Broadband Router Options for UK Superfast FTTC ISPs – 2015 UPDATE

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It’s been a year since ISPreview.co.uk published our first summary guide of home broadband routers with integrated VDSL2 (FTTC) modems (here), which are designed to be used with superfast ‘up to’ 80Mbps capable “fibre broadband” offering ISPs (BT, TalkTalk and Sky Broadband etc.). Since then the options have increased and so here’s our new selection for 2015.

Last year the market situation was very different, with most FTTC supporting ISPs still offering BTOpenreach’s standard engineer installation with a locked-down VDSL2 modem (e.g. Huawei EchoLife HG612 or ECI B-FOCuS). Unfortunately this meant that customers still required a router if they wanted to run a proper home network (i.e. two devices rather than the simplicity of an all-in-one).

At the time Openreach had only just launched their new Self-Install (PCP-only) solution for FTTC superfast broadband services, which gave ISPs the ability to offer a single router with an integrated VDSL2 modem instead of two separate pieces of kit (no engineer visit required). Since then most ISPs have started offering the self-install service and bundling their own budget routers with an integrated VDSL2 modem.

Meanwhile the options for consumers who’d rather use a faster and more capable device than the combined routers being offered by the largest ISPs, which tend to be based off cheaper and more restrictive kit, has also continued to grow. In last year’s guide – Broadband Router Options for UK FTTC ISPs – we covered some of the first third-party routers with an integrated VDSL2 modem (i.e. Technicolor/Thomson TG589vn v3, DrayTek Vigor 2760n (2860), Billion 8200N, FRITZ!Box 7390 – 7490 / 3390 and Asus DSL-N66U N900) and this year we’re adding to that list.

It’s important to stress that last year’s article is still valid (most of the listed hardware from 2014 continues to be considered “current generation” kit), so make sure to read both guides for a full summary of all the available options. Otherwise we’re going to be following the same rules as we did in 2014.

Integrated VDSL/FTTC Routers – 2015 Edition

As with the 2014 roundup, we’re sticking to our rule that this summary should only include routers that we consider to be within a sub-£200 bracket of consumer affordability. Anything more expensive than this is usually intended for business purposes or simply not affordable mass-market hardware and thus not a focus for us.

Likewise we’re only including devices that have both an integrated ADSL2+ and VDSL2 modem because you never know when having the ability to go back to an older broadband connection might be necessary. The FTTC service is still being rolled out, so it’s not yet universally available like standard ADSL technologies.

The routers we list are also built for UK networks (Annex A), which is an important consideration because some devices that can be purchased in this country may not actually work with local FTTC ISPs (note: don’t try to save money by importing from overseas as you could easily make this mistake). Finally, always make sure to get the necessary VDSL2 settings for the router from your ISP before buying; most routers do include auto-setup routines but these can’t always be relied upon.

Billion BiPAC 8800NL
Last year’s entry from Billion, the 8200N, failed to impress due to its lack of ADSL2+, IPv6, 5GHz Wifi and no Gigabit Ethernet or USB ports. But since then Billion has added a new budget router to its range, the 8800NL, and it seems like somebody has been listening to the complaints.

Firstly, the 8800NL does support IPv6, it also adds ADSL2+ and will even let advanced users tweak the SNR margin (we rarely see this outside of more expensive devices or custom firmware). On top of that they’ve even added a Gigabit LAN and separate USB port, although there’s only one of both. The Broadcom chipset used also has a reasonable reputation.

The one weak point looks to be the lack of 5GHz WiFi and external antennas, but admittedly this isn’t so surprising given the £70 price tag. The official spec sheet also only makes mention of the 17a profile for VDSL2 lines, which is odd since the 8200N supported 30a and in the future this may become more important if BT’s network upgrades to 30a for faster speeds (big “if”). Generally speaking though, it looks like a reasonable option for the money.

TP-LINK TD-W9980 (N600)
Over the years TP-Link have built themselves somewhat of a reputation for building high-spec but affordable routers and the TD-W9980 is no exception, with £70 getting you a full Gigabit LAN router with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi support, IPv6 and two USB ports. The use of 3 x 5GHz 5dBi detachable antennas (RP-SMA) and 2 x 2.4Ghz 3.5dBi internal antennas is also nothing to be sniffed at, meaning that this router should cope at least as well as some of the top 802.11n performers. We’ll overlook the lack of Gigabit 802.11ac for now.

The TD-W9980, which seems to be based off Lantiq’s VRX268 chip, is effectively a TD-W8980 with the added bonus of support for FTTC (VDSL2) connections, although there’s no mention of Vectoring support in the spec sheet (we’re told this may be added in a future firmware update). On the downside we note some reports that FTTC performance and connection stability might not be quite as good as some of its rivals, although the difference isn’t huge and others seem perfectly happy.

On top of that there seems to be a lack of detailed line statistics, although much like the Vectoring issue we’re advised that this could be addressed in a future firmware update. Overall you get a lot of router for £70 and there are plenty of advanced features that we haven’t mentioned, such as support for 10 IPSec VPN Tunnels.

The only other issue that comes to mind is the seemingly lack of support for 3G/4G USB Mobile Broadband modems, which seems odd since some of TP-Link’s other routers do have this (it’s possible a future firmware update may fix this too but we’ve not been able to confirm that).

ASUS DSL-AC68U AC1900
At just under £200 this router is clearly right at the top of our acceptable price range and appears to be somewhat of an enhancement on last year’s cheaper Asus DSL-N66U N900, albeit still featuring the same dual-CPU setup that splits one dedicated CPU for the ADSL/VDSL modems and one for WiFi networking to improve performance. The support for Vectoring and future VDSL2 profiles up to 30a is also welcome, if ever BT goes down that path.

The new router looks very industrial and sports 3 external antennas (removable) to help its WiFi credentials (note: multiple SSIDs supported), which are happily being powered by the latest 802.11ac standard. As a result the 5GHz band with 802.11ac attached claims to pump out wireless data rates of up to 1300Mbps, while the 2.4GHz band can use 802.11n and Broadcom’s TurboQAM technology to deliver up to 450-600Mbps (1900Mbps combined).

The addition of a USB3.0 port is also most welcome, especially if you’re planning to have the router act as a file server by plugging in external storage (better performance). The USB can also cope with Mobile Broadband (3G/4G) modems, printers and so forth. One downside though is that you only get a single USB port, which is not what we’d expect from something so expensive. Indeed the router in general seems to lack some of the advanced features that come with similarly priced hardware from AVM (FRITZ!Box) or DrayTek.

Generally speaking it’s quite pricey for what you get, although the top-end performance largely makes up for that and the market isn’t exactly full of 802.11ac router choices with both integrated ADSL2+ and VDSL2. But don’t bother trying the auto-setup routine with your FTTC ISP, it won’t always work and you may be better off adding the settings manually (ask your ISP). Also make sure to get the latest firmware as the early release had a few bugs (new firmware may also have improve the auto-setup process).

NOTE: Do NOT confuse this with the cheaper, but modem-less, RT-AC68U or latest RT-AC87U (note: the AC87U model boasts combined WiFi speeds of 2334Mbps).

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