Turris MOX, Vodafone DSL modem?

MOX hardware
1

I am moving into a flat that still uses DSL, provided by Vodafone

I am living in Germany where this is quite common

What are your experiences here? What modem should I buy?

Otherwise I am thinking about using their free garbage routers, disabling Wifi and connect the MOX over Ethernet.

Danke im Voraus!

Update

I found that the only Zyxel Modem is the Zyxel VMG4005-B50A which is pretty expensive for an addition to the router…

So I decided to use their Vodafone “EasyBox 805”.

Unselected their wonderfully invasive tracking (I let Turris do that lol) and will turn off everything I can, software-garbage wise but also Wifi etc.

Will just plug my MOX to the hopefully present Ethernet jack and with DNSSEC all privacy fears should be done.

2

interesting - you posted this - and gave yourself the answer in a few hours?
i use the zyxel vmg4005 modem in bridge mode for my omnia atm, because i will not ever put up with the crap VF or tkom offers you as an entry level router…

depending on your dsl version and speed, a 10€ zyxel vmg1312 would have done the trick up, to vdsl 100 mbit/s.

but if you have already decided, good luck.

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3

Oh crazy!

I am not sure what speeds I need tbh. Never tested the peaks of my usage.

I have a 250mbit/s connection so I would want to use that.

But I might do your plan in the future, as DSL will likely stay for some time?

I am curious, these devices are often very old. Isn’t this dangerous to rely on a Modem with possibly no updates anymore?

4

If you switch it to bridge mode and connect to Turris, then the possible attack vector is quite small.

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5

Okay that is right. I might then search for a modem that can do at least 200mbit/s and is not as pricey.

Also sooome software updates would be great.

Do you know any? I will look myself

6

Older versions of AVM’s Fritzbox 7530/7520 can be converted to OpenWrt and still operate as supervectoring-capable (profile 35b) modem and can be used as e.g. bridged modem in front of your turris device. These can be found second hand in the 50-60 EUR range and the OpenWrt forum has a thread about the vrx518 and the OpenWrt wiki installation instructions.

I use a 7520 under OpenWrt as bridged modem in front of my turris omnia, and it is boringly stable…

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7

Thanks for the infos! That is a huge thread, I was able to condense it to this summary

1. Installing OpenWRT on FritzBox:

  • OpenWRT installation requires custom builds. Developers use repositories containing VRX518 modules and modify drivers like vrx518_tc.
  • Removing conflicting ltq-vdsl packages is critical during compilation. Success depends on precise inclusion of firmware and adjustments for compatibility with kernel 5.x.

2. Hardware Similarity (20 vs. 30 Series):

  • Differences lie in modem chipsets. For instance, VRX518 is featured in FritzBox 7530 but not necessarily in the 7520. This impacts performance and compatibility.

3. DSL Speeds:

  • Speeds achieved:
    • ~75 Mbps downstream, ~17 Mbps upstream (Profile 35b).
    • Performance depends on firmware (e.g., dsl-cpe-fapi) and physical line quality.

4. Complications on Modern FritzOS:

  • Problems:
    • Missing MSI support in drivers, absent interrupts, and older control applications.
  • Solutions:
    • Adding driver patches for PCIe MSI, updating control binaries, and recompiling modules. Users suggest tools like dsl-cpe-fapi for streamlined compatibility.

5. DSL Blobs:

  • Blobs include ltq-vdsl-app (legacy) and dsl-cpe-fapi (modern):
    • ltq-vdsl-app is outdated, but necessary for older setups.
    • dsl-cpe-fapi integrates better with modern hardware and includes Intel-provided proprietary libraries like system_fapi for hardware acceleration.

Speed tuning

  1. Hardware Optimization:

    • Use hardware with VRX518 or VRX320, which supports Profile 35b.
    • Ensure line quality and minimize noise by optimizing physical connections and ensuring shorter loop lengths to the DSLAM.

  2. Firmware Tuning:

    • Use newer DSL firmware blobs (e.g., 8.13.1.10.1.7 or later) for improved compatibility and stability.
    • Employ control applications like dsl-cpe-fapi with hardware acceleration for better data throughput.

  3. Driver and Kernel Updates:

    • Enable MSI in PCIe drivers for efficient interrupt handling.
    • Integrate datapath drivers from sources like the Netgear D7800 GPL release.

  4. Line Profiling:

    • Configure to leverage G.vector (vectoring) or G.inp (Impulse Noise Protection) for stable higher speeds.

What speeds to you get with your setup?

Because currently I will likely use the proprietary vodafone router as Modem, which is likely really fast. I think the dangers will be minimized by turning off everything that is possible, but being a rented device is a big problem regarding removing antennas etc.

8

I have a DSL100 plan on a profile 17a linecard and get fullsync around 116.7/46.7 (that is the DSLAM sync limit, really syncs are mostly a few to a few dozen Kbps shy of that limit).
I am too cheap to shell out money for a DSL250 plan, we get along pretty well with 100…

Not sure about Vodafones easyboxen, but several speedports can be configured as bridged-modem, which is quite convenient…

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Nice I will see and report!

I might likely get another router as modem too and experiment with it, but better if I have a backup solution that can likely deliver fast speeds too

10

afaik, the VF routers for dsl can NOT be put into bridge mode. so you will have to deal with double-nat all the time.

for around 70€ you should be able to score a recent zyxel modem second hand market (well, it´s actually a router that can be turned into bridge mode) that will give you top speed, making it only slightly more expensive than a used FB you will need to flash to get it into bridge mode.

and as peci wrote, the attack-vector of a bridge-modem is close to zero. the only downside of a completely (like, 5 years+) outdated modem might be the inability to negotiate top speeds. but the zyxel is not outdated.

i chose the zyxel modem because it´s small, hassle free, set and forget solution.
that´s my 2 cents.

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11

Okay all these DSL specs are quite complex but I assume I need VDSL 35b for 250mbits Download?

I found the Zyxel VMG3925-B10B which I assume is the correct one? Can be set into bridge mode, is quite cheap and reasonably fast?

12

according to the manual (always a good idea to have a look…) it supports bridge mode. page 67, thank you.

the one you found is ~10 years old and differs from the one you mentioned in your opening post.
i can confirm the vmg4005 is a well working device, i have no clue how the vmg3925 holds up.
but the good thing about such old hardware is - you can sell it for the same price you bought it most of the time if it doesn´t work out …

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I mean if it supports the max speed that my data plan even supports?

Didnt know they were italian, I also only found the .it pages.

the one I mentioned at the beginning costs way more (also 100€ on the used market) but may be a good investment.

14

they are not, but the italian branch is the only one that kept the manual online, it seems.

i just checked - if you live in germany, you can get it for 80 right now

i bought mine a few weeks ago for around the same price, since fibre isn´t going to be available before next summer…

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15

Hmm, we also have a contract for at a year, maybe we can get fiber quicker anyways?

I am subscribed to their “fiber newsletter”.

Interesting didnt check kleinanzeigen, of course.

I am not sure tbh. It should likely just work. Can you explain the issue with double NAT?

16

So double NAT makes it harder to reach internal services from the outside, since now you need to configure and coordinate firewall rules in two routers, and not al provider routers allow to configure rules for IPv6 (but then I am unsure whether your ISP actually uses IPv6 on DSL links).
Also, provider router tend to be more expensive over time then buying your own, but that time frame tends to be couple of years and if you switch to FTTTH soon you might not reach the break even point (I also have no idea whether you pay rent for the provider router at all or whether it is included).

Sidenote: you might be able to avoid double NAT simply by disabling masquerading on the turris router and make sure the DHCP range of the turris and of the easybox do not overlap (also assign a fixed lease to the turris in the easybox…)

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17

Vodafone has weird 13months cheap plans, afterwards they get expensive.

So I will buy a modem in some time, get their router anyways, try it and then after a year probably switch. Their router is 2,50€ per month or so, in the past it was free