If you suffer internet drop out and slow speeds it may be that your router is not synching up properly with your ADSL signal, and will need rebooting. If the ADSL light on the front of your router keeps flashing slowly (as opposed to very rapid flashing or solid), this generally means that the router is unable to connect.

There are many factors to take into account when trying to troubleshoot your internet connection. The distance from the exchange to your premises is critical, because the ADSL signal degrades the further it has to travel. And it’s not just the distance “as the crow flies”, but the actual length of the line.

The longer the line, the greater the “noise” on that line, and this is what can cause your signal to be disrupted. The line length also has a direct affect on speed performance. In general the longer your line, the slower the speed.

Ensure your router works well on long lines.

If your router is not fully compatible with the DSLAM at your local exchange, or the exchange has had some upgrade work done recently, you may require a firmware upgrade of your router, normally available on the vendor’s website.

Also make sure you check that you have filters attached to all telephone sockets in use in your home, and check that no other products that use your telephone line are interfering with the signal – such as Alarm Systems, Fax machines, Sky boxes etc.

Below are a selection of customer reviews of the Billion 7300 series which works well on long lines and can increase your download speed.

“On TalkTalk 8 Mbps – changed 3 different routers (Belkin, Netgear, Zoom) – all were on low speeds, losing connection and rebooting frequently.
With this Billion router the connection has been stable for weeks, plus a speed gain of about 1.5 Mbps – comfortably doing 5.5 Mbps (max 6.3 Mbps!) which is more than the best estimate for my location, quite far from the local exchange.
In short: if you are suffering unstable service and low speed try this one!”

“Currently on BT 8 Mbps ADSL service. Supplied router (Voyager) packed up. Picked up Billion 7300 and have increased my download speed to 4.2 Mbps from 2.8 Mbps!”

“I bought one of these to replace my Belkin 7633 which disconnects whenever I leave BitTorrent running. It’s a great replacement, same wireless range as the Belkin, but doesn’t have the annoying bugs or poor interface of that router.
The firewall will do fairly complex packet filtering, should you need it, and can do all the Virtual Server and DMZ stuff that you’d expect. Best of all it syncs up at 5.6 Mbps, the Belkin only managed 3.3 Mbps.”

 “This is a great router – it improved my sync rate on ADSL Max by 3 Mbps to other routers – Billion 7300 6.5 Mbps, Netgear DG834PN 5 Mbps, Safecom SWAMRU 3.5 Mbps.”

“I honestly can’t say enough good things about this router. You’re not going to get a better router in this price range.
It’s easy to set up and I’ve had mine on constantly with no issues for the past 2 weeks. The Belkin I had previously needed to be rebooted every 2-3 days, but there are no issues with the Billion.
It works flawlessly with Xbox live and I experience little or no lag on any game played. I actually think the router has increased my upstream and downstream speeds”

“I live over 6km from my exchange, which is tough on ADSL connections. I'd heard one or two people say the Billion routers were good at working on borderline connections, so I thought I'd try one out. After running this one for a week I definitely agree. It's giving downstream speeds of 2258 where the Netgear hardly ever broke 1900, and it's sustained a connection for the entire week. The wireless signal actually seems stronger than the Netgear, giving a good signal through a floor and a couple of walls. As other reviewers have pointed out, the aerial is permanently attached, which may be the reason for this. Very pleased with the thing, and heartily recommended.”