O Canada! > Canadian > TekSavvy > [DSL] Best modem for 6MB DSL?

[DSL] Best modem for 6MB DSL?

Depends on how far you are from the CO.

reply to qwertyman
Speedtouch 516 used to be the one everyone recommended, but apparently for some people the times have changed?

In any case, you'll want to avoid 'all-in-one' devices, which means, using your own separate router.

In most cases though unless your line is awful almost any stand alone modem will work well - 20$ ones like the tp-lik 8816 for instance.

reply to qwertyman
@mike
I have no idea how far I am from the nearest CO. Is there any site that could tell me?

@cloneman
I used to have an all-in-one and that didn't fare too well. I want to separate the modem and router as two physical devices. I'll take a look at the tp-link one.

Thanks again for both your inputs.

Happy New Year!

Get this one instead. It's on sale now and will work well if you're far from the CO. It's also a broadcom based modem.

»www.canadacomputers.com/product_···d=036727

reply to Mike2009

reply to Mike2009
I have had the Dlink 2520B for over 5 years now. Rock solid and zero problems. The price on this 520B is really good too as I remember paying 60 plus for mine.

reply to qwertyman
Thanks again, everyone. It looks like I'll go for a ride and visit Canada Computers in Mississauga and check out the modems you all mentioned.

reply to qwertyman
The best one you can find locally would be the Thomson ST-516 which is the recommend modem by Teksavvy. You could save $10 shipping if you buy it locally at CC instead of having it shipped from Teksavvy.

My personnel favorite modems are still the older high end Siemens 4200 and 5200 which perform better than the ST-516 on Bhell's lines.

For 6M DSL, all older DSL modems works fine, Acatel Speed Touch home was a favorite for its ability to hold sync with weak lines. Westell Infospeed and Speedstream 5360, 5100, 5200 etc. The worst one I had was the Broadmax 300a but still it was ok. If you are on a tight budget, you may able to find the above mentioned modems for $5-$10 but bear in mind they can only handle the 6MB DSL as they are not ADSL2+ (Btw, I owned the above modems one time or the other but that was a long story)

Personally, I will not pay more than $15 for DSL modems, I am using a Speedstream 5100 now which I paid $10 shipped from ebay. I have a Tp-link 8100 which I bought from PC Village during their boxing day sale a few years ago and I have a Westell 6100 $10 shipped from ebay.

If you are not in a hurry, check out the Westell 6100 at ebay, some US sellers are willing to sell it for $10-15 shipped to Canada since this modem is free from their ISP with 1 year contract.

The Westell 6100 is ADSL2+ and it sync faster and can reach top speed faster than my Speedstream 5100.

reply to qwertyman
Been rocking the TP-Link 8616 at three houses I've set up teksavvy. Bulletproof stability, poor man's price =) and in stock too!

»www.canadacomputers.com/product_···d=024298

reply to apvm

from my research indeed the texas instruments chipset in the speedtream modems can hold a nice solid sync on some poor lines. The tplinks are dirt cheap, but they do seem to work fine. my td-8616 failed after 2 years of 24/7 up time. Not a total failure but it seems to get unstable and not hold connection after a few hours. for $18, thats a good deal. Personally I am using a siemmens 4200 until my 2 wire modem arrives from ebay.

tplinks are generally trendchip based, which if your lines are good will preform well, in fact maybe even better than a broadcom based modem. however once the signal degrades trendchip seems to be the worst option for a modem. you can ask teksavvy your RCO and line distance to make a better decision.

My Tp link 8810 uses Broadcom BCM6338 chipset similar to the Speedtouch ST516v6 but depends on version, some 8810 uses Trendchip and some uses Ti. I heard the 8816 is Trendchip.

I agree with you, Trendchip and Ti usually sync more aggressive than Broadcom, if your line is good they usually perform better than Broadcom.

My 5100a is Ti AR5 and my Westell 6100 is Ti AR7 , for my line the Westelll perform the best among the 3 modems I presently own.