Whenever I have an issue with my Netspace ISP ADSL1 connection, I dread the conversation with the tech support person, as it takes a while to establish that I have half a clue about ISP operations and connectivity. Long story short — I bought an Edimax AR-7284WnA wireless modem router to replace a Billion BiPAC 7300G device that was getting flaky. I am at the extremity of the ADSL coverage from my exchange and the ISP tech support implied that nothing was wrong with the line. I was leaving for an overseas trip and my family was getting fed up with the constant drop-outs, so I bought the cheapest device I could get in my suburb. Billion has a good reputation but none to be found near me over the counter on a Saturday. Hence the Edimax, cheap at $77. (Later I read that OzBargain had it for $60 some weeks ago)
Edimax AR-7284WnA
It was a major pain in the bum to set up for wireless security, mainly because of the Taiwanese English instructions. The Setup wizard always reverts to a default time zone of Beijing/HK and some default NTP IP addresses. My hurdle was the VPI/VCI values and I had no time to look up the acronyms. This is not a product for the non-techy consumer.
I managed to get past this step and had to choose WPA2-PSK as the strongest available security, but this meant that several gaming devices such as the Xbox couldn’t access it, since they only have WPA-TKIP. Hence the Auto mode was eventually chosen.
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