With the move to a 2 Mbit ADSL line, I decided to upgrade a few other components in my network. I’m now using a ZyXEL 660HW ADSL modem/router combination to provide my LAN with Internet access. Previously, I was using a SAR 110 router – it did a decent job, but was unable to handle multiple IP addresses. With the ZyXEL in place, I duly filled in a RIPE form and sent it to Force9’s support team. Less than 24 hours later, I had a shiny new /29 allocated to my network.

As for the ZyXEL, I’m extremely impressed by it’s abilities, given the price point. The manual is a superb reference manual, though lacking a bit in some canned ‘these are common setups’ instructions. Some of the features in the 660HW are

• Quality of Service – applicable to WAN, LAN and WLAN interfaces seperately
• SIP ALG – Removes the need for STUN support when using something like a Sipura SPA2000
• Distinct firewall rules vs NAT rules vs filter rules. The filter rules can be quite complex
• VPN pass-through – To get VPN termination seems to add another £50 to the price of routers at the £70 mark
• Integrated user database or RADIUS support for WPA
• Configure via HTTP, FTP or Telnet – Some advanced options are only available in the CLI interface
• Scriptable configuration
• ADSL, ADSL2 and ADSL2+ support
• 4-port 10/100 switch
• Multiple IP support in both 1:1 mapping and NAT global pool support

On the whole, I’m very pleased with my purchase. It took me several days of reading system specs to find a router with all the features I wanted, but I eventually got there. I’m able to get the max speed my ADSL line offers, and I can do so without affecting my VoIP conversations, which is absolutely brilliant. With the 110 I had to hope that someone didn’t send me a large e-mail when chatting to a friend – now I can be uploading multiple megabytes of data and the VoIP session isn’t even touched.