Sunday, March 13, 2011

Does the Actiontec GT701R DSL Modem support ADSL2+?

I recently upgraded from 7Mbps to 12 Mbps download from Qwest. My Actiontec GT701R DSL modem had done well thus far (I use a transparent bridge with my Airport Extreme), and after being warned by Qwest that my router probably wouldn't work with the higher speeds, I wasn't too concerned, as I figured I could buy a new one for cheap as necessary (they wanted to charge me $90 for a new one). I did check the product page for any information, and found this in the product FAQ (the poorly-placed comma in the title was there, too):
What is the maximum connection speed, that the Actiontec DSL Gateway support?
The maximum connection speed for an Actiontec DSL Modem or Gateway is 8Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream.

However, if the modem or gateway has a firmware update available that would upgrade it to ADSL2 or ADSL2+, then the maximum speed would be higher. The theoretical maximum speed for ADSL2 is 12Mbps and ADSL2+ is 24Mbps. But for ADSL2 or ADSL2+ to provide the higher speeds of which they are capable, the ISP must fully support the ADSL2 and ADSL2+ standard as well.
After perusing the internet for confirmation as to the "theoretical firmware update", I found a few people that posed similar questions but no answers.

A few days later, I awoke to the internet being down. It consistently failed to sync, and after resetting the router, I determined this was likely due to the speed upgrade. My last-ditch effort was to download a firmware update from Qwest (QW06.5-3.60.3.0.8.5 for Mac or Windows). After upgrading, the modem worked like a charm. This should also work with the GT701, as they use the same firmware.

So the answer is yes. If you have an Actiontec GT701R DSL modem with the latest firmware, it can at least support ADSL2+ at 12Mbps.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I can confirm, if you have a GT701R router, it will work up to 12mbps with Quest/CenturyLink DSL.

I upgraded to 12mbps, and they told me that I needed a new modem, they send me one, but I will be returning it after reading this and actually testing.

Century link must be hurting for revenue as they stoop so low to lie to their 10+ year costumers. Bravo Century link, I will be looking for another provider because of this.

Araignée said...

Glad you were able to replicate success!

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