Hi all, home schooling and WFH is taking it’s toll on our broadband so we are switching over to fibre (tomorrow). Plusnet were supposed to send a new router but it hasn’t arrived so the helpful customer services agent (no really, they were helpful) directed me to get a TPLink one from Currys to tide me over (as well as opening a complaint for me so I may get some money towards the purchase cost). So they have this one in stock that I can click and collect today – https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/network-routers-and-switches/routers/tp-link-archer-c60-wifi-cable-fibre-router-ac-1350-dual-band-10157626-pdt.html
But now I’m reading I may need a separate modem? Say what now? Can’t I just unplug my old plusnet router and plug in the TPLink jobbie? Its currently connected to a ADSL filter with the landline coming out of one socket and the router connected to the other (marked ADSL Modem).
Am I being thick here, will it plug straight in? educate me please.

In the early days of fibre you used to get supplied a BT Openreach modem and then a separate router from your ISP (Plusnet in my case) as routers which did fibre did not exist. I suspect that is what you are reading about. Nowadays you get combined modem/router supplied by your ISP.

I was about to write that that TPlink was fine, but actually when I look at the TP site, I think it is just a router and not a modem/router. If you go to the TPLink site you’d need something from the “Modem/Gateway” section.

This would do you;
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/network-routers-and-switches/routers/tp-link-archer-vr400-wifi-modem-router-ac-1200-dual-band-10154408-pdt.html

“VDSL” is what you are looking for in the spec to be fibre compatible;
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/archer-vr400/v2/

If you know anyone with a reasonably recent BT Home Hub / Smart Hub thing going spare that will work too.

Thank you, that’s very helpful. Followup question as you mention VDSL – will I plug the new router into the existing ADSL filter, or will the new router come with a VDSL compatible filter, or something else?

Fibre to the cabinet (aka VDSL) or fibre to your premises?

The latter I think still means Openreach supplying a modem in which case the TP Link router they pointed you to is fine.

If the former (it’s over a phone line into your house) then you need a modem/router for VDSL.

You normally get a plug-in filter with the modem/router if you don’t have one of the newer filtered master socket faceplates. But I don’t think anything is different between ADSL and VDSL ones anyway.

FTTC. Google suggests no difference between the ADSL and VDSL microfilters.
Thanks everyone for your help.

If you need a modem then I recommend Draytek’s Vigor 130 as it is a seamless pass-thru device (DSP login is through the router not the modem). There’s an extra step for connecting the first time where you have to allocate a fixed IP to the router at the modem after that it’s set everything up at the router and crack on.

If you’re going from ADSL to VDSL and need something to tide you over then your old router might well still work just at ADSL speeds. You might need to call Plusnet when you get the new one installed as a new provision (usually) uses the first couple of weeks to set a “fault threshold rate”, basically a baseline profile of what your line should look like, so they might have to reset something somewhere.

You will need a separate modem if you’re trying to connect a cable router to a VDSL presentation (or for that matter, to a cable presentation). This is a pointless way of doing things, you’re simply looking at a wrong device.

As above, you need a VDSL router. It’ll have a WAN / Internet port which is RJ11 – the smaller 4-pin connector just like the one you currently use – not an 8-pin Ethernet port.

If you’re going from ADSL to VDSL and need something to tide you over then your old router might well still work just at ADSL speeds.

interesting, thanks. I’d be perfectly happy if that was the case but Plusnet thought it wouldn’t work at all which would be no good come Monday morning.
Would there be any benefit for ‘upgrading’ to a modem/router like the one linked above by TimmyS over the plusnet one when it finally does turn up anyway? It was on my radar to look into what the benefits of an aftermarket router were but I don’t want to spend money where I don’t have to.

Would there be any benefit for ‘upgrading’ to a modem/router like the one linked above by TimmyS over the plusnet one when it finally does turn up anyway?

Yes, the Plusnet ones are dire. Our Homehub is terrible and seems to be getting worse, wifi sucks and even cable can get bogged down.

Plusnet routers are woeful. I’ve just swapped out my old (6-7 years) Plusnet router for a BT Smart Hub 2. Infinitely better, no intermittent dropping of network, signal strength is much better too, though added a mesh disc from BT in the attic as well as that’s where the office is.

Both really easy to set up. Got a brand new one off EBay for £40 and arrived in a couple of days.

Can’t believe I put up with it for as long as I did.

Use your mobile data until the original, or a replacement router from Plusnet turns up?

When we swapped to Plusnet we bought the archer vr 400 timmy linked above. No regrets. It was easy to set up

Fibre to the cabinet (aka VDSL) or fibre to your premises?

The latter I think still means Openreach supplying a modem in which case the TP Link router they pointed you to is fine.

If it’s to the premises, router choice is actually much easier. There is no modem in this case. The fibre terminates at an “ONT” (installed as part of the FTTP rollout). It has an Ethernet socket on it. You can plug most routers (or a raspberry pi, laptop, etc) into this to access the internet. The router (pi, laptop) must just be able to do PPPoE – which most do.

Mine has an Orbi plugged straight into the ONT. It replaced an old Netgear job that also worked just plugged in.

Would there be any benefit for ‘upgrading’ to a modem/router like the one linked above by TimmyS over the plusnet one when it finally does turn up anyway?

Likely far better Wi-Fi coverage.

Seeing as it’s relevant in that this thread threw me down a rabbit hole…

@cougar I was looking at a Ubiquiti ER-X as a cheap way into SQM QoS. Frankly I didn’t realise I needed* this until I read what it does and realised it would be massively helpful. It seems well supported for n00bs like me but am I making things too complicated for myself? This would mean buying a wireless access point on top of the router (possibly a switch too if it struggles but I’m only planning on two wired connections plus the access point) but it’s still much cheaper (by orders of magnitude than a dedicated all in one with SQM built in. Plus they seem quite reliable so hopefully it would be a one time setup. It appears to be as complicated as you make it as for as shaping goes but I may be wrong. All I want is for everything to play nice and stop killing other device connections.

Thank you, that’s very helpful. Followup question as you mention VDSL – will I plug the new router into the existing ADSL filter

If you’re still using splitter dongle things you may wish to consider fitting a new faceplate to your master socket and siting the router there (or running a dedicated cable for broadband to where you want the router). The cheap filters aren’t brilliant.

Were you on normal ADSL before even though you have FTTC available to buy? Would have thought you’d actually have been paying more for a slower connection. If you’re just changing companies because you think Plusnet will be faster then unfortunately it’s unlikely to make much difference since the bit that causes problems is still Openreach.

I was looking at a Ubiquiti ER-X

I use one of those. I don’t think it’s really beginner friendly, but it’s not completely impenetrable. Nice bit of kit, though. Use the POE port for the wifi AP for a relatively clean setup.

@aidy yeah that’s a thought, I could site the AP roughly centrally on the ground floor ceiling and get full house coverage. Need to see how much they are first.

I wouldn’t say I’m a beginner as much as someone who can copy stuff for CLI work (so a small step above). I’ve muddled through Lubuntu in the past so at least I don’t have the added stress of trying to convert commands from environment to another!

I think if you’ve got a basic understanding of network addressing / routing / subnets / etc. you’ll muddle through alright.

ER-X does 24V passive POE, if you’re looking at APs, make sure they support it. Not all the Unifi APs do.

Yeah I see that, adds considerably to the cost to the point I’d be as well with an all in one and Open WRT. Need to keep looking.

EDIT: Aha! This looks more like it.

https://www.ebuyer.com/841148-tp-link-omada-eap225-v3-radio-access-point-eap225-v3