technicolor tg589vac owners thread

[thenewoc]

Hi, recently received one of these for SSE FTTC but there seems to be very little information available for it. It didn't come with any instructions but have managed to adjust settings to fit in with rest of network but discovered a few quirks along the way. Just thought there are likely to be a few of us with these and could do with a thread to share useful info.

1. Changing the start of the DHCP pool only seems possible by changing the subnet mask.

2. Can't find a setting to add a guest WiFi but have found a product spec on a competitor site that says something about it having 4 virtual something SSID's.

3. Can't telnet into it but don't know if I should be able to or not, it just tells me it can't connect to port 23 each time I try.

 

[thenewoc]

These are the specs but would be good if anyone has a link to a manual...

Specs:

Spoiler

Hardware specifications

Interfaces WAN
•1 RJ-11 DSL line port
•1 Ethernet WAN 10/100/1000 Base-T port

Interfaces LAN
•4-port autosensing 10/100/1000 Base-T
•auto-MDI/MDI-X Ethernet LAN switch
•2 USB 2.0 master ports
•IEEE 802.11n 2.4 GHz on-board
•IEEE 802.11ac 5 GHz on-board

Interfaces other
•Power button
•ECO button
•WPS button
•Reset button

Dimensions
•221 x 171 x 39 mm (8.7 x 6.7 x 1.5 in.)

AC Voltage
•100 - 240 VAC (switched mode power supply)

Temperature
•0° - 40° C (32° - 104° F)

Humidity
•20% to 80%

DSL Modem Specifications
•Supports multi mode standards
•ADSL compliance
◦ANSI T1.413 Issue 2
◦ITU-T G.992.1 Annex A (G.dmt)
◦ITU-T G.992.2 Annex A (G.lite)
◦ITU-T G.994.1 (G.hs)
◦Maximum rate: 8 Mbps for downstream
◦and 1 Mbps for upstream
•ADSL2 compliance
◦ITU-T G.992.3 Annex A (G.dmt.bis)
◦ITU-T G.992.4 Annex A (G.lite.bis)
◦ITU-T G.998.4 (G.inp)
◦Maximum rate: 12 Mbps for downstream
◦and 1 Mbps for upstream
•ADSL2+ compliance
◦ITU-T G.992.5 Annex A
◦ITU-T G.998.4 (G.inp)
◦Maximum rate: 24 Mbps for downstream
◦and 1 Mbps for upstream
•VDSL2 compliance
◦ITU-T G.993.2
◦SOS
◦SRA
◦INM
◦Up to 17 MHz profiles (POTS)
◦ITU-T G.993.5 (G.vector)
◦ITU-T G.998.4 (G.inp)

Wireless Specifications
•Full dual band concurrent Wi-Fi access points, Wi-Fi certified®
•2.4 GHz (2x2) IEEE 802.11n AP
•5.0 GHz (3x3) IEEE 802.11ac AP
•with IEEE 802.11ac compliant transmit beamforming
•Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
•Wi-Fi security levels
◦WPA2-Personal / WPA-Personal
◦WEP
•Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM)
•Up to 4 BSSIDs (virtual AP) support per radio interface
•RX/TX switched diversity
•2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
◦SGi
◦STBC
◦20/40 MHz coexistence
•3x3 MIMO 5 GHz Wi-Fi
◦SGi
◦STB
◦20/40/80 MHz mode
•Dynamic rate switching for optimal wireless performance
•Manual/auto radio channel selection

Management specifications
•Customisable user-friendly GUI via HTTP and HTTPS
•Web services API for remote access (portal, management, diagnostics, applications, ...)
•GUI-embedded Easy Setup wizard
•Technicolor Setup wizard
•On-demand remote GUI assistance (helpdesk)
•Web-browsing intercept (install/diagnostics/captive portal)
•AutoWAN sensing: automatic selection and configuration of WAN interfaces
•Unified management interface (MBus)
◦TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol
◦TR-098 Internet Gateway Device Management
◦TR-111 home network device management
◦TR-143 network throughput performance tests and statistical monitoring
◦TR-157a3 Life Cycle Management (LCM)
◦TR-181i2 Device:2 data model
◦TR-140 storage service provisioning
◦TR-064 LAN side configuration
•Zero-touch autoprovisioning

Services
•Support of Qeo communication framework and apps, including access to real timediagnostics
•Open architecture for 3rd party application and UI development
•3G/4G mobile fall-back WAN connection (through Mobile USB adapter)
•Parental Control URL- and (optional) content-based website filtering
•Time-based access control
•Printer sharing
•Content sharing Samba file server
•UPnP A/V media server and control point
•DLNA DMS
•Metadata support
•Remote HDD file access
•HDD file systems FAT32
•NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, HFS+ optional

Technical specifications

Security
•Stateful Packet Inspection Firewall (SPIF)
•Customisable firewall security levels
•Intrusion detection and prevention (DoS, SYN Flood, Ping of Death, Fraggle, LAND, Teardrop, etc.)
•DeMilitarized Zone (DMZ)
•Multilevel access policy
•Security and service segregation per SSID

Networking
•Symmetrical NAT with application helpers (ALGs)
•Game and application sharing NAT port maps
•DHCP conditional serving and relay, DNS server and relay
•IGMPv3 proxy (Fastleave)
•IGMP snooping (full routed)
•DHCP spoofing
•Flexiport (automatic selection of Ethernet port bridged IPTV)
•IEEE 802.1q VLAN bridging, multiple bridge instances
•Multicast to unicast translation on Wi-Fi interfaces

IPv6 Networking
•IPv4 / IPv6 dual IP stack
•Supported models: PPP(oE)(oA) – IPoE(oA)
•Transitioning:
◦6rd/6to4/6in4
◦DSLite
◦Stateful connection tracking / stateful inspection firewall
•DHCPv6:
◦Stateful/stateless DHCPv6 client
◦Stateless DHCPV6 server
◦Relay
◦Prefix Delegation
•DNS v4/v6 Proxy
•ULA
•ICMPv6
•IPv6 Quality of Service
•MLDv1/v2

Quality of Service
•ATM QoS UBR, VBR-nrt, VBR-rt, CBR shaping, queuing and scheduling
•CLP tagging
•IP QoS Flexible classification (ALG aided)
•IP rate limiting (two-rate remarking/dropping)
•DSCP (re) marking
•TCP ACK optimisation
•Dynamic link fragmentation
•Per service class connection/resource reservation
•Ethernet QoS Priority or C-VLAN/S-VLAN tagging
•Switch port queuing and scheduling
•Wireless QoS WMM (BE, BK, VI, VO access categories)queuing and scheduling

Environmental features
•ECO mode for more intelligent power saving
•Wi-Fi on/off button
•ECO LED and button

Content of the box
•Wireless .11ac Smart Ultra-Broadband Gateway
•DSL cable (RJ-11)
•Ethernet cable (RJ-45)
•Power supply unit
•Setup CD (optional)
•Quick Setup leaflet(s) (optional)
•Safety Instructions and Regulatory Information booklet (optional)
•Filter(s) or splitter(s) (optional)

 

[thenewoc]

There are about 3 different models of TG589vac one is 2.4ghz N600 (known as V2) another AC1300 (sometimes refered to as v3 but do not think that is technically its name) and there is a third which if i recall is something like an AC750 device.

NONE of them have good support or easy to find pdf manuals, the technicolor site is useless.

Did it not come with a setup/CD with the manual on it?

Hi, thanks, it only states it as tg589vac but it does have the AC1300. We went live today after being without internet for 10 days and it turns out from speaking to SSE today that we were supplied with the wrong router since it also wasn't configured properly. Apparently this tg589vac doesn't have a guest Wi-Fi feature even though I've seen this model listed with it, so it's probably using a tailored firmware. Anyways, after a lot of confusion we are now being sent the router they thought we had been supplied with, so we should soon be receiving a Technicolor tg799 which also apparently has the guest Wi-Fi feature. The Technicolor website is a complete joke in terms of support, not even a user forum. No instructions were supplied with router, only a quick install guide which only related to cables being connected. It was meant to be pre configured so we should only have had to turn it on with the correct cable connections and it all should have worked. We have been able to set the service username and password etc service settings to get connected but the tg799 should suit the 80/20 fibre better according to SSE.

 

[thenewoc]

Various docs can be found here...

http://www.nickdj.co.uk/internet/router-guides/technicolor-tg589vac.html?ckattempt=1

The best link on that page appears to be the 'user guide' one.

I'm not sure if it can be used as just a modem as mine is configured the other way, as just a router since mine is paired with an openreach modem.

 

[thenewoc]

I have just been sent the TG589VAC for SSE's FTTC but it seems pre set for aDSL where it should be vDSL if I understand it correctly. I also need a guest network. Does this mean that I may also need the TG799?

What hoops did you have to jump through to get the TG799?

We never received the tg799 in the end and after a different call it seemed we were advised incorrectly. Apparently at the time they were testing a tg799 as to whether it could handle both modem and router functions effectively to be approved as an all in one solution by OpenReach. The trouble with these thompson routers is that there are several models with the same number but different letters appended to it. It wasn't clear whether it was the single band version of the 799 that their customer service staff were referring to or the newer 799VAC. The older single band 799 was used by SSE but I think it was superceeded by the 589VAC. Might be worth calling them and stressing how important the guest wifi is to you and whether they now have the 799VAC available.

 

[thenewoc]

What I found with my google foo is that you can buy this tg589vac router in its original state without a specific ISP firmware. The specs for the router indicate that you can have up to 4 virtual SSID's per interface, so 4 on 2.4GHz and 4 on 5GHz.

I found a guide for a different thomson router on how to enable these via telnet but I can't telnet to mine. In Windows you have to enable the telnet client throught the add/remove programs route but all I get when trying to telnet to my router IP is 'Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed'.

I've tried turning my firewall off but I suspect that because I changed the IP address for mine from the default 192.xx.xx.xx one that I think it had originally and it's DHCP pool, that the config settings are still geared towards the defaults and won't allow telnet from my new IP address settings.

You can export the config which I suspect would shed more light on what values are set but it exports .bin file which is either compressed or encrypted as it isn't possible to read in a text editor. They may also have changed the port that the telnet server listens on so without knowing what that would be is proving fruitless trying port 23.

So what we need is either, someone who has purchased one of these routers from a retail channel which ought to have an OEM firmware, or someone who hasn't altered the default static IP and DHCP pool to test whether they can telnet into it.

 

[thenewoc]

Hi, do too also have this router from SSE but I am not able to log into the router so I can change the DNS. I lost the plastic thing that came with the router. I know it is admin and then I've been trying any thing from the router but nothing is working. Anyone who may know a fix ?

Thanks

I think the default for the password is also 'admin'.

 

[thenewoc]

Hi Nick, welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the manuals on your website.

My biggest gripe with this 589VAC modem/router has been the gimped firmware, not giving access to guest wifi even though it's in the router specs and not being able to telnet into it.

I see from your website that firmware version 16.1 has the addition of guest wifi but do you know whether the newer firmware works on a 589VAC or does it need to be a 589VAC_v2?

Is the newer firmware available somewhere online?

Kind regards
thenewoc

 

[thenewoc]

Thanks for the update.

I've spoken to SSE web chat and they confirmed the current router they provide is TG589v2 so hopefully that means TG589VAC_v2 and not a single band version, will have to follow up with a call.

kind regards
thenewoc

 

[thenewoc]

Hi riggie,

Not on the router itself but it does support port forwarding so you can roll your own vpn server using something like a Rasperry Pi. I have not done this yet myself but from what I've read so far L2TP/IPSec seemed a better option than OpenVPN due to speed and device compatibility. There may be other more suitable alternatives to the Pi depending on how much demand you intend to place upon it but in essence you want a good price to performance ratio device that can run a Linux distro. The Pi is a popular choice due to its price, community support and low energy consumption compared to a PC.

Here's what I think is a good starting point...

https://ritazh.com/setup-your-own-l2tp-vpn-server-with-raspberry-pi-170d3d4df04c#.layw8hu23

 

[thenewoc]

Thanks for the heads up Scotch_Whisky and NickDJ for hosting the file/info.

Just updated mine and all appears to be working fine. Haven't set up the Guest WiFi yet but I can see the options there now.

One thing I would say is that the update also adds a 'guest' user to log into the router but as I didn't know what the password was set to, I decided to delete this to be on the safe side.

The rest of the settings were remembered from before the firmware flash so the update was very simple, just point the router's firmware update option to the file with the .rbi extension after extracting the zip download.

Took about 5 minutes for the new firmware to be applied and when complete the browser should reload with the main menu screen.

The last thing this router is now missing in my opinion is some QoS features so for example the Guest WiFi can be limited rather than having full bandwidth access.

Not bad for a Technicolor router though

 

[thenewoc]

Hi. can any one help, I'm not very tech savvy with routers I have the TG589 vac v2 router supplied by SSE (the white one I had the black one before that) I am now finding that the 2 laptops I have get frequent intermittent wifi drop-offs both laptops are running Win 10 and are both uptodate at first I thought in was a Win10 problem but I take one laptop to work and connect to work wifi with no issues. ]
All my mobile devices connect wirelessly with out issue.
I've googled this to death and have tried all the so called fixes out there from rebooting to reinstalling network device, I have spoken to SSE but as nice as they are and willing to try to help I get the feeling that they're not that knowledgeable.
At my whits end.

Does this happen regardless of how far away you are from the router?


If you log in to the router settings via its web interface and go into the wireless settings for the 2.4GHz signal, there should be an option for 'Channel Width'. You may have to click on 'show advanced' towards the top of that settings page for the 'Channel Width' option to be visible. The 'Channel Width' may be set to 'Auto' or '20 MHz'. If it's set to anything other than '20 MHz' try changing it to '20 MHz' and click 'Save'.

In the same wireless settings page as above there's also an 'Analyzer' option for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals. Use these to check whether you're using a WiFi channel that is in common use by neighbours, choose a lesser used channel (for 2.4GHz signal, one of these: 1, 6 or 11) that preferably doesn't overlap with others close by.

 

[thenewoc]

Hi, sorry I am completely out of my depth with this issue. But having connection issues with my tg589vac v2.one minute The ppp shows connected Then at random intervals ppp status stays at "connecting", and get the message additional "log on information may be required" when trying to use internet on any devices. I have spoken at length with sse, but they aren't knowledgeable about the router at all so no help and not connected for a week now with lots of work that needs doing.
They said I was using the wrong username and password so changed it as they said. But the same problem keeps coming up. Hoping this is just due to poor configuration or something I can sort from here, as the complaints process with sse is really slow.
Notice if i go into diagnostics, under "connection" it says
DSL is fine
Ppp: connecting
No address assigned for both ipv4 and ipv6
And then "not all pings were answered or not connected"
Any help much appreciated. Thanks

I take it you're using the thompson router as an all in one device rather than it being connected to a separate Openreach modem.

Is the router connected to your bt master socket?

Are you using separate micro filters or a filtered faceplate that sits on top of your bt master socket?

If it connects some of the time I doubt it would be configuration, sounds more like a cable / physical connection issue, either in your home or somewhere between your home and the exchange.

If you have a NTE5 type bt master socket, these are the square type sockets that have a separate removable bottom section, you could try removing the bottom section (two screws to remove, one either side) and that will reveal the test socket. Plug the dsl cable from your router into the test socket on the bt master socket and see if the problem persists.

How does the telephone line sound, do you get a nice clear dial tone, without hissing or cracking?

Is this the first time you've had fibre at this property?

Did an Openreach engineer swap your bt master socket faceplate for a filtered faceplate?

Can you take a picture of the bt master socket including the inside of it?

 

[thenewoc]

Hi,

What I was trying to get at was did an engineer come into your home to set up your fibre and replace your socket? I'm wondering if a wire isn't punched down properly in your master socket. Obviously it was working before you had fibre so it could be the quality of termination in the master socket or a fault at the cabinet or a faulty port on the equipment at the exchange. Hopefully the engineer can trace it back to the cause. The fact that the problem is permanent now makes me wonder if there is indeed a loose connection in the master socket.

I think that tg582n is just a router so you might be able to use it if you had an openreach modem but i'm guessing your tg599vac v2 was all you were supplied with as that is how they do it now with an all in one device. So to use another router you almost always need a separate fibre modem, (normally this is an Openreach fibre modem, either the Huawei one or the ECI one depending on what type of street cabinet you have) as there are not many fibre routers that also have the fibre modem in them. You'd also need to know what your SSE username and password are along with various other settings from within the web admin area when logging into your existing router.