SpeedTouch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SpeedTouch is a brand name given to networking equipment produced by Alcatel and Thomson SA. Under this brand name Alcatel and Thomson retail a wide selection of equipment including ADSL and ADSL2+ modems, residential gateways, wireless access equipment, VoIP handsets and SHDSL interconnect equipment. They are a major brand in home and business networking products.
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[edit] Hardware
Following is a non-exhaustive list of existing SpeedTouch hardware and their basic features:
[edit] End-user products
Products that are provided by ISP's and retailers of broadband equipment.
[edit] Single-user modems
SpeedTouch Home
A modem which provides bridged and PPTP connections for Internet connectivity. The modem has to be connected directly to a PC using an Ethernet cable. Widely distributed when the Mxstream ADSL service was introduced in the Netherlands.
Speedtouch Pro
Same as the SpeedTouch Home, but with added PPP and basic NAT (Network Address Translation) functionality.
SpeedTouch USB/SpeedTouch 330
An ADSL USB modem, capable of speeds up to 1Mbit up and 7Mbit down.
SpeedTouch PC
A PCI extension card ADSL modem. This modem is more or less obsolete and has never been distributed in large numbers.
[edit] Multi-user modems with built-in NAT router
ST510 1/4 ports /ST530(+USB)
Widely distributed ADSL modems with built in NAT router, firewall and UPnP. 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.
ST516/546
The first ADSL2+ modems in the SpeedTouch line-up. As with the ST510, these modems have 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 connections, remote management of the webinterface and Dynamic DNS. The middle number in the model number "5x6" indicates the number of Ethernet ports available on the modem.
[edit] Wireless modems
ST570
The first wireless modem in the SpeedTouch line. The ST570 features 802.11b wireless networking (11 Mbit/s) and can be secured using WEP and MAC filtering. The ST570 has 1 Ethernet port.
ST580
A more advanced wireless modem. The ST580 has 802.11g wireless networking and can be secured with WPA encryption.
ST585
Basically the same features as the 580, but with added ADSL2+ support and better WPA encryption. Widely distributed by AOL in the UK.
ST576
About the same as the 585, but with only 1 Ethernet port. Also mainly distributed by AOL UK.
[edit] Availability
SpeedTouch products are marketed and sold through an extensive distribution network operated in many countries.
[edit] Europe
Available to buy online in Austria, Belgium, France, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK.
[edit] North America
Available to buy online in United States and Canada
[edit] Oceania
Available to buy online in New Zealand
SpeedTouch also maintain distribution operations in many other countries around the world.
[edit] Usage
[edit] UK
SpeedTouch products have been on the market for many years with the original Alcatel SpeedTouch USB modem being one of the first to be distributed by Internet service providers in the UK when ADSL internet access was commercially launched in 2000. To this day it remains in widespread use and has obtained various nicknames over the years such as "The Frog" and "Stingray" due to its design shape and case colouring.
[edit] Canada
SpeedTouch 516, 546, 585 and 780 are used by TekSavvy which offers both residential and business services throughout Canada.
[edit] Greece
SpeedTouch 530/530i and SpeedTouch 585/585i v6 are the official modems of the Greek National Provider ,OTE .They are probably the most popular modems for ADSL in Greece.
[edit] Sweden
SpeedTouch 510, 516, 546 are the most used modems in Sweden for the most service providers.
[edit] Netherlands
The SpeedTouch 780 is the modem that is used by KPN and its daughter companies Planet Internet and HetNet in the VoIP service InternetPlusBellen.
[edit] Malta
The SpeedTouch series have been the official modems of the Maltese National Provider, GO (formerly Datastream). Modems were provided on loan by ISPs until the release of the 580/585 wireless series which were made available for purchase. Due to the convenience of this system, a market for other ADSL modems is practically non-existent.
[edit] Rebranding of the SpeedTouch line
Currently Thomson SA is rebranding their SpeedTouch line of products. New products will have the prefix "TG", which stands for Thomson Gateway. New products are for example the TG787, an ADSL modem with wireless and VoIP capabilities, or the TG546 VDSL2, a multi user gateway for VDSL and ADSL2+ use. Descriptions and pictures of the new products are available on the Thomson website.
