SpeedTouch is the brand name of a line of networking equipment produced by

Alcatel Alcatel may refer to: * Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia * Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...

and

Technicolor SA Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headq ...

. Before 27 January 2010 Technicolor was known as ''Thomson SA''. Under the SpeedTouch name Alcatel and Technicolor retail a variety of equipment including

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

and

ADSL2+ G.992.5 (also referred to as ADSL2+, G.dmt.bis+, and G.adslplus) is an ITU-T standard for asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) broadband Internet access. The standard has a maximum theoretical downstream sync speed of 24 megabits per secon ...

modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

residential gateway A residential gateway is a small consumer-grade gateway which bridges network access between connected local area network (LAN) hosts to a wide area network (WAN) (such as the Internet) via a modem, or directly connects to a WAN (as in EttH), whi ...

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

access equipment,

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...

handsets and SHDSL interconnect equipment. They are a major brand in home and business networking products.

Models

Following is a non-exhaustive list of existing SpeedTouch models:

Single-user modems

;SpeedTouch Home :A modem which provides bridged and

PPTP The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is an obsolete method for implementing virtual private networks. PPTP has many well known security issues. PPTP uses a TCP control channel and a Generic Routing Encapsulation tunnel to encapsulate PP ...

connections for Internet connectivity. The modem uses an

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

cable to connect to a PC, or may be connected to a router that supports

PPPoE The Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) is a network protocol for encapsulating Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) frames inside Ethernet frames. It appeared in 1999, in the context of the boom of DSL as the solution for tunneling packet ...

. ;Speedtouch Pro :Same as the SpeedTouch Home, but with added Point-to-Point Protocol and basic NAT ( Network Address Translation) functionality. SpeedTouch_USB

;SpeedTouch USB and SpeedTouch 330 :A basic ADSL USB modem, without router features and capable of speeds up to 1Mbit up and 7Mbit down. Due to its USB connection it requires drivers to work and is currently not supported well on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

and not at all on

intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

-powered Macs or on

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...

and earlier. ;SpeedTouch PC :A

PCI PCI may refer to: Business and economics * Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards ** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors * Pro ...

extension card ADSL modem. This modem is more or less obsolete and has never been distributed in large numbers. ;TG508 :A single ethernet port ADSL2+ gateway with built in firewall.

Multi-user modems with built-in NAT router

;ST510 1/4 ports /ST530(+USB) :Widely distributed ADSL modems with built in NAT router,

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

and

UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...

. The ST510 is available with either 1 or 4 Ethernet ports. The ST530 only provides 1 Ethernet socket, but can also be connected through

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

;ST516 :The first

modem in the SpeedTouch line-up. As with the ST510, this modem has a built in NAT router, firewall and UPnP. Firmware versions R5.3 and up also provide functionalities such as ALG ( Application Layer Gateway) for

VPN A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...

connections, remote management of the webinterface and

Dynamic DNS Dynamic DNS (DDNS) is a method of automatically updating a name server in the Domain Name System (DNS), often in real time, with the active DDNS configuration of its configured hostnames, addresses or other information. The term is used to desc ...

. The middle number in the model number "5x6" indicates the number of Ethernet ports available on the modem. Firmware version 6.2.29.2 does not support PPTP (or GRE forwarding) when the ST516 is used in router mode. ;ST536 :A single ethernet and single USB port gateway with built in firewall. TP Neostrada Thomson SpeedTouch 546

;ST546 :A four ethernet port gateway with built in firewall. ;TG605 :A four ethernet port gateway with built in firewall designed for business use,

VLAN A virtual local area network (VLAN) is any broadcast domain that is partitioned and isolated in a computer network at the data link layer (OSI layer 2).IEEE 802.1Q-2011, ''1.4 VLAN aims and benefits'' In this context, virtual, refers to a physi ...

support and remote management. ;ST610 / ST610i / ST610s / ST610v :A line of business DSL routers launched in 2003, with optional IPSec and SIP support activated by software keys. Fixed WAN options are ADSL over POTS (ST610), ADSL over ISDN (ST610i), SHDSL (ST610s) and VDSL (ST610v). They are available either with a 4-port 10/100 LAN switch, or with an ATMF-25 LAN or WAN interface (except the 610v)

Wireless modems

;TG185 :A device that adds wireless transmission capabilities to an existing modem though an ethernet connection. ;ST570 :The first wireless modem in the SpeedTouch line. The ST570 features

802.11b IEEE 802.11b-1999 or 802.11b is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking specification that extends throughput up to 11 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band. A related amendment was incorporated into the IEEE 802.11-2007 standard. ...

wireless networking (11 Mbit/s) and can be secured using WEP and

MAC filtering In computer networking, MAC address filtering is a security access control method whereby the MAC address assigned to each network interface controller is used to determine access to the network. MAC addresses are uniquely assigned to each card ...

. The ST570 has 1 Ethernet port. ;ST580 :A more advanced wireless modem. The ST580 has

802.11g IEEE 802.11g-2003 or 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that operates in the 2.4 GHz microwave band. The standard has extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 20 MHz bandwidth as 802.11b uses to achieve 11 Mbit/ ...

wireless networking and can be secured with

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

encryption. ;TG582 :The TG582 was introduced in 2010 and offers four ethernet ports and wireless, plus TR-691 capabilities for remote access and management. Thomson TG585v8

;ST585 :Similar to the 580, but with added ADSL2+ support and better WPA encryption. Four ethernet ports and wireless antennae. Widely distributed by Tiscali, O2, AOL and PlusNet in the UK. O2 rebrands this as "O2 Wireless Box II", and O2's BeThere subsidiary calls it the "BeBox". O2_Wireless_Box_IV

;TG587 :A wireless modem designed for streaming multimedia content via 802.11n wireless. It includes four ethernet ports and a built-in firewall. ;T576 :Similar to the 585, but with only 1 Ethernet port. Also mainly distributed by AOL UK. ;TG608 :A wireless gateway with built in firewall designed for business use,

support and remote management. ;ST620 :A four ethernet port gateway with wireless antennae and a built in firewall designed for business use. ;TG670 :A gateway aimed at business users with four ethernet ports and 802.11n wireless. ;TG672 :A gateway aimed at business users with four ethernet ports and 802.11n wireless. Similar to the TG670, but with multi-line DECT telephony, plus a gigabit LAN port for connection to a corporate network. ;TG703 :Four port ADSL2+ gateway with high-speed Internet access and video service together with telephony. ;TG712 :Four port ADSL2+ gateway with wireless. ;ST780 :ADSL2+ high-speed Internet access and video service together with telephony, wireless with WEP2, 4 Ethernet ports, 2 analog phone ports for internal sip client, 1 pstn connector. ;TG782 :ADSL2+ high-speed Internet access and video service together with telephony, wireless with WEP2, 4 Ethernet ports, 2 analog phone ports for internal sip client, 1 pstn connector, NO client usb, but it has a usb host for DECT extension. ;TG784 :A wireless modem designed for VoIP and Home Networking Connectivity by LAN, WAN and Wi-Fi. It includes five ethernet ports, a USB 2.0 master and a built-in firewall. ;TG797 :A wireless ADSL2+ modem designed for VoIP and Home Networking. It includes four ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 master,

DECT Digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (Digital European cordless telecommunications), usually known by the acronym DECT, is a standard primarily used for creating cordless telephone systems. It originated in Europe, where it is the common ...

and a built-in firewall. ;TG870 :A four ethernet port gateway with wireless antennae, integrated 3G Femto Access Point allowing 8 simultaneous users and a built in firewall designed for multimedia services over a residential network. ;TG872 :A four ethernet port gateway with wireless antennae, integrated 3G Femto Access Point allowing 8 simultaneous users and a built in firewall designed for multimedia services over a residential network. Allows remote management.

Criticism

SpeedTouch gateways have been criticized because the algorithm used by the manufacturer to set both the default SSID and the corresponding WEP/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK passwords was very easily compromised, meaning that wireless access to SpeedTouch models that still use the default password is easily possible. In 2002

San Diego Supercomputer Center The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) is an organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). SDSC is located at the UCSD campus' Eleanor Roosevelt College east end, immediately north the Hopkins Parking Structure. ...

of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

reported their testing of Alcatel SpeedTouch devices that identified multiple security issues. They said:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speedtouch Networking hardware Technicolor SA Alcatel-Lucent