Hi,

I've got two of these modems, 1 at home 1 at work, both working fine until recently. After some time, approx 24hrs, they are both denying internet access. They are connected to different exchanges and I've tried swapping them around, with no improvement.

Specificaly, here's the problem with the work router - it initialy connects and sync fine, then after some time it appear to have lost connection, but upon inspection I can see that it has lost connection and re-synced ok, but is now clocking up a high uncorrected block count (whereas when they are working, the uncorrected block count is very low) - at this time it is not passing any internet traffix to the pc's on the network.

Rebooting the router via the interface just brings it back to the same condition, ie synced and connected but registering uncorrected blocks.

Power cycling the router brings it back to life and it starts beaving normaly, until it fails again, usually within a day.

It seems the router is getting stuck somewhere on a reconnection and needs a power cycle to sort it out, but an interface reboot is ineffective.

I can say that the problem with the work router happened right after the exchange upgrade to 21CN, but maybe this is a red herring.

I can supply as much telnet, config data as needed, if this is useful to anyone who might be able to help.

spayton wrote: ...I can say that the problem with the work router happened right after the exchange upgrade to 21CN...

Not a red herring. 21CN is essentially game over for the 2800.

Is this a common problem for other users? (couldn't find any posts on here about it). What exactly is the issue?

I know it's a huge technical issue with grey boundaries, but I would expect the router with modern software to be able to detect the problem and correct itself. Or this a hardware issue seeing as a physical power cycle is the only way to resume normal operation.

I have now been using an old NetGear DG834v2 (at home), the official latest firmware had problems, but then I tried the last DG Team release, and it hasn't dropped a connected in 252hrs since setting up, sync speed is much better (up from 9 to 14), upload is a little less than before.

I wish I could carry on using the 2800VG's though, they were quite expensive and offered all the bells'n'whistles I needed.

stuartp99 wrote: ...What exactly is the issue?...

My understanding is that, say, 10 years ago when everyone sat around the table and scribbled down how ADSL and ADSL2+ would work, everyone nodded.

Since then, the ADSL2+ side of things has moved on a bit, to the extent that how ADSL2+ is set up and operated by the Telcos, is too away from the original scope, in particular the 2800 spec, for the components in the 2800 to play with.

I agree it is a shame - the quality and stability (plus excellent firmwares) of the 2800 seems to have been from a 'golden era'.

Best regards, Neal

Thanks Neal, I think you're right, it's not a new product, the majority of the hardware is fixed, there are no crystal balls.

Searching for 'uncorrected block count', both here and google didn't get me too far, changing the search to '2800 21CN' was what was needed.

It would be nice if there were some definitive official guide on operability of the 2800 with ADSL2+, what steps to take to get it as best as it can be, including downgrading to adsl. Probably not 100% possible with all those different exchanges, all that differnt equipment, all those different configurations and settings - not to mention and all those noisy copper lines (no two the same).

I don't really care whose fault it is, these things happen and are acceptable to a certain extent, but I do feel a little left out in the cold with this and I can feel my Draytek brand loyalty slipping. How many users have already been down this path and wasted countless hours trying to fix the problem, how many more will follow? A bit more official direction would have been nice.

Anyway, in a spectacular twist of fate, my old DG834v2 which was as flaky as hell and was itself replaced for that very reason with a superior 2800VG, is now back up and running very well indeed and rock solid, having now trumped its successor. Perhaps in a few years time, when things change at the exchange, I'll have to swap them over again!

Every router has it's day...