and stability is still bad, it indicates that it's either the wiring on the outside the house, or a fault between the pole and the cabinet (or an issue within the cabinet itself). If it was the wiring on the outside of the house though, surely my previous connection would have been as unstable (or at least it would have dropped more than once every 4 months).

I'm really hoping there's something that can be done. I moved over to DRL for the sake of faster speeds. Once overheads are calculated, actual speed isn't much faster right now, and the stability is off the bottom of the chart. When it was syncing at 33Mb/s, speed was much higher, and with overheads, i was pulling 4MB/s peak from Steam.

[bgnx]

Definitely sounds like a line or profile issue. Fingers crossed Thales will find something wrong at their end and be able to fix it.

Otherwise it's going to have to involve Openreach which will be fun....

[SPritchard]

(16-12-2012 10:31 PM)bgnx Wrote:  Definitely sounds like a line or profile issue. Fingers crossed Thales will find something wrong at their end and be able to fix it.

Otherwise it's going to have to involve Openreach which will be fun....

It's really disappointing and really frustrating. I moved from my old ADSL2+ line with Demon (6 years of service through numerous products) over to DR to try and get better speeds. Now, i'm dealing with line instability, and at the moment, speeds of 17Mb/s (which is starting to encroach on the speeds i got with Demon). I even turned down the whole marketing of "We'll try and get you better speeds and a lower price" as well as "we're moving to Fiber in 2013" when i requested my MAC from Demon.

I don't even know how long the line is since i was out when the engineer popped round to visit (my mother was at home, but she's not technically minded). It's about 350M straight-line to the nearest one, but i've no idea if that goes around nearby streets before routing there.

I just saw your 38Mb/s result in the other thread, and honestly, that's what i wanted with my own. Hell, i was potentially hoping to switch up to the MAX service at some point in the future if the line could manage it. The entire situation that's gone on with my line has really taken the shine off of the service for me. I was like a kid at christmas waiting for it to be activated. Now, i'm just starting to hate even switching. Having spent almost £100 on various parts needed (Wireless card for PC, router, filtered faceplate, and £22.50 to origin when i first submitted the forms), i'm not getting any sign of the service i was hoping for (even if Matt from Origin is being fantastic about trying to sort it out).

Not heard back from Origin regarding the line results yet, so i've emailed them to find out.