PSA on modems

[yellow door 1]

My 6 year old modem just died so I called TPG - they said for $100 we'll send you one out in 3 to 4 days.

I said - nah I'll just go buy one

Got to office works and the tech guy there said that the modems TPG send out are absolute junk - and they are over priced. He had similar units for nearly half the price

Walked out of the shop with a 1200 which is 4 times more powerful than the 300's tpg over charge for. It was $50 more but its 4 times more gooder

I dont know what any of this tech stuff means - and I cant really see any difference in speed - but if your router dies - you'll get same day replacement and more bang for your buck at office works.

I got the Netgear one

[CJ BRIBIE]

You're spot on with the supplied modems/routers from most companies being absolutely overpriced or junk, and the only reason they sell so well is because most people don't know any better and fear any difficulty in setting up a modem themselves. Unfortunately though as we live in Australia we can't take advantage of the wonders of many of the higher spec modems that can be bought third-party due totally to the comparatively slow down/up data rates that our prehistoric national internet systems can push out.

In saying that, I myself have a third party modem/router combo that is capable of data rates 37 times faster than the standard 12Mb/s NBN not because I can reach such high speeds, but because it comes at a price point that delivers exceptional quality of components so as to not have any individual component bottle-necking the data flow.

On top of that, the wireless connections of most third party modem/routers are head and shoulders above what is provided in the usually cheap and unreliable systems provided by the internet companies.

TL;DR - Yellow door is 100% right, buy netgear or asus instead of the provided router

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by CJ BRIBIE

You're spot on with the supplied modems/routers from most companies being absolutely overpriced or junk, and the only reason they sell so well is because most people don't know any better and fear any difficulty in setting up a modem themselves. Unfortunately though as we live in Australia we can't take advantage of the wonders of many of the higher spec modems that can be bought third-party due totally to the comparatively slow down/up data rates that our prehistoric national internet systems can push out.

In saying that, I myself have a third party modem/router combo that is capable of data rates 37 times faster than the standard 12Mb/s NBN not because I can reach such high speeds, but because it comes at a price point that delivers exceptional quality of components so as to not have any individual component bottle-necking the data flow.

On top of that, the wireless connections of most third party modem/routers are head and shoulders above what is provided in the usually cheap and unreliable systems provided by the internet companies.

TL;DR - Yellow door is 100% right, buy netgear or asus instead of the provided router

Good to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about.

I just tested the laptop a few rooms away and its now getting a full 5 bars of signal strength instead of the 4 it used to get in that room.

There was some interesting info on router placement in this link.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/p...t-wi-fi-signal

"When in doubt, take a page from professional installers, who will place routers on high shelves, or even mount them on the ceiling or high on a wall."

[yellow door 1]

Oh I forgot to mention - tpg walked me through the install over the phone (which was a life saver) - I had to call them because I'd forgotten my password.

The netgear modems take forever to install - Mine took about 20mins - this would be fine if the progress screens were more responsive and informative.

The screens just leave you hanging wondering if anything is going on - sometimes the screen just goes blank and you wonder if its crashed.

If it wasnt for the soothing voice at the other end of the line saying - "dont worry, brand new net gear modems take a long time to install" - I would have thought something was seriously wrong..