Re: Home CPE choice

[Marco Hogewoning <marcoh () marcoh net>]

On 1 apr 2010, at 02:04, Nick Hilliard wrote:

> On 31/03/2010 23:55, Charles N Wyble wrote:
> > What good off the shelf solutions are out there? Should one buy the high
> > end d-link/linksys/netgear products? I've had bad experiences with those
> > (netgear in particular).
>
> Some people have said that the Fritz!box is quite good.  No idea if it's approved for use in the US.


They have a very rich VoIP implementation and are really good for the less technical user. But for more eloborate 
setups they are a bit rigid, telnet to the box and you void warranty etc. Got a few hundred thousand in the field and 
most people seem to be happy with them.

A limited set of IPv6 features is available in beta for some models, very basic interface to support various flavours 
of native connectios and tunnels. Small firewall interface to punch some pinholes (bit buggy still, being worked on). 
Enough for your average connection demands.

As far as I know they aren't certified for US. Most of the boxes come with ISDN (the have german origins) and DECT base 
station, so next to the regular WiFi there is a lot of other stuff that needs changing an certification for the US 
market. My guess however is that those things are primairly driven by demand and if you order a truckload things can be 
fixed.

At home I run cisco, but I guess that's due to my background. It's stable, flexible and I'm used to the interface.

From a consumer perspective I'm really impressed by the latest Draytek Vigor (2130n). Pretty amazing RG which has a 
rich and easy to use future set and has a full and working IPv6 box on board. Unfortunately this doesn't include a VoIP 
client or DSL interface, both are being worked on I was told. It's build around a linux stack so everything is there: 
routing, firewalling. Mostly via the webinterface some only via cli (ssh/telnet). SNMP is included.

For the DSL there is a workaround using the Vigor 120 box, which can tie DSL to ethernet and even is able to translate 
PPPoA into PPPoE. With the latest firmware it can also handle IPv6 on those PPP sessions. And since it's standard PPPoE 
out of the back it's also an easy fix for other RGs. Tested it yesterday together with an airport express and worked 
perfectly. Only problem I found was the airport seems to lack IPv6 support on it's PPPoE stack, which I was testing for.

Enough for the plugging of the vendors :) Shameless plug for myself:

I'm compiling a list of IPv6 ready CPE to be presented at RIPE-60, any hints and tips on what is out there and 
experiences so far are welcome off list. I'm about to send a simple questionair to known vendors, if you happen to be a 
CPE manufacturer and want to be included please contact me.

Thansk,

MarcoH