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Thread ID: 104891	2009-11-11 22:23:00	ADSL2 modems	Greg (193)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
829188	2009-11-12 08:21:00	Yeah - this heating or over-heating may be an issue for some people. Perhaps its just some individual units? Mine definitly gets warm, but not overly hot. It hasn't given problems (although I can't say if the occasional inabilitly to connect is a result of Telstraclear or if the modem is the issue). [Edit} when I do have a problem connecting to Telstraclear, turning the modem off for 5 minuts or so seems to help. Buggered if I know!	Greg (193)
829189	2009-11-12 17:00:00	It is normal to have to reboot the modem occasionally when it has disconnected. Telecom are continually working on their network upgrading etc and sometimes this work will cause a disconnect which requires a modem reboot.	Safari (3993)
829190	2009-11-12 17:34:00	Don't get too dramatic, they get quite warm but would not say they are hot. There are thousands of people using the RTA1320 without any problems, I have had one for several years and it has never crashed. Yes, perhaps, but with those it all depends on your usage of them. Sure it can do ADSL2+ speeds on speedtest.net, but try and put any semi-decent load on them and they fall to pieces. It looks as though it maybe the luck of the draw. I bought a new RTA1320, ex-TelstraClear via TradeMe a while ago. It's on 24/7 and is just warm to the touch, never been any disconnections or problems. How many PC's do you have running through it? Cheers we have had no end of trouble since we got our "New" modem RTA1320, it gets almost too hot to touch, and drops connection after about 10 minutes, then reboot it and it goes fine, absolute pain. But come to think of it, if it was a bad line I should still be able to ping the router when the net connection goes down shouldn't I? If the line goes down, you should (in pretty much all cases except if you've got half-bridging setup) definitely be able to still ping the router. If you can't ping the router, it's coz it's fallen over, not your line ;) It's a common issue with those routers. As you said, it gets almost too hot to touch, I've actually had small burns left on my fingertips once it was so hot, the plastic started to melt / weaken... It is normal to have to reboot the modem occasionally when it has disconnected. Telecom are continually working on their network upgrading etc and sometimes this work will cause a disconnect which requires a modem reboot. Ah, yes, but that depends on why the modem disconnects! You would be surprised at how often Telecom actually do network upgrades etc. I was with Orcon for 6 months, and there was a period of 4 nights in a row when they disconnected me. Other than that, my connection was up pretty much the whole time. Same for TelstraClear, have a connection in Avondale thats been up for months on end. Thus far even Big Time seems to stay up for weeks on end. I think you would be incredibly surprised at the quality of ADSL modems out there, and what a difference it makes buying something decent. I deal with them on a daily basis, mostly for VoIP stuff (See the latest PCW mag), and there is such a *huge* variety of quality between modems, it's disgusting! Just this Wednesday I took a Linksys AM300 and replaced one of Telecoms Thomson TG585v7 modems. Immediately the sync speeds went up from 11m/bit to 14.5m/bit! That's not just a once-off, I've been working with the person who owns that line for a whole month now just monitoring it and other things with their line, they were getting that 11m/bit all the time. That's all that it was, a change of modem, and their speeds shot up by 3.5m/bit (Actually attainable in speedtest.net and other things too!). Swap back to the Thomson for a "test and see", surprise surprise it dropped back to 11m/bit... Point is: Yes, some cheap modems work, for some people ... put them under any sort of strain by having too many active connections, and many of them fall to pieces. For the few extra bucks it'll cost you up-front, you'll save your sanity in the long run by not always being on the phone to the Helpdesk, losing internet during games etc ;)	Chilling_Silence (9)
829191	2009-11-12 21:44:00	A temperature measurement on the RTA1320......using a K thermocouple poked in through the ventilation holes......44deg C, at ambient temperature 17 Deg C. That is rather warm, lets see what happens when the ambient goes up to 27 deg. Chill, most of the time just one computer is connected, sometimes two, and very rarely three.	Terry Porritt (14)
829192	2009-11-13 03:33:00	You can see why on a hot day those things would fry ... Or try just tacking on a couple of extra PC's and put the load on the processor up! Sure it's only a 1-port router, but it is a *router*, not just a Modem, it's designed to have multiple PC's hanging off it. Better still, fire up a bittorrent application and watch it scream in pain :p Listen carefully for the tiny little voices ;) I'll try and get a thermometer on my Am300 sometime and see what it runs at.	Chilling_Silence (9)
829193	2009-11-13 03:37:00	Better still, fire up a bittorrent application and watch it scream in pain :p Listen carefully for the tiny little voices ;) :lol: I went through about 5 in a 2 year period a few years back, IMO when they work they are fine, but they break far too often. Normally start getting the squeal of death at about 14 months, if they haven't cooked themselves already. I saw one today that was discoloured from the plastic heating up so much.	wratterus (105)
829194	2009-11-13 05:47:00	My Linksys WAG160n form Dick Smith fried after about three months of use on ADSL2+ speeds. Only about 150gb tops transferred through the modem in it. But I've learnt now that Linksys is not a very good modem manufacturer. My speeds dropped from 16mbit to 1.3mbit - even though the modem and telecom reported me connecting at 16mbit. It used to get hot too - leaving a small blackish mark around itself on the wall	justinsg (11165)
829195	2009-11-13 06:22:00	Actually Linksys are a top-notch manufacturer, the WAG160N (And WRT150N too if you must) was a freak of nature that shouldn't have been released... Look at the likes of the WRT54GL, amazing little router that's changed WiFi forever! Wratterus, I've got one at my parents place thats just like that, it's mostly orange, more-so than cream / beige at least :D	Chilling_Silence (9)
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