ADSL 2+ Annex M

[[AJ]]

Right, apparently my broadband is being regraded to an Annex M spec package and I need a new ADSL modem. My current modem (Netgear DGN2000) doesn't support Annex M according to the Netgear support 'engineer' (who didn't even know what Annex M was) even though it's specced as ADSL 2+.

According to Netgear support, the only ADSL modems that support Annex M are are a couple of their discontinued lines, which you can no longer find in the shops!

Considering the fact that the 'engineer' I spoke to didn't know what Annex M was, is he likely to be speaking out of his bum, or is it really the case that Netgear's latest ADSL modems don't support the latest ADSL 2+ standards? If so, can anyone recommend a good modem that supports it? It doesn't need to be wireless (I have an Apple Timecapsule), but it does need to support all the other usual router / firewall features typically found on the Netgear units.. port mapping, site blocking and other parental controls etc. Are the Draytecs any good?

[grumbas]

Draytek was the first name that sprang to mind reading your post - very good bits of kit, much more configurable than standard home kit (but take a bit of knowledge), although slightly more expensive. Worth paying the extra though in my opinion.

[bogie]

I think you will find the outsourced "support engineer" may be speaking tosh and that just about every modem chip on the market thats in a Netgear ADSL router from the last few years supports annex M ...they are all just off the shelf Broadcom or Texas Instruments chips, a couple of the later ones are Conexant ...all the same industry standard chips you will find in others (like Draytek, Zyxel, Linksys, Dlink etc)