There really aren’t that many modem/router combos out there you can actually flash with open source firmware.

Router? Sure, no problem.

Modem? Outside of some very niche Fritzbox devices and others listed on OpenWRT Table of Hardware

There really just aren’t that many.

So, fine. I will use a proprietary modem.

I will put it into bridge mode, let it decode the DSL analog signals into ethernet and feed that into a router of my choice.

Question is: Which modem?

I don’t want two devices heating up my shelf. I just want a tiny modem that converts analog to digital into an RJ45 and then let’s the router do its thing.

Does such a magical device exist, because my search on this front has proved largely fruitless

  • InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works
    11·
    11 hours ago

    Honestly, I’d just use whatever the ISP provides.
    Sure, it’s not open source and it kinda sucks… But I mean, if you don’t trust the ISP modem, you can’t trust the rest of their infrastructure either anyway, so it’s kinda moot.
    At least that way you have a vague chance of having a modicum of support when shit breaks.

    If it can’t be put into bridge mode, it probably has some sort of DMZ function where it basically does port forwarding for any/all possible ports.
    Double NAT isn’t as bad as it sounds these days.

    Now to your question…
    They exist, they’re mostly targeted at ISPs though, so might be a harder find than other things.
    They might also be older, as basically all customers also want their ISP to provide Wi-Fi, which a bridge modem won’t.
    Anyway,
    You’ll have to know what DSL were talking about, there’s… ADSL, ADSL2+, VDSL, VDSL2, etc

    One old-ass model we used to use back in the day was… a Siemens 5200, but that’s ADSL2 at best, definitely not VDSL.

    • tetris11@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      1·
      10 hours ago

      Siemens 5200

      That’s a chunky house warmer, let alone shelf warmer!

      I can understand that ISP’s need to protect their security (through obscurity) so that no one’s going around cloning their neighbors analog signals to score free internet… but surely the actual hardware to do the tone pairing / channel matching analog-to-digital-magic-mumbo-jumbo does not need to be the size of a brick?

      In the spirit of people cutting open Nintendo Wii’s shearing down the chip and making compact versions[0], has no one isolated the hardware on a modem, chucked out the routing stuff, and compacted the whole device to be no bigger than a USB stick?

      0: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/nintendo/meet-nintendo-kawaii-the-new-smallest-wii-build-that-fits-on-your-keychain

      • Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        5·
        9 hours ago

        The fibre modem my ISP uses is pretty small, about the same size as one of those small unifi switches, but it still feels like there’s almost nothing in it.

        I have taken apart the fibre modem of a different provider before, which was just a small PCB no larger than a raspberry pi and a fibre extension cable.

  • tychosmoose@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    10 hours ago

    Not quite what you’re seeking, but maybe relevant.

    Have you considered an SFP modem like the Proscend 180T? Might be hard to source these days, but if you have a router with an SFP cage this would be a way to accomplish the single box goal.

    • tetris11@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      2·
      10 hours ago

      Woah… I had never heard of SFP slots/devices before. It looks like they’re great at converting between mediums. If I could get an SFP device that had RJ45 output, that would be the dream

      • tychosmoose@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        8 hours ago

        Not sure if they’re still in production. There was also an Italian company selling one (maybe based on the same hardware).

        Like u/floquant I would look at Mikrotik. But you’ll need to pay attention to port speed (they still sell 100Mbps gear) and their tested routing throughput numbers to be sure they can hit the numbers you need.