Superspeed ADSL routers

Nathan Taylor is here to help you get connected to FTTN.

It wasn’t so long ago that ADSL was considered a dying technology in Australia. As we were headed to our bright fibre future, ADSL was going to be phased out along with the old copper network. The Coalition’s multi-technology mix NBN changed all that. At least a third of Australians are going to be on fibre to the node, which continues to use ADSL technology for the last few hundred metres to the home. That means you’ll likely still need an ADSL modem router — but not the same one you used for ADSL. You now need a modem router that supports VDSL, the standard used by FTTN.

If you’re making that move to FTTN or are prepping for it, we’ve got reviews of seven top ADSL routers below. All support VDSL as well, so they’ve got you covered for now and for when the FTTN hits your area.

HOW WE TESTED

For all the routers here, we performed a straight file copy test from a server attached to the router via Gigabit Ethernet. At both 5m (with line of sight) and 15m (with two intervening plaster walls), we copied a 1GB file from the server to a laptop attached to our trusty old Linksys WUMC710 wireless bridge. The WUMC710 is one of the few client devices capable of 1,300Mbps wireless AC with a 3x3 antenna.

As always with wireless tests, there is certainly a case of your-mileage-may-vary. The numbers presented are only useful for comparison, and are not necessarily an indication of what you might get in your specific home environment.