How to activate the multi user / router functionality of a Thomson ST 546v6

I'm not responsible for any damages to your computer or modem that occurs by following this guidance. In fact I do not assume that there'll be any problems or even damages but do not follow these instructions if you do not know what you are doing.

Step by step guidance:
1. Go to thomson-broadband.co.uk and download the latest firmware release. At the moment of this writing the latest version was Firmware 6.2 (Mirror). There is already a version 7 available but I'm quite sure version 6.x will be fine for your needs.

2. Download the upgrade wizard of release 5.4 (Mirror) on the same site. The upgrade wizard is a Windows applications which connects to the modem and flashes the new firmware.

3. Extract the downloaded upgrade wizard (named 'Upgrade_Wizard_54.zip' here) and copy the firmware image (named '5x6v6_62H5_UK.bin' here) to the extracted folder 'Upgrade_Wizard_54\Builds'. Important for ST 546v5 users: IIRC versions greater or equal to 6.2 are not compatible with a Thomson ST 546v5.

4. Execute the upgrade wizard 'upgradeST.exe' and follow the instructions. The application will search for the modem and will connect to it. Then you have to select the firmware image, to press "Next" and to wait until the setup wizard has finished the upgrade operation.

5. You have to connect to the modem and to upload the needed templates (in this case for Austria) now. First download the pppe5x6_austria.tpl I created and save it somewhere on your harddisk - the path to the file should not be long because you'll need it afterwards.

After the upgrade the modem has the IP address 192.168.1.254 so you have to change your IP address to 192.168.1.x to be able to access it. Press Windows key + R to invoke the "run as" dialog, type "cmd" and press Enter to execute the command line.

Type in following commands - I hope it's clear that you have to hit Enter after each line.

ftp 192.168.1.254
Administrator

bin
cd dl
put $path_to_file\pppe5x6_austria.tpl [Enter]
quit
exit

'Administrator' is the username of the admin and "" (space) is the password for this user.

6. The last step is to visit modem's web interface and to configure some stuff that the modem's always dials in its own.

a) Point your browser to and click the menu "SpeedTouch".
b) Click the link "Set Up" below and continue with clicking "Next". Choose Austria here and click again "Next".
c) Then you have to pick the protocol PPPoA and to enter your username and password for the internet connection.
d) Choose "private" on the next step and change the IP addresses if you want to. I think they'll be fine for the most people.
e) Activate DHCP is you want and click "Next" and "Start" to finish the setup.

After this configuration the modem should dial in on its own and you should be able to browse the Internet without creating a VPN connection from your host. Now you have also activated several further features like a DHCPd, a firewall setup tool etc..

Have phun.