CenturyLink → vdsl question

I'm a new to Centurylink customer.
I've subscribed to the highest b/w connection in my location and it appears that I am on a VDSL circuit.

I opted not to get a modem from CL mainly because I do not like all in one route/modem packages and I'd rather use my own lan and wlan gear anyway.

I have a pk5000 modem that will not pickup the dsl signal on the line which is fine it was an extra I had around. So CL is suggesting I buy an Actiontec C1000A which appears to be their current main supported model. I would rather just have a vdsl bridge or something that would then enable me to use my gear.

Does anyone know of such an item?
I have found this item [Planet vc-201a] [link here]. Would something like this work for what I'm after?

thanks for any help / suggestions on this one.

- kpf

The specs suggest that Planet bridge only supports 17a, which CL doesn't currently use.

If you can find a ZyXEL Q100, that's exactly what you want. Otherwise, C1000z or Q1000z. Not many here tend to recommend Actiontec, _especially_ CL-branded (starts with C, e.g. the C1000A they are recommending), but the Qwest-branded equipment (starts with Q, e.g. Q1000) seems to be more usable.

It also doesn't have an ATM layer.

The Planet bridge?

Yeah, sorry. The bridge is just that, an ethernetvdsl2 bridge. There's no ATM layer so even if it had the right profiles, it wouldn't connect.

ATM isn't used with VDSL2. It's technically an option in the spec but I'm unaware of any provider ever configuring it (for that matter, most DSLAMs likely lack the option).

The short answer is that there are no good plain bridges to use on CenturyLink VDSL2 lines.

Buy an ActionTec C1000a (great if your line is really really good) or ZyXEL C1000z or, if you insist on only having one Ethernet and no wireless, a ZyXEL Q100, and drop them into RFC1483 bridging mode. There's also the old Qwest-labeled VDSL2 gateways, the Q1000, Q1000z and technically the Q100 is of that generation.

ZyXEL makes a few routers that aren't branded, and there's like, the Huawei HG610 or whatever, but they're universally more expensive than CL's gateways, even the C1000a is $99 at Best Buy, and a third party ZyXEL device will cost $200 or so.

When you come across it, the ZyXEL P870M is also not a good choice, because it only supports two of the nine different VDSL2 profiles. The C1000a supports all of them, even 30A.

(Incidentally, a 17a or 30a bridge and a C1000a coupled together could make a good long-distance networking solution, but that's unrelated.)

Oops, you're right. It's PTM mode not ATM mode.

What makes the Q100 not good? It fits all of the OP's criteria, down to bridge-only. The only flaw is the lack of availability. (And personally, I don't care if it happens to have a Qwest logo on it.)

Wow! You all are fast

So the 'q1000' is still an actiontec brand modem correct? I see a few on $bay. Is the zyxel just a better brand?

Wonder why there is nothing out there similar to the planet device that would do what I'm after? I really like the tiny foot print on that device.

ZyXEL is generally considered to be better, yes.

The Q1000 will work and seems to be better than the newer Actiontec modems, but there are a few Q100s on eBay and that's what I'd go for. It's closest to what you want, in that it is just a modem with no extra switch ports or Wi-Fi AP. It's larger than the Planet one though.

Are you sure the Q100 is modem only? I've seen references to Q100s needing to have bridging mode turned on in the old Qwest forum not to mention the instrustions at CL's modem support page.

Also, FYI... The PT-871M VDSL2 Modem does't work even though I'm on a 12a profile and the modem supports 12a.

So the question is...has anyone actually gotten ANY true modem-only device to work?

Yeah, technically it can do PPPoE and NAT and does need bridging to be enabled. "Bridge-only" probably wasn't the most optimal choice of wording, but it may as well be (after all, it only has one Ethernet port, with no additional stuff).

The Q1000 isn't a bridge-only, it's a gateway just the same as its spiritual predecessor the M1000 and its bigger brothers, the Q1000 and Q1000z.

It's a good enough device, and if OP is insistent on having something with just one Ethernet port (for whatever reason) it's probably the best choice, it's just not a plain bridge.

I assume you mean the P-871M. Do you have any idea if that's using a Broadcom SoC? Can't seem to find much about it.

edit: the best I can find is another post here, »Re: [BC] online gaming. According to that, it is not, it's using the old Ikanos "we can technically call it VDSL2 but it really isn't" (sometimes called "VDSL1.5") junk. Get something BCM6368-based (e.g. all CL-supported VDSL2 hardware, 887VA).

They go back and forth. I have never used a Q100 or Q1000z, but I have a Q1000 and I have just had nothing but good experiences with it.

To be honest, if you already have an ActionTec device and it's working well, I wouldn't specifically recommend replacing it with a ZyXEL device unless your line is really marginal and your modem is having trouble holding sync. It is said that ZyXEL devices are better at this. (Even though they are all based on the same chipsets. It's sort of like if a Compaq computer with Intel Pro/100 Ethernet was considered better at running Outlook than a Dell computer with Intel Pro/100 Ethernet.)

Despite the silliness, there's actually pretty good anecdotal evidence that the Q1000z and C1000z are better at marginal lines than their ActionTec brothers.

The ActionTec C1000a has some problems with its firmware, but if you have a solid line and aren't in need of a lot of helpful troubleshooting information, then it can be good. Both of those two devices (and their ZyXEL counterparts) are otherwise identical. The old Q devices have removable antennas, so if you don't have a burning need for 5GHz wifi, they may be better.

There are actually two revisions of the C1000a, and it's the modem for which CL releases firmware updates most often, so there are a lot of different opinions about them.

To be honest, if there was a good no-label pure bridge that worked consistently with VDSL2 (even better if it supported ADSL/ADSL2/ADSL2+ as well) then I'm sure we'd know about it, because almost everybody on the board would run (not walk) to buy one.

And, in regards to the footprint -- the 1000-series can be hung on a wall, and to be honest, isn't that much bigger than the Q100 anyway. I'd take the extra ethernet ports even if I was going to drop it into bridge mode, just for the ease of getting to the modem's control panel, but that really depends on how specifically into networking you are. If you're gung-ho about setting static routes and that kind of thing, then you were probably not going to use the extra ports on one of the bigger gateways anyway.

Yeah, P-871M. No Broadcom. There's a Metanoia MT2201GL-B1 and MT3201GN-B1 that I think are doing the dsl bit and an RTL8306 doing the ethernet bit.

Which the Planet VC-201A also happens to have: »planet.com.ru/en/product ··· 1_v1.pdf

and Metanoia doesn't even mention it on their (awful) site, just the newer gen supporting all profiles + (according to them) interoperability with all vendors

They do have a reference bridge using the newer one, »www.metanoia-comm.com/pr ··· hp?id=10.

I'm willing to bet someone is selling these on Alibaba. Issues would be buying in quantity, questionable quality, no warrant (of course), perhaps even questionable safety (electrical-wise), BUT if they're cheap enough there the quality factor could be mitigated.

Incidentally, what happened when you tried to use it? Did it just refuse to sync? Supposedly there are some weird voodoo things going on in VDSL/VDSL2 systems, but I don't know the details and so I've been working on the assumption that if a CL device says you're on 8a or 12a, the P871M would work, but I also don't trust CL to only use 8a or 12a.

The P871m is pretty much a straight bridge, and so you'd have to use a computer or a router with a PPPoE client to get on the Internet, if it did sync.

The P871M and the Planet converters (and a zillion other similar devices) really are meant for industrial use though, which is part of why a lot of them only support a few profiles.

There are more "modem" and consumer focused devices from planet, but I actually think that most of the CL devices are going to be a better bet at this point.

(Though, I'm really interested in where the discussion about using these industrial devices as CPE on consumer lines.)

Have you had any luck finding a place to buy the Planet VC-301? It supports all the profiles, so it may be a better bet as CPE on a regular DSL line.

No. It's Ikanos and looks to be about as large as the Q100, so it'd be pointless anyway.

Currently looking at »www.alibaba.com/product- ··· 750.html which, from the specs, _appears_ to be the current-gen Metanoia chip (the specs use similar wording and are otherwise identical), but it's not stated anywhere and there is no internal picture. The model is Yoda V101M, see »www.yoda.com.tw/model.ph ··· me=V101M. But like the Planet, I can't find any place that sells a single unit to test with (since these Metanoia chips are an unknown quantity at this point).

I love what these "simple" threads turn into. It actually gets everyone looking at interesting things. I'd never explored these no-name Chinese solutions before.

I've looked at them, at least the Planet and ZyXEL stuff before, but because each of them typically only supports one or two profiles, I have by and large dismissed them for normal use. This stuff is really meant for connecting to one of those cheap DSLAMs and re-fitting old apartments/dorms/hotels etc with fast-enough Ethernet for whatever, or for wiring up security cameras in ducts. (Planet or maybe startech cables also sells a VDSL2 over coax adapter, for similar retrofitting purposes.)

The main thing that has stopped me from doing or recommending anything like this is that each device only supports one or two profiles, and I consider it a waste to buy a tiny metal box that only supports one profile, only to need to buy another one the next year when CL re-configures your line or adds a newer DSLAM that's capable of profiles 17a/b or 30a. (Or kicks your line over from 8b to 8d, as another possible example.)

They have routers -- but just like the discussion about the off-label ZyXEL from earlier in the year, they're more money than if you went to Best Buy and picked up a C1000a and the support implications (if the chipsets even work) mean that your money may be better spent on a new C1000a each year. :P

The other thing that ADSL (even ADSL2+) has but doesn't seem to exist for VDSL is modems on a PCI or PCI Express card, for those running a pfsense box that has PCI slots. There's even a quad-bonding ADSL2+ PCI card.

Doesn't even attempt to sync, at least as far as I can hear with my butt set and I can hear the c1000a clearly do its thing. Just for fun, I put the 871M in CO mode and hooked the c1000a to it and I can hear the c1000a attempting to train but the P871M doesn't respond. Maybe I just have a bad one.

The Yoda one claims to support all profiles, even 30a.

I agree a PCIe VDSL2 modem would be nice. I've looked before as well. That would probably entice me to switch to a SFF PC (Mini-ITX has an expansion slot).

There go my dreams! I would ask what happens when you connect a second P871M to the first one, but at $230 a pop, I actually imagine you don't have a second one just laying around, as many of us do with the CL modems you can get for $99 a pop, or $20-50 used.

The P871M is definitely one of those devices that could have become a fan favorite if it supported more profiles.

Though let's be honest, first one to a bonded, all-profiles, vectored, plain bridge device with a well supported chipset will probably win the day, not (I suppose) that anybody's really in that market.

Unfortunately, in the United States, the only market for VDSL2 devices is for CenturyLink and AT&T. On the AT&T side of things, 802.1X authentication means that the only party actually "shopping" for modems is AT&T themselves.

Alas!

I just ordered a second one from Amazon. Even if it doesn't work with CL, I have a dry-loop application I can use them as a pair in.

Man if I could get ahold of a VDSL2 PCIe card that would do bonding, I'd be all set. I would just put it in my Linux server that's already on my network and let it handle all the routing and firewall.

That'll be the day.

Please please please (*etc) let us know how this goes. I have been wanting to do this for so very long. (Both in terms of just trying it out because it seems neat, and in terms of having an actual excuse for my own VDSL2 CO/CPE loop.)

Thanks all

I ended up ordering a C100. I'll see how it goes towards the end of the week.. Fingers crossed so better-half will be connected again when I'm at work Just so I'm clear on this I'll want to put it in bridge mode, through the UI I presume.

Just so I can understand a bit of what else was going on on this thread.. (very cool btw)
CL pushes a few different "profiles" on their lines. The planet vc-201a does not pickup the right profile so the device won't sync up the dsl signal, (the vc-301 may).
If such a device could be had and you have a ppoe capable router behind then this type of setup would work. [tiny-converter] [pppoe router] [internal lan]

cool forums
thanks again