Openreach HG612 Modem Performance

[Ian]

Has anyone here got one of the Openreach HG612 VDSL modems?

I'm currently using a Draytek router with a built-in modem, however it's not a Huawei chipset - which would match with my local cabinet. I previously found I could get better sync speeds by using my Sky router, which came with a Huawei chipset - however I can't use this in bridge mode with my new ISP.

I'm considering getting an HG612 modem from ebay so that I can use it with my existing router, which may give me a 10%+ speed boost (which I'd consider worth it for £25, as I'm so far from the FTTC cabinet).

I'd be interested to hear thoughts from anyone that has one of these before I take the plunge!

 

[muckshifter]

Has anyone here got one of the Openreach HG612 VDSL modem

yes, I have one ... it's white.

 

[Ian]

You are a man of many words .

Has it been reliable for you? Does it link in to your router and you don't really need to access the modem admin panel?

 

[EvanDavis]

Any of us that are on fibre optic will have the Openreach HG612 modem I think. I have one.

Has it been reliable for you? Does it link in to your router and you don't really need to access the modem admin panel?

4 years on fibre optic now and still on the same Openreach modem where as the router TalkTalk supply I have had 3
And as far as I know you can't access the Openreach modem, I could be wrong though.

 

[Ian]

Any of us that are on fibre optic will have the Openreach HG612 modem I think. I have one.




4 years on fibre optic now and still on the same Openreach modem where as the router TalkTalk supply I have had 3
And as far as I know you can't access the Openreach modem, I could be wrong though.

Ah ok, I thought there would be an admin interface or something.

I've had fibre for a couple of years now, but both ISPs have provided their own modems, rather than sending one of the Openreach ones.

 

[EvanDavis]

Ah ok, I thought there would be an admin interface or something.

I'm sure if you flash the firmware there would be a way. And for some reason @V_R springs to mind. I think I might have asked this question and he may have answered it.

 

[muckshifter]

You are a man of many words .

Has it been reliable for you? Does it link in to your router and you don't really need to access the modem admin panel?

yep.



ok, ok, more words ... never had a problem from day one ... I don't think you can 'view' the Admin, I can't ... oh, and make sure you get the 'silver' (gray?) socketed version & not the yellow one.

 

[V_R]

Yes I've had one for the length of time I've had FTTC, (4 years ish now). Its never missed a beat. Also a Huawei chipset cab here too.

I'm sure if you flash the firmware there would be a way. And for some reason @V_R springs to mind. I think I might have asked this question and he may have answered it.

Yeah you need to flash the unlocked firmware in it. Info below.

http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612unlock.htm
http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612hacking.htm

But things have changed slightly since I looked into it. Best just check.

 

[Ian]

Thanks folks . Looks like it'll be a good match then!

Yeah you need to flash the unlocked firmware in it. Info below.

http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612unlock.htm
http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612hacking.htm

Cheers V_R, tons of info for me there - looks like it's worth unlocking for the line stats .

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Can I chime in?

I have this modem installed here:



Great piece of kit, it has been installed for over 3 years and has been running continuously without any issues.
To view the web GUI, you have to jailbreak the modem by flashing modified firmware (it's basically the stock firmware, but with the LAN2 block-all firewall rule disabled) which will allow you to access management features.

I did this but BT found out and limited our speeds until we updated our modem's firmware to support G.INP. I had disabled the BT managment agent, so they could not remotely update our modem's firmware. After updating the firmware, I then re-jailbroke the modem to allow access to the management GUI.

Still going strong right now, but because all FTTC ISPs now ship routers with integrated VDSL modems, be aware that Openreach no longer stock this modem. If you don't already have one, I'd highly recommend snapping one up on eBay. Make sure that you get the Huawei HG612 and not the ECI B-FOCuS modem, which is much harder to jailbreak.

- Capt. Jack Sparrow.

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the additional info @Captain Jack Sparrow .

Since moving to a new ISP, DLM appears to have reset and my sync speeds are considerably higher - so I've not been in a rush to buy the HG612. I'll probably pick one up from ebay in a month or two (sooner if DLM kicks in again).

I'm now focusing my speed efforts on running conduit and Cat6 cable around the outside of our house so that I can have wired network points from the router to our PCs .

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Thanks for the additional info @Captain Jack Sparrow .

Since moving to a new ISP, DLM appears to have reset and my sync speeds are considerably higher - so I've not been in a rush to buy the HG612. I'll probably pick one up from ebay in a month or two (sooner if DLM kicks in again).

I'm now focusing my speed efforts on running conduit and Cat6 cable around the outside of our house so that I can have wired network points from the router to our PCs .

Isn't Cat6 a bit overkill? Do you really need dat 10GBASE-T? You make me jealous sometimes!
Just so you know, the LAN ports on the HG612 are only 10/100.

I'm using Cat5e here and it can run 1000BASE-T no problem. However the HG612 is located at the other side of the room from where our router is, so I used shielded Cat5e cable because it was really cheap on eBay for 10m and seemed to be of good quality.

- Capt. Jack Sparrow.

 

[Ian]

No need for Cat6 at all, I can't even use it yet - but as I'm going to be up ladders routing it around the eves of the house, I figured I may as well make sure it'll last 20 years . If it saves me having to do the job again one day, it'll be worth it .

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

No need for Cat6 at all, I can't even use it yet - but as I'm going to be up ladders routing it around the eves of the house, I figured I may as well make sure it'll last 20 years . If it saves me having to do the job again one day, it'll be worth it .

Good response!

Man I wish I was in your position, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be living in my humble abode, so when I had the chance, I chose not to install any kind of ethernet cabling, except to the room which the server is located in and also from the HG612 to our central router.

But I did install a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO to get us 802.11ac speeds and WPA2-Enterprise/802.1x Wi-Fi security. Well that was a waste of time and money, as we only have one device which can actually take advantage of 802.11ac speeds! Even then, Gigabit Ethernet crushes 802.11ac. But I guess the WPA2-Enterprise encryption is amazing.

- Capt. Jack Sparrow.

 

[Ian]

Yeah, no point in going to all that trouble for the short-term! I think we'll be at our place for a long while, so I'm going to make sure the network is up to scratch for a long while .

As you've got an Ubiquiti setup, I'd be really interested in your thoughts on it - I posted a dilemma about Ubiquiti WiFi vs Homeplugs a while back (here, before deciding to run Cat6). I'm still tempted to get a LR AP to sort WiFi coverage.