How to upgrade your Alcatel SpeedTouch Pro ADSL modem to the 510 model?

How to upgrade your Alcatel SpeedTouch Pro ADSL modem to the 510 model?

This document describes how you can configure an Alcatel SpeedTouch Pro ADSL modem and upgrade it to the 510 model.
This method will work if the following assumption is true:

By upgrading your Pro modem to the 510 model you will gain a new web interface (ugly in my opinion) and UPnP support (especially useful for MSN Messenger video and voice calls and for Netmeeting sessions that did not work in the Home and Pro models). Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology is an architecture that allows to easily connect computers and other devices in a network with almost no effort. UPnP technology makes use of well-known standards like TCP/IP and HTML in a distributed, open networking architecture to enable device and service discovery in addition to control and data transfer among networked devices in the home.
This feature is called NAT Traversal. In Microsoft’s words, NAT Traversal is “a set of capabilities that allows network-aware applications to discover they are behind a NAT device, learn the external IP address, and configure port mappings to forward packets from the external port of the NAT to the internal port used by the application – all in an automated fashion so the user does not have to manually configure port mappings or other such mechanisms.”
NAT Traversal relies on the discovery and control protocols that are part of UPnP, so you only get the wonderfulness of NAT Traversal if your OS and “Internet Gateway Device” (the official UPnP term) supports UPnP.
So far not many applications support UPnP. XP’s Windows Messenger, Remote Desktop Connection, and Remote Assistance features supported it, and so do various Microsoft games which are in the process of adding support for it.
Note: To make use of the UPnP features you must NOT have a router between your computer and the Alcatel modem! Only a switch/hub will work!
Read more about UPnP here: Universal Plug and Play Forum
You will also be able to configure NAT Static ports via the web interface, something you had to do through Telnet in the Pro model.
Note: I found that this upgrade is actually not as good as some people say and had it returned to the Pro model in less than 30 minutes flat. For one some of the more sophisticated settings from the Pro web console are now gone and I did not find a way to configure them. For example I could not find how to configure DHCP Spoofing in the 510 model, and that’s something I needed for my home lab.
If anyone knows how to do that or how to get back some of the Pro’s features in the 510 – please drop me a line at smtp.

Disclaimer & Warning

Messing with the software settings of your modem and/or messing with the registry or internal settings of your operating system can render your modem or operating system useless. Read the whole article and manual before you do any changes. Following these steps might work for you. It did for me and for many others, but that does not necessarily mean they will! I take no responsibility for anything bad that might happen to your OS or modem, and since you’re on your own – Do not ask me for help! It’s your modem!
Applying this hack will definitely VOID WARRANTY! If you are not experienced with tricks like these STOP NOW! Besides, some ISPs might stop supporting you if they find out that you messed up with your modem.
Don’t bitch me out if you do this and your modem turns into a furry animal that humps your leg and eats your cheetos. Configure your modem as Pro
You’ll have to configure the modem as Pro. If you have an Alcatel SpeedTouch Home please follow this guide before going on with the upgrade to 510: Upgrade from Alcatel SpeedTouch Home to Pro.

Step One – Download the 510 software

You’ll have to download the required software for the 510 model.
Download the file HERE
(or local download from HERE)
The file is called “GV8BAA3.721” and it’s 1116kb in size. Save the file in a folder on your computer.
Note: Israeli Alcatel modems usually come with the GV8BAA3.XXX pre-installed software version. Some older modems have the KHDSAA.XXX software (the modem has an ATM port). These older modems cannot be upgraded!
One way of telling what software version you have is by telnetting to your modem at 10.0.0.138 and typing

​=>software
[software]=>version
Active : Gv8baa3.281    Passive : Gv8baa3.281

Step Two – Upgrading the modem

After d/l the software file open a web browser and go to http://10.0.0.138 (or whatever your modem IP address is).
 
Click the Upgrade button. You must remove the passive software copy, so press the Remove Passive button.
 
Notice how only the active version is now present.
 
Note: I’ve had readers report that cleaning up old files and freeing up some space on the modem might help if your uploads are giving you errors. Open a telnet session to the modem and type:

​=>software
[software]=>cleanup

(read the Alcatel SpeedTouch – Home to Pro page for info on how to establish the telnet session).
Note: You can also delete the passive version from the telnet session (if you didn’t do so already from the web interface) by typing:

​=>software
[software]=>deletepassive

Back at the web interface, you’ll need to upload the new software version to the modem. Press the Browse button and browse to the place where you d/l the GV8BAA3.721 file. Click on it and then on the Open button.
 
Now upload the file to the modem. This process might take 20-60 seconds.
 
Note: You can upload the new software to the modem by opening an FTP session to ftp://10.0.0.138 and logging on as EXPERT with the modem’s expert password (unless you’ve specified a password, and then you can logon as any user with the required configured password). Go to the DL folder and upload the GV8BAA3.721 file to that folder.

 
Note: You can double-check your upload status by going to the telnet session and typing:

​=>software
[software]=>version
Active : Gv8baa3.281        Passive : GV8BAA3.721

Note: Personally I found that uploading the file through Mozila v1.01 did not work. I kept on getting errors saying the file was to short or something similar. “Why didn’t you just use Internet Explorer?” you must be asking. Well, in my case I found out that IE didn’t always load the Alcatel Web interface correctly, and sometimes buttons were missing and so on, so I just got used to using Mozila for the modem interface. You might have better luck. These screenshots however, are taken with Mozila.
Notice that the New Software Uploaded Successfully note appears (yes, the original modem web interface has a spelling mistake…) and that the new passive version is now GV8BAA3.721 instead of the copy of the regular Pro version.
 
Now press the Switch Over button and let the modem reboot itself.
 
Note: You can also switch software versions by going to the telnet session and typing:

​[software]=>switch
[software]=>

Step Three – Uploading the definitions file

Now your modem is running the 510 model. Open the web browser and again go to http://10.0.0.138. Take a look at the new web interface. Man it’s ugly!
You must now download the definitions file for your ISP or country. For Israel, use this file: http://uploaded.fresh.co.il/3e37c7703be39964.zip
(or local download from HERE)
The file is called “ADSL_nat_israel.ini” and is 5kb in size. Save the file in a folder on your computer.
Note: I’m looking for other definition files made for European ISPs. If any of you have links to such files please let me know (I cannot verify these files but I can post the info here) smtp.
 
On the left toolbar press the Upgrade link.
 
On the right pane scroll down to the Configuration section and press the Browse button. In the open dialog box browse to the definition file, select it and press Open.
 
Now press Upload and let the modem upload the file.
 
A Red warning will appear, saying you must restart the modem for the configuration changes to take place.
 
Press the Restart link.
 

Step Four – Configuring the username and password

Again open your browser to http://10.0.0.138. Press the Connect link. In the User box type your username in the format of
username@Iisp
(where “I” is capital and “isp” is your ISP name)
Enter your password.
 
Press Connect (this part is not always needed, mostly the modem will already be connected by the time you read this…)
Notice the Link state should quickly turn to “UP”. If it didn’t then you must have missed your password or something on these lines.
Press the Save All button to save all settings.
That’s it!

Step Five – Configure your computer’s NIC

At this stage it seems that only Windows XP client computers can use the so-called “benefits” of UPnP. You’ll have to configure your computer’s network interface card (NIC) to “Obtain an IP address automatically”. Doing so will enable your computer to receive it’s settings from the Alcatel modem. If you manually set your IP address or other TCP/IP properties, UPnP will not override those settings and may not automatically connect to your UPnP-enabled router.
I think you know how to do that by now. If you’ve got amnesia here are a few screenshots of a Windows XP workstation. Figure it out on your own.
(don’t mind the rest of the icons…)
 
Note: To make use of the UPnP features you must NOT have a router between your computer and the Alcatel modem! Only a switch/hub will work!
Also, if not already installed, you need to manually install UPnP from the Optional Network Components in the Network Connections window:
 
Note: I didn’t have the chance to experiment with UPnP on my system. If any of you readers wants to pick up the glove and write a small article on the benefits and hazards of UPnP, and also provide some screenshots and relevant links – you’ll be more than welcome! Please send your tips, advice, comments or corrections to me smtp.

Going back from 510 to Pro

Some people won’t like the 510 features. I didn’t. To get back to the Pro version read this article – Downgrade from Alcatel SpeedTouch 510 to Pro. Be warned however that a small percentage of people have reported that they could no longer get back to the Pro version no matter what they did.