Hi all, new user here.
I have a few questions about my router, which is very old ie IP v4, yes I know it is well OOD and not really suitable but it provides far superior connection speeds than the rubbish router that Sky provided which is Ip v6. Sky router >around 4 mbits down in February which is a very good time of year for my phone line with the Sky router and around 5 to 5.5 mbits down at this time of year which is the worst time of year for my phone line. During the good months I can get 7.5 mbits.
The router in question is a Speedtouch 546 v5 which I purchased new in 2005. ATM I do not intend upgrading due to life circumstances.
The router is using 5.4.0.11 firmware. There seems to be a number of newer firmwares after this. I did have a pile of firmwares until I lost my hard drive due to totally unexpected conditions and no backups. It was not a direct hdd failure but a destroyed interface and subsequent head crash.
I have downloaded 5.4.0.14 which the upgrade wizard suggests is compatible and also 6.1.0.5 which also seems to be compatible. My phone line and all the local lines have always had problems during the summer/warmer months and one of the lines was replaced by BT Openreach which was across the front of block of terraced houses due to phone line failure/disconnection when the line cooled down. Unfortunately there is a line at the end which connects the individual phone lines to the cable which goes down the side of the houses and into the ground. I believe it is this line which also has faults but that cannot easily be replaced.
What I would like to know is which firmware would you recommend? Which firmwares work with DMT which I use a lot to tweak the settings. ADSL2 works better on my line than ADSL2+. Can the firmwares be downgraded? If there are versions which cannot then which should I avoid? DMT support is essential and I know that the router manufacturer knobbled some of the later firmwares at the request of various ISP's. Are there any better firmwares than the ones that I have been able to find online?
Uptime: 0 days, 18:38:00
Modulation: G.992.3 Annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 604 / 5,695
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [MB/MB]: 42.24 / 204.02
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 10.0 / -51.4294967291
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 28.0 / 51.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 14.5 / 11.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / GSPN
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 122 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 620,756,992 / 4,168,904
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 1 / 1,059
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 0 / 86
Lots of CRC errors at this time of year but this disappears during the better months. However not too bad and it has been a lot worse.
