Customer Reviews

Actiontec GT701 High Speed DSL Modem

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I signed up for DSL, my vendor (AT&T) shipped me a free DSL modem. While the provided modem worked most of the time with a computer, it did not reliably run with a router attached. I reconfigured it for a bridged mode and that seemed to improve. However it was still slow, slow to connect as it did not seem to keep connected. The documentation was very dated, with nothing updated on the Internet. The support for that modem really didn't exist from the vendor either. However when I purchased the Actiontec modem after reading the reviews, I was hopeful that it would solve my DSL reliability concerns. When it arrived, I simply followed the instructions which really consisted of plugging it up and turning it on. It self sensed my AT&T vendor by configuring the DSL network settings and began to work. I did nothing. It just worked and is still working. Much faster than the old modem too. I have to say that this new modem looks a bit cheap and flimsy, but it is not and it works beautifully.

Replaced my 9-year-old Alcatel 1000 modem sitting in front of a Linksys Wireless router. Works fine now, but here was my experience for the rest of you trying to avoid paying your service provider for the installation and an overpriced modem...

1. The Alcatel was so old that the physical wires in the RJ45 jack were different than was expected w/the new Actiontec (and apparently any modem more modern than the Alcatel). Thank goodness, an AT&T phone tech pulled that one out of some obscure corner of his head based purely on the flashing DSL light on the Actiontec, a modem he had never heard of. Took some wiggling around, but I managed to switch the wiring from the two outer contacts to the two inner, and got the DSL to sync.

2. The virtual circuit and virtual path settings were 0 and 35 by default on the Actiontec (not that I knew what that was before this exercise). The Alcatel wanted 8 and 35. Unfortunately, this is something set at the central office at AT&T, in my case specifically for the Alcatel. But it turns out you can change the setting on the Actiontec itself using their web interface, which I did. Reset it, and like magic, all four little lights glowed bright green, including the one saying I was connected to the Internet.

3. Sadly, the story was not over at that point. I could not figure out any way to get to the Internet. No gateway ping, no nothing. I finally figured maybe something was screwed up on the AT&T side. Sure enough, the next AT&T tech I talked to found that someone there had reset my account from a static IP address (something they used to hand out years ago) to PPPoE. They reset that back, and I could connect.

4. Next adventure: getting it to work in front of my Linksys router. Long story short, although this device is also a router, the only way I could get it to work was to use the Actiontec as a dumb modem. In the end that's fine. Took a bit of Googling to sort it out, though, which might be tough if you don't have an Internet connection. The Actiontec docs and web site are non-existent on the topic.

In hindsight, I could have saved some hassle by asking AT&T what modems they supported, because this wasn't one of them. Consult your ISP! Still, AT&T technical people were -- to my surprise -- fantastic and worked with me to sort out the issues regardless. A brief interlude with Actiontec support was the usual useless rote recommendations and "try this" scripted stuff without any noticeable knowledge before I gave up there. Maybe the out-of-box install and configuration will work for you, but it was obviously a lot more complicated than that for me, and I entered into it expecting no problems. To be fair, though, the problems were not Actiontec's, which is why I'm rating it three stars. Good luck!

I use this modem with bellsouth internet service and it has been working great. If you are looking for a reliable, easy to configure and use, top quality DSL modem at an affordable price this is the one.

I was in need of DSL modem to go with a Linksys WRT54GL router I had just purchased to replace an old 2-Wire wireless router/DSL modem combo. I called my carrier, Centurytel, to see about buying a modem and was astonished to learn that they no longer sell the modems, they lease them to the tune of three dollars a month. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what a rip-off that is, so I thanked the agent for his time and hung up the phone.

I read an Amazon review of the Actiontec modem from another Centurytel user who described how well it worked, so I decided to take the plunge and order one.

I decided to try the modem by itself first without the Linksys in case there were problems. They would be easier to isolate this way. I ran the guided setup program and had the modem working in no time flat. The guided setup was a little confusing at one point with two choices for Centurytel in the menu. There was no explanation for what the difference between the two was. After some testing I found that option 1 connected and option 2 did not, so the choice then became clear.

After testing the modem by itself, I reset it to factory defaults to prepare it for connection to the Linksys. (I probably didn't need to reset, but I wanted to start fresh.) I changed the VC settings to 8/35 to match Centurytel's requirements and set the modem up for bridging. I connected it to the Linksys and configured the Linksys for the internet connection. I was able to establish a connection on the first try.

The Actiontec/Linksys combination has been working for several days now without the slightest hitch. Performance is very good, as close to the advertised speed of my DSL connection as one could expect.

There's really only one minor complaint I have with the Actiontec. I would have liked to have seen a quick start guide included for users who are going to be using the modem to connect to a router in bridged mode. I have to believe this is the configuration that is used by many, if not most, users. The guided setup CD is not needed for the bridged configuration. In fact, the guided setup makes no mention of the possibility. A card with a couple of steps for setting up bridged mode would have been very helpful. If I hadn't done some internet research on what was required before the modem arrived, I would have been at a loss for what to do.

That being said, I am very pleased with the Actiontec and highly recommend it. It sure beats forking three dollars extra a month over to Centurytel!

I recently purchased an Actiontec modem here to replace my Cisco 678 that served for 8 years before dying. I really liked the Cisco 678 for it's features, but this Actiontec modem is just as good if not better. The Actiontec is very easy to configure with most web browsers. The unit is very affordable. Its nice to see you can finally purchase a decent DSL modem from someone besides the DSL provider.

I bought the Qwest-branded version of this modem as part of a DSL package. Used it continuously for over a year and a half. Unfortunately Qwest's infrastructure in our neighborhood is getting old and our house is quite far from the central office so the signal started getting too weak. Even our voice service was sub standard for a while. We eventually switched service providers but it wasn't because of the modem. the Actiontec GT701 kept on working through thick and thin.
Used it with a wireless router connected. There are lots of configuration options so it can be a little intimidating if you're not familiar with networking.

I replaced the DSL modem I received from Speakeasy with this model. My original modem died every time I tried to use bittorrent, and eventually failed completely. This modem has been working continuously for the last month. One of my friends who was in a similar situation bought this same model, which has been working for him for about a year. I am running this modem bridged in front of a Linksys WRT54GL.

The product description does not go into depth about the modem itself, but I received the Actiontec model GT701, and the plastic casing was grey. I'm not sure if there is also a black one, but I don't spend too much time looking at my DSL modem anyway. One notable feature is the power switch on the back. If you do end up having to power cycle the modem, you don't have to unplug the power and then try to reach around trying to plug it back in behind your desk.

I chose this modem after moving and thus switching from cable to dsl internet service. I basically went with this modem because of the price and Amazon's reviews.

I have it for less than a week now and its working fine. No issues yet. The set up wasn't very smooth though since ISP's (AT&T, in my case) default setings did not match the one of the modems. The automatic setting could not detect my provider and ATT was not in the list. I could have monkeyed around and figured out myself through the manual mode but after a couple of attempts I just called the tech support at Actiontec. The guy was very helpful and we figured it out within matter of minutes.

If this modem WOULD work with my ISP it would be easy to set up. I use both Windows and Mac and tried to set it up on the Mac first (manual), Then I ran the install software on Windows which provides three methods.

1) Automatic: The software tries to discover the details of your DSL connection and program the router. Needless to say this failed.
2) By ISP: The software provides a list of ISPs (Verizon, Century etc.). I tried every one and it was unable to connect to the internet. I might point out here that it did get a DSL connection when I first turned it on which meant that the phone line and so on were ok.
3) Manual: I set up the DSL parameters according to my old modem and it would not connect. I finally used a static IP address (my last known good one) which my ISP doesn't want you to do, and was able to get the internet light to turn on for the first time. However, I could not access any web pages because the DNS servers were blank, and there was no way to enter them manually. I would also like to say that that the number of options available is severely limited.

So, I sent it back to Amazon and they provided their usual no hassle postage free return - Amazon, a great place to do business with. In view of the fact that my ISP is different from all those the Actiontec provides for, I elected to get a BEC Technologies modem (at almost twice the cost) from my phone company. It has lots of bells and whistles the Actiontec didn't, and works flawlessly over 50% faster than my old modem.

Previous comments were helpful to me, so I'm adding my quick start experience to help someone else.
We live in the Midwest and have AT&T DSL high speed Internet service & a Netgear wireless router. My Toshiba Satellite has Windows Vista. Our Hewlett Packard desktop has Windows 98. We also access the Internet on our Playstation 3 to view Netflix instant movies. Our 2-yr-old Motorola 2210 modem had been overheating for 5 months. Even though we stood it on its side for cooling, we had to reset the Motorola several times daily.
I purchased this Actiontec DSL modem and installed it myself using the quick start guide. This modem does not have a power switch, so the step to turn the switch to "on" was skipped. Also, my Actiontec modem has two phone ports, not one port as stated in the startup guide. One is labeled "Line," & the other is labeled "Phone." When the phone line running from our phone jack was plugged into the "Phone" port, my download speed was hampered. I had to plug the phone line into the "Line" port to optimize my internet speed. The modem was not automatically recognized even when I bypassed the router & plugged the Ethernet cable directly into my PC. I had to use the Alternate Installation Guide, configuring this modem at http://192.168.0.1 and setting my connection to PPPoE.
Now all Internet access is working as expected from my Toshiba Satellite, our HP desktop & our PS3 via the Netgear wireless router & this Actiontec modem.