Vigor 166 VDSL2/G.Fast Modem

Out of the box it works as a vDSL modem, but failed to get it to work as a mini router - wasn't an issue as I hadn't intended to use it that way, but it was worth 'playing with' as an exercise. Configured back as a modem has worked fine with no issues ever since, with slightly faster up speed and lower down speed than the BT Openreach modem I had when on TalkTalk. Needs MTU tweaking I suspect, but since Vodafone Business won't tell me what settings to use, as they 'only support the hardware they supply', I'll have to live with what I've got working, as I can't be bothered to play around for any slight improvement.

Purchased this as a test against my ageing HG612. It comes preconfigured in modem mode and was very easy to setup with BT VDSL. Just connected up after leaving my other modem off for 30 mins. Noticed the firmware version on the side of the bow was different but connecting up my MacBook Pro I was able to log in and see it’s on the latest firmware. Now it’s not a perfect match for my cab as it’s not Broadcom chip and I want it to settle for a while but throughput is down and the upload is not quite right as it dips a fair bit. That said it’s new and I want to let it settle in before I really get an idea of what it’s like on my line. I can’t deduct stars for that as modems and cabinet matching has its quirks. It does run cool too, much cooler than my old modem which is good. I’ll update the review once it’s had chance to settle. Edit, sadly it managed to cripple my line and after 3 DLM adjustment I’ve lost 14mbps. There’s a huge latency on the upload side which I can’t solve and so at this moment in time for me the modem is not fit for purpose. I had high hopes but sadly it soon disappeared. I have emailed support but not heard back. Edit support now offering help, MTU size needed to be adjusted but latency still seen.

Simple plug and play (Plusnet Fibre PPOE) - give it 10mins to start up and get working it need time to configure itself but then it flies. No need for any user interface or settings changes. Went from average speed test of 52Mbps on Ethernet (CAT8) to 64Mbps and WiFi went from 46Mbps average to 56Mbps. I am using Asus RU86 router with full AI mesh nodes AX from Asus (3 nodes).

If you are looking for a new VDSL Modem and you have no experience other than plug it in and hope it works, this NOT the modem for you. Useless - ''No Setup Needed'' - it didnt work, it didn't set up no matter what was tried. Useless - No internet, no access to admin panel so nothing could be done. Useless - followed every instruction from Draytek instruction book, website, videos, to get the Modem working, including a factory reset. Nothing worked. Hour upon hour trying to get it going, nothing worked.

There is a 40Mbps max. download speed on my internet connection which I was getting about 36-37Mbps with my ISP's kit (DWA0120) which I was pleased with. I wanted to move the DWA out of sight so needed something smaller. I had a scout around and found the Vigor 166 modem (the DWA provides ports for both DSL and WAN) to sit by the 'phone socket. The modem is a fair bit smaller than the DWA so I was able to fix it to the skirting board under the 'phone socket for a very neat and out of the way solution. When I ran a speed test I found that the speed had gone up to around 39.5Mbps. Wow! An almost 10% speed-up was a real bonus. Amazing. I can't promise that the speed-up would be the same anywhere else but if you need a modem and are unsure, I'd say this should be top of the list.

I purchased as a modem only. Works well. Only criticism is the leaflet with the 166 said it was 192.168.1.1 so I changed my router address (and all clients) accordingly. Then found out it was actually 192.168.2.1 which was slightly annoying. Otherwise it works well.

I don't understand why people swear by Draytek kit. I find the whole stack hard to use and make sense of, not helped by them using nonstandard terminology, their very old web interface and the need to restart it constantly whenever making small config changes. There are other tools out there but I needed this one this time to be able to do QinQ on an EoFTTC service, which did eventually work. The web interface didn't make the needed config obvious though and the diagnostics were terrible, meaning the job took far longer than I desired.

Very disappointed by lacklustre performance on 150Mbps/29Mbps Gfast openreach (talktalk) line, compared to standard huawei modem. Despite flashing latest firmware, i kept having disconnect and upload streams almost completely stopping, making working from home impossible. The model is openreach certified and supposed to be plug and play so you are not supposed to have to call support for performance issues . Mtu adjustments did not improve stability… so back tu huawei modem! Stock openreach modem works perfectly on same line with same cable