Billion 7800N guide
This page provides information on the Billion BiPAC 7800N modem, which is perfectly suited to challenging ADSL lines as well as giving the best speeds possible on good quality lines. On this page, you can buy the Billion 7800N modem at a great price.
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Billion 7800N manual
The Billion BiPAC 7800N user manual (in PDF format) can be downloaded or viewed by clicking the link below:
Billion 7800N firmware
New! The latest firmware version in the UK is 1.06h (which was released in March 2013). This latest version of the Billion BiPAC 7800N firmware can be downloaded using the following link.
Latest Billion 7800N firmware (1.06h) (UK)
Billion BiPAC 7800N reviews
Here are links to recent reviews of the Billion BiPAC 7800N router/modem:
Expert Reviews Billion BiPAC 7800N review
CNET Billion BiPAC 7800N review
The Billion 7800N is an ideal modem for difficult ADSL lines
Many people, particularly in rural areas, fail to achieve good broadband speeds. In many cases, this is due to the presence of significant impulse noise, poor internal phone wiring in homes and the fact that BT has imposed a high target SNR margin.
The Billion 7800N modem is ideally suited to challenging lines since it has two key features:
- it incorporates advanced impulse noise protection (although this is switched off by default)
- it allows the target SNR margin set by BT equipment in the exchange to be tweaked to improve broadband speed.
These are now discussed in turn.
Impulse noise protection on the Billion 7800N
Using a chipset from Broadcom, the Billion 7800N benefits from a new impulse noise protection technology. According to Broadcom, its PhyR (pronounced “Fire”) technology delivers a ten-fold improvement in noise resilience against impulse noise and delivers a reduction in bit error rates. This feature was only made available in the firmware from 1.06b, and is not switched on by default.
To switch on impulse noise protection, go to the ‘Advanced’ menu, then ‘Configuration’. Then select ‘WAN’ and ‘ADSL Mode’. You need to tick the two boxes for ‘PhyR’ – for both upstream and downstream. Then press ‘Apply’.
Billion 7800N SNR tweak
The most brilliant feature of the Billion 7800N is its ability to tweak the target SNR margin, which is described in detail on our Broadband SNR Margin Tweaking page.
The Billion 7800N has a ‘hidden’ menu in its configuration, which you can access by adding ‘snr.cgi’ to the end of the URL you use to access the modem. So, if you currently access the modem by entering ‘http://192.168.1.254′, you should enter ‘http://192.168.1.254/snr.cgi’.
You will then view the menu shown below:
Depending on the current target SNR margin that your broadband provider has set for your line and the target SNR margin that you would like, you should enter the number according to the table below. Once you have entered the number, remember to press the ‘Apply’ button. You do not have to reboot the modem. Once you press the ‘Apply button’, the modem will resync with the exchange and you should experience an increased downlink connection speed.
| Your current target SNR margin |
Your desired target SNR margin |
The number you should enter |
| 6dB | 4.5dB | 75 |
| 6dB | 3dB | 50 |
| 9dB | 6dB | 50 |
| 9dB | 4.5dB | 25 |
| 9dB | 3.5dB | 1 |
| 12dB | 9dB | 50 |
| 12dB | 6.5dB | 1 |
| 12dB | 6dB | 65550 |
| 12dB | 4.5dB | 65525 |
| 12dB | 3dB | 65500 |
| 15dB | 12dB | 50 |
| 15dB | 9dB | 65550 |
| 15dB | 6dB | 65500 |
| 15dB | 4.5dB | 65475 |
| 15dB | 3dB | 65450 |
| 18dB | 15dB | 50 |
| 18dB | 12dB | 65550 |
| 18dB | 9dB | 65500 |
| 18dB | 6dB | 65450 |
| 18dB | 4.5dB | 65425 |
| 18dB | 3dB | 65400 |
If the table above is rather confusing, the table below presents the information in a different way. You start off with whatever your default SNR value is, and work your way down the table (to increase speed) until you find the optimum setting for your line. You can always reset back to the default value by using the number 100. Note that you can use values between those shown, but we wanted to avoid having a huge table!
| Change you want in SNR | The number you should enter |
| No change/reset to default value | 100 |
| Lower by 1.5 dB | 75 |
| Lower by 3 dB | 50 |
| Lower by 4.5 dB | 25 |
| Lower by 6 dB | 65550 |
| Lower by 7.5 dB | 65525 |
| Lower by 9 dB | 65500 |
| Lower by 10.5 dB | 65475 |
| Lower by 12 dB | 65450 |
| Lower by 13.5 dB | 65425 |
| Lower by 15 dB | 65400 |
Please bear in mind that by increasing the speed of your line, you may make the line less stable. So, you’ll have to work out the best target SNR margin for your own line. You will be able to use lower SNR target margins if you have interleaving switched on on your line. You can request your ISP to do this if it is not already switched on.
Many broadband users are able to achieve a stable connection with a target SNR margin of about 3 dB. However, your line may be different. If you experience unacceptable line drops, you can simply change your target margin to a level that you are happy with and you will know that you’re achieving the very best performance you can.
What’s particularly nice about this tweak is that settings are not lost when the modem is rebooted.
While SNR tweaking can substantially increase your broadband speeds, it is one of a number of techniques that can be applied, and you could get even better broadband speeds. Please read our free Increase Broadband Speed Guide for more information.
Don’t forget you can buy the Billion 7800N through Amazon here
Please let us know if we have helped you!
If the information that we have provided has helped you to significantly improve your broadband speeds, then we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at info@increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk.
