New 8900 series for the UK

[gatekeeper]

Thought I'd draw the attention of a few more forum members to the preliminary information about a new 8900 series VDSL/ADSL router (with external antennae) that I posted several days ago in the topic Re:BiPAC 8800axl Availability, in the 8800 Series forum. I think the three new routers I've mentioned there will potentially be just the sorts of devices many of us have been waiting for.

I've now also found a slightly more-detailed specification for the 8900AX-2400. See here:

http://www.billion.com/upload/product/d ... 919538.pdf

[Philip_L]

Hi

These are a little disappointing given the long wait. For a start the high Wi-Fi speeds being marketed no one is going to see outside of a test lab, the speeds people are going to see based on their current devices connecting to the 8900 will be similar to what they already see with any other AC Wi-Fi router, if anything given the newness of these Billion models the speeds are probably going to be less due to compatibility issues, and for some they will probably struggle to connect at all until the kinks are ironed out. By the time devices are common place that can demonstrate any benefit with these higher speeds these routers will be obsolete as we'll be needing G.Fast capable modems in them.

A premium price but the same old cheap plastic flimsy case, at this price point these should be metal or at least a better grade of plastic/design. I know we don't buy based on what they look like, but I would expect something more substantial, more premium, not something so light the weight of a few Ethernet cables start sliding it off the desk.

The Broadcom SoC is the same as Billion's current devices, they've not gone for then newest SoC available with faster CPU speeds, probably because 2 years ago when these were first spoken about those faster SoC's didn't exist, so these are out of date already.

Hopefully the firmware will be top notch and completely reliable, as that is all there is left to hope the price premium and long wait has been gone towards.

Regards

Phil

[gatekeeper]

I'm inclined to agree with you. However, the big critism that was levelled at the forerunners, the 8800NL and the 8800AX, was that the wireless range was woefully short, so it rather looks as though Billion's addressed this with these newest models; they now all have external antennae on them once more. I myself will be investing in one for the sheer reason that to date I've largely had only wired Billion models thus far and I now wish to go for a wireless one, one that hopefully has a decent wireless range. I've never bothered to use my current 8800NL in wireless mode because of the limited range that everyone talks about.

Yes, I'm afraid these new and supposedly super-speed ones will have features that'll largely go to waste when used in most people's networks, but that's not uncommon with lots of other digital hardware these days. At any one point in time, none of us will ever find the ideal router (or router-modem, in this case).

I do agree about the eternal problem of the weight of cables compared to the device itself, as that's niggled me on many occasions with my 8800NL, but if they were made with metal cases instead doubtless the price would be even higher. At least with the flat-cased models you can fit some much bigger stick-on soft-rubber feet that then mitigates this problem. That's what I did with my old 7800N, for example.

[Philip_L]

Hi

I'm not convinced external antennas on these types of consumer router really make much difference, they are just a bit of stripped wire in a plastic tube I suppose at least it allows them to be twiddled around a bit and favour one direction more over the other. It's a bit like when mobile phones transitioned to digital and they could etch a better performing antenna on the circuit board internally, but still added a false pull up antenna because customers considered a pull up antenna gave them better reception.

Further, whilst routers have external antenna, everyone's devices typically have internal antenna anyway.

I know what you mean about having a better build quality costs more, however you can pick up a solid metal managed switch from Netgear for a little over £21.00, so I think given the price premium on the Billion, build should be better, and as it has external antenna, no problem having a nice weighty metal case.

I think the problem is Billion just don't want to invest in these consumer products, so they recycle the same tooling etc, and haven't spent any on the design. I always feel Billion products cost too much for too little, although I may end up buying one

Regards

Phil

[slostuk]

This morning I received the "new" 8900AX-2400 and within ten minutes I decided it was going straight back. The cosmetic finish is very very poor with chips and scratches included free of charge, I have attached an image of one of the many areas where the case is chipped.

I have an 8800NL and have been very happy with it, yes the wireless signal could be better and I was hoping the 8900AX-2400 would address this, however wireless performance in my home is no better, it might actually be marginally worse.

Not what you would expect from any product never mind a product carrying a £240.00 price.

[billion_fan]

This morning I received the "new" 8900AX-2400 and within ten minutes I decided it was going straight back. The cosmetic finish is very very poor with chips and scratches included free of charge, I have attached an image of one of the many areas where the case is chipped.

I have an 8800NL and have been very happy with it, yes the wireless signal could be better and I was hoping the 8900AX-2400 would address this, however wireless performance in my home is no better, it might actually be marginally worse.

Not what you would expect from any product never mind a product carrying a £240.00 price.

If you still have the device, can you PM me your serial number, as when it comes back to us, I want to investigate. (we will be checking existing stock to ensure a similar issues do not re-occur)

As the device seems to have taken some knocks, it might have effected your wireless performance, if something has come loose etc.

[billion_fan]

Here are some of our test results (below) when testing with the 2.4ghz band (Bipac 8900-2400)

All tests are run with iperf 3, inline of sight

Distance 20m, Channel 11 , 40Mhz , (QAM enabled)222 Mbps
Distance 20m, Channel 13 , 40mhz, (QAM enabled)264 Mbps

Distance 40m, Channel 11, 40mhz, (QAM enabled)157 Mbps
Distance 40m, Channel 13, 40mhz, (QAM enabled)155 Mbps

[gatekeeper]

Slostuk,

It sounds as though, despite the poor cosmetic state of the particular sample of 8900AX-2400 that you received, you got as far as powering it on and configuring it, in which case did you notice whether, on this model, you're required to specifically log out of the router's GUI, once you've been in it and have finished?

Certainly, with firmware 2.32d.dh14, I've found that this has not been the case for the 8800. I've discovered (and reported in these forums some time ago) that the non-requirement to officially log out of the 8800 leaves the 8800's GUI effectively open, as I've been surprised on occasions by not having to log in again. Clearly, this is a major flaw. Conceivably, though, this may have been fixed by one of the further revisions to the firmware (or perhaps has been left by Billion until the launch of this 8900 series?). Due to other issues, I've been dissuaded from trying either of the two most-recent 8800 firmware revisions.

I feel that this is something that needs checking out fairly quickly on any new 8900 series routers from Billion. With the 8800, it's always seemed intuitively wrong for there not to be a proper means to log out each time.

[gatekeeper]

Slostuk,

And did you notice also the total number of wired ports that are provided on the back of the 8900AX-2400? A pictorial view from Billion of the rear of the unit is rather wanting at the moment.

I'm trying to figure out whether the 8900AX-2400 has 4 normal Ethernet ports, plus an EWAN port, ie. 5 Ethernet ports altogether, or whether the EWAN port is counted, as with previous models, as just 1 of the 4 ports. Looking at the pre-sales PDF release, which is all text, it's not totally clear.

[slostuk]

Slostuk,

And did you notice also the total number of wired ports that are provided on the back of the 8900AX-2400? A pictorial view from Billion of the rear of the unit is rather wanting at the moment.

I'm trying to figure out whether the 8900AX-2400 has 4 normal Ethernet ports, plus an EWAN port, ie. 5 Ethernet ports altogether, or whether the EWAN port is counted, as with previous models, as just 1 of the 4 ports. Looking at the pre-sales PDF release, which is all text, it's not totally clear.

The 8900 had four Ethernet port in addation to the WAN interface so five in total.