Lantiq VRX200 modem firmware with VDSL2 vectoring support

Hello,

I have an BT HomeHub 5a and I a extracted the modem firmware from the FRITZ.Box 7412 firmware version 06.86 to enable VDSL2 vectoring support for a Telekom connection (firmware version 5.9.0.12.1.7). However, the modem looses connection a couple of times a day. It is not the end of the world, but it is annoying. I suspect this firmware does not support some functionality that the Telekom upstream equipment uses. Does anyone know of another firmware that may work better with a Deutsche Telekom connection?

Thank you.

Cheers,
Dan

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In addition to @mpa's super valid reference, use the search function a bit more, there are two or three other threads on Lantiq VDSL firmware versions. It's a regular point of discussion in here.

As for me, who is in the same situation as you (Telekom vectoring line): I never had luck with 5.9.0.12.1.7 -- which seemed to initially synchronize fine, but I was actually able to provoke to disconnect just by saturating it with a simple web-based speedtest. I had my best results with 5.7.8.9.1.7, with line uptimes somewhere around 7 to 10 days. But I still had constantly deteriorating line values before it broke down and reconnected. You will have to try out a few firmware versions and you may find one that works best for you.

But it seems that Telekom's lines (which invariably have a Broadcom on the other end) just don't play all that well with Lantiq modems. I was never able to get a truly stable line with a Lantiq modem. I eventually changed to an external broadcom modem (for me a dirt cheap Zyxel VMG1312-B30A) and never had any problems ever again. My line is currently synchronized at 116/43 mbit, rock stable without any deterioration, and going strong into its 6th week of uptime.

Edit: And I do mean rock stable:



(The blank area is where I had to inadvertedly unplug my router and lost a few hours of statistics. The modem carried on just fine, though.)

Thanks @mpa and @takimata. I searched the forum and found the thread @mpa linked, but information about firmware with vectoring support is scattered at best.

For me:

  • version 5.9.0.12.1.7 but with it the modem looses connection about twice a day. I didn't observe a clear correlation with line saturation, but it seems that the modem looses connection more often when there is more data transmitted.

  • version 5.6.8.6.1.7 connects at about the double data rate as version 5.9.0.12.1.7 but the connection resets every few minutes.

@takimata, where can I find the 5.7.8.9.1.7 firmware?

Thank you.

Cheers,
Dan

The correct answer would be: Check xdarklight's Github page. It requires a bit of work though, since one is not allowed to redistribute the firmware files themselves, for example in a handy Zip archive.

The vigor 130 is lantiq based though (but it is stable for me, syncing at 106/35 MBit/s, with an uninterrupted uptime of ~2 months now, since the last Telekom maintenance window; broadcom DSLAM on the other end).

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Ah, you are right of course. Edited my post.

You know, I can't shake the feeling that even though OpenWrt can and will use the Lantiq firmware blobs, it doesn't setup the line quite the same as manufacturers do and that's why they end up not being as stable as they could be. There are hints of that sprinkled throughout the relevant discussions, and there's even a somewhat related PR right now, but that's hardly concrete evidence of course.

I am aware of that page but many (most?) of the links to the image files are dead unfortunately.

Which other dsl network parameter do you use ?
It does not make sense but try:

...
        option tone 'av'
        option xfer_mode 'ptm'
        option line_mode 'vdsl'
...

Background i use the Easybox 904xDSL which have only a Openwrt fork and i have an local provider which do not use Vektoring.
For few months i have the Problem that my connection was extremly instable which a lot of FWs i play with the parameter and get a stable connection with:
"option tone 'av'". The strange things is that

/etc/init.d/dsl_control dslstat
ATU-C Vendor ID:                          Broadcom 164.48
ATU-C System Vendor ID:                   Broadcom
Chipset:                                  Lantiq-VRX200
Firmware Version:                         5.7.9.9.0.6
API Version:                              4.17.18.6
XTSE Capabilities:                        0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x1
Annex:                                    A
Line Mode:                                G.993.2 (VDSL2)
Profile:                                  17a
Line State:                               UP [0x801: showtime_tc_sync]
Forward Error Correction Seconds (FECS):  Near: 35 / Far: 0
Errored seconds (ES):                     Near: 27 / Far: 0
Severely Errored Seconds (SES):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Loss of Signal Seconds (LOSS):            Near: 0 / Far: 0
Unavailable Seconds (UAS):                Near: 7559636 / Far: 7559636
Header Error Code Errors (HEC):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Non Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRC_P):        Near: 3 / Far: 0
Pre-emtive CRC errors (CRCP_P):           Near: 0 / Far: 0
Power Management Mode:                    L0 - Synchronized
Latency [Interleave Delay]:               0.0 ms [Fast]   0.0 ms [Fast]
Data Rate:                                Down: 94.737 Mb/s / Up: 30.998 Mb/s
Line Attenuation (LATN):                  Down: 6.8 dB / Up: 6.4 dB
Signal Attenuation (SATN):                Down: 6.8 dB / Up: 6.4 dB
Noise Margin (SNR):                       Down: 6.0 dB / Up: 10.1 dB
Aggregate Transmit Power (ACTATP):        Down: 13.7 dB / Up: 12.5 dB
Max. Attainable Data Rate (ATTNDR):       Down: 94.847 Mb/s / Up: 37.009 Mb/s
Line Uptime Seconds:                      62030
Line Uptime:                              17h 13m 50s

Show Annex A, but i am 100% shure that i have an Annex B line and i choice Annex b.
So no idea if it Problem with my special device + special Provider or if there an General problem.

By the way, @takimata, are those RRD plots produced by collectd on the OpenWRT system? Which plugin do you use to collect the details about the DSL line? Searching around I didn't find a relevant plugin and I would like to avoid to reinvent the wheel of possible.

Not natively, and not via any plugin/package, but you are very welcome to the set of scripts I created that work via collectd-mod-exec. I did one set for the Lantiq internal modem:

and one for the external Zyxel VMG1312 that I am currently using:

Thanks @takimata. I went a slightly different route: I use sudo to allow a dsl user to execute /etc/init.d/dsl_control lucistat to obtain the DSL line status and a bit of shell glue to format the output into what collectd expects. The LuCI code you provided has been of great help to have the RRD graphs displayed in the web interface.

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I believe this patch, while a rod thing that I endorse, will only add more statistics7counters, but not actually enable new features. At least I had G.INP retransmits enabled even without the rtx counters configured in.

I am also having some stability issues with the Lantiq VRX200 modem in a BT Home Hub 5A. To actually check whether another firmware improves the line stability, I developed a collectd adapter to plot some graphs — maybe this is of use to someone here, too:

Ok, I am currently using some firmware version and ther is a lot of deterioration, would anyone know for a Broadcom 178.30 dslam what would be best, maybe if anything generally broadcom dslams?

As I said before:

Well, I found firmware where that does not happen and it is fine now

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i'm thinking of joining the lantiq bandwagon as well. the lack of devices is a deterring aspect, however the uniqueness of the drivers is somewhat enticing.

plus its MIPS. i would like to gauge the interest in a stable, proper lantiq (GRX, intel mips INTERAPTIV) build.

intel did seem to invest a lot of effort into the 4.9 drivers. i can get an RAX40 for a reasonable price, and there is legit support (at least for 4.9, but i've ogtten the driver to build and load for 4.14)

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