A single-photon detector based on an InGaAs avalanche photodiode has been developed for use at telecom wavelengths. A suitable delay and sampling gate modulation circuit are used to prevent positive and negative transient pulses from influencing the detection of true photon induced avalanches. A monostable trigger circuit eliminates the influence of avalanche peak jitter, and a dead time modulation feedback control circuit decreases the afterpulsing. From performance tests we find that at the optimum operation point, the quantum efficiency is 12% and the dark count rate 1.5 × 10-6 ns-1, with a detection rate of 500 kHz.