Deco X20-DSL & NOW (Sky) Super Fibre Broadband
Since a few people have previously reported compatibility issues between the Deco X20-DSL and Sky broadband, I thought I would share my experiences so far.
I have the NOW Broadband Super Fibre service and am replacing a Sky NR801 broadband router (branded as NOW TV Hub Two) with the X20-DSL.
The configuration settings I am using:
Advanced > Quick Setup
Region: United Kingdom
ISP: Sky(MER)_VDSL
Connection Type: Dynamic IP
MER Username & Password were obtained using the Wireshark method as described by George Buckingham's blog post.
Internet VLAN ID: 101
DSL Settings
DSL Modulation Type: Auto Sync-up (manually selecting VDSL2 also works)
Annex Type: Annex Auto (manually selecting Annex A also works)
Bit Swap: ON
SRA: ON
I did not need to use the MAC Clone feature.
If I manually disable IPTV/VLAN (VLAN ID 101) then routing stops. I gather therefore that this is essential !
In terms of performance, prior to my disconnecting the Sky NR801 router it reported the following modem line rates:
Upstream: 19,999 Kbps
Downstream: 75,081 Kbps
So far the Deco X20-DSL is reporting:
Upstream: 17,773 Kbps
Downstream: 73,828 Kbps
This is significantly worse performance than the Sky NR801 router.
I don't know if Bit Swap and SRA are supported by Sky, but I gather I may get a slightly higher sync speed if I disable SRA. Can anyone confirm?
Other than the lower sync rate, the X20-DSL has been performing well so far. One minor gripe is I'd like to stop the router responding to ICMP ping requests on the WAN side. If anyone from TP-Link is listening, please add this as a feature request.