After I got my last f***-off bill from my internet & phone provider I decided its time to pull the pin and get myself an internode & VOIP setup.

So Internode recommend the Billion 7404VGP-M router for multiple analog phone connections. I haven't had any experience with Billion hardware.

I noticed some negative reports on whingepool - can anyone recommend this model, or an alternative for use in an internode VOIP & router setup?

not familiar with that particular model, but im billion's biggest fanboi

the 7404VGP is good if you have a crappy phoneline, or live at the very bottom end of your exchange as I do.

that said - Billion suck a lot of cock imo.

if you have the means get something @ the commercial level and pump it into a deciated *nix box that handles all your routing needs

last edited by koopz at 19:40:20 16/Aug/08

lol @ Spook.


it had to happen. soz bro

the 7404VGP is good if you have a crappy phoneline, or live at the very bottom end of your exchange as I do.

I'm a fair way from the exchange - I get about 5k connection speeds on uncapped old school ADSL. The line itself is pretty clean (house is only 10 years old or so in a newish estate) just a fair bit of distance attenuation.

I'm not really looking to invest a lot of money into the setup. At least if I get the internode recommended hardware (from somewhere other than them, hahah @ their prices!) I guess they can't blame my setup if I have probs and can help me connect my s*** up.

hahah @ their prices!

to be fair - that price pays for some decent people to back up the sale eh.

my Dad (in Tassie) just bought an Asus EeePc only to find that my little LeetyMcLeet brother (he lives in Canberra) had lost the password to Dad's Internode-supplied modem/router. it's locked down pretty well, but the awesome guys @ *node had no issue with running my stepmother thru adding each one of the 3 laptops in the house into a fresh router configuration after a reset.

I dunno if they'd offer my Mrs the same here @ home as I've not bought one of their modem/routers.

it weird I suppose, but I actually prefer stuff that is wife-friendly. go figure :/

last edited by koopz at 20:17:36 16/Aug/08

lol @ Spook.

ive moved on from amd to billion!

internode are the best, by far

also ive just started using the 7404vgpm, rock solid. my old netcomm dropped out all the time

to be fair - that price pays for some decent people to back up the sale eh.

my Dad (in Tassie) just bought an Asus EeePc only to find that my little LeetyMcLeet brother (he lives in Canberra) had lost the password to Dad's Internode-supplied modem/router. it's locked down pretty well, but the awesome guys @ *node had no issue with running my stepmother thru adding each one of the 3 laptops in the house into a fresh router configuration after a reset.

Do they give different-quality support if you buy the same modem from another supplier? I doubt I will need them to walk me through problems though, I'm pretty qualified to turn stuff off and on ;)

also ive just started using the 7404vgpm, rock solid. my old netcomm dropped out all the time

Yeh I've had a bad history with networking hardware. Consumer-grade stuff I've had just doesn't last more than about 24 months and is flaky at best - tried Netcomm, Belkin, all sorts of stuff.

Nice to hear the Billion might stay upright or a few days at a stretch tho.

last edited by Hogfather at 20:51:47 16/Aug/08

Do they give different-quality support if you buy the same modem from another supplier?

it's a given mate

Do they give different-quality support if you buy the same modem from another supplier? I doubt I will need them to walk me through problems though, I'm pretty qualified to turn stuff off and on ;)

I hear ya.

I feel the same way chasing up other suppliers and computer stores looking after my new customers.

there's seldom any professional courtesy in this biz

ftr... I don't don't talk down to techies from UMart/GD/etc.. I just try to offer them a job :P

last edited by koopz at 20:54:24 16/Aug/08

man i Love internode and ive been with optus, telstra and these guys are a refeshing change for the better.

I just bought a billion 7404VGP-M today actually
$175 from MSY
piss easy to set up. works very well. i like it.

fyi, my previous billion modem was a netgear (dg834g) and it was totally s***
before that was a netcomm (nb5), it was also s***

MicroB rule restricts me from ranting further

last edited by koopz at 22:04:01 16/Aug/08

last edited by koopz at 22:04:52 16/Aug/08

Ignore the Billion haters, their routers are generally fine.

Ok now I'm *sure* spook is full of s***. The DG834G was an awesome modem for it's time. I have two and I still use one.

Ignore the Billion haters, their routers are generally fine.

if by 'generally' you mean 'typical consumer crap' then you're spot on the money.

The DG834G was an awesome modem for it's time.

like most Netgear products you need to crack them open, rip out the cheapola capacitors and replace them with cheap quality units from your local Jaycar store... but yeah - damn solid design

last edited by koopz at 23:18:39 16/Aug/08

Can't say I've been real impressed with Billion, had one at work, one at home and both pretty flaky. Would never touch anything Belkin ever again. Now am using Linksys for both offices and home, so far so good. Touch wood...

the 7404VGP is good if you have a crappy phoneline, or live at the very bottom end of your exchange as I do.

I've been using Billion and Linksys modem/routers for a while. I like the Billion 740x range. I find they tend to get excellent results on a good line, but don't tend to do so well if the line is a bit noisy.

Also the chipset matters. I don't think the 7401/4 series have the fastest sync, but they can take a lot of connections. Some of their other models can achieve a faster sync but take less connections (depends if you want to P2P, etc).

last edited by Twisted at 09:00:27 17/Aug/08

DG834G has been reliable, but I think the sync rate could have been better, and I couldn't run it in ADSL2+ because of constant drops on the line (crap chipset/driver support on some vendor dslams).

But it's a dsl router. What super new features do you need anyhow?

I've been running the billion 7402 VGP for 2 years now on a node connection without issues. Runs fine and the support the billion rep provides on whirlpool is pretty good.

Regarding firmware, always read up on results from others on WP before upgrading (there is always test monkeys available:P).

Our house is 4kms away from the exchange, running a central filter (get one of these if your going ADSL2+ or have a s*** house line) and I sync around 2 megs which is pretty good considering all factors (length, very very old telstra line). That gets me about 250kb/sec after some tweaks with TCP optimiser.

Node charges a bit more for their hardware but do provide a 2 year warranty and of course it comes preloaded with node config and VOIP settings.

if by 'generally' you mean 'typical consumer crap' then you're spot on the money.

Unless you are able to say something technically specific that's more informative than "Billion suck a lot of cock imo", then I can't see why anyone would take your opinion seriously? (No offence)

yep i'm still loving this billion 7404VGP-M
it allows me to put the proper dialtone for my voip phones. usually voip phones are set to a single 425Hz tone when it should be the default australian combined 425Hz and 400Hz tones, to give that slight flicker.

the only complaint I have is it won't let me give DHCP leases for longer than 24 hours, in seconds.

I've still got some crusty old belkin with wireless that I bought 4 or 5 years ago. I've had to reset it once, maybe twice. It just works beautifully