The Dovado UMR firmware timeline

We are often asked why we have chosen to sell the Dovado USB Mobile Broadband Router (UMR) among the many 3G routers on the market. There are a few factors that made the Dovado UMR stand out for us, including the high level of customer satisfaction, Dovado’s proactive style of customer support and, not least, the frequency of their firmware updates to extend the range of supported modems and introduce many new exciting features.

This article aims to document the rapid progression of the Dovado UMR firmware since the product’s launch in June 2008.

v1.0, June 2008, Dovado UMR launched

• Support for 5 modems included in the initial release.

v1.2, 6 August 2008

• Support for 6 new modems added
• Dial string support to handle CDMA as opposed to GPRS/HSPA

v2.0.2, 7 November 2008

• Support for another 7 new modems added
• SMS mailbox: send/receive text messages on the UMR
• Connection tracker: keep your internet connection alive
• WAN port enabled
• WPA2 enterprise: WLAN authentication via RADIUS

v2.1.1, 25 November 2008

• 1 new modem added
• upload speeds boosted
• NETWORK SETTINGS comes with optimal settings on pre-configured profiles
• WAN port enabled
• WPA2 enterprise: WLAN authentication via RADIUS

v3.0, 3 March 2009

• 3 more modems added
• SMS remote control: send SMS requests to UMR to restart, connect, disconnect, status, etc.
• SMS event notifications: configure the UMR to send an SMS when particular events occur
• SMS traffic reports: get reports via SMS on traffic consumption this calendar month
• Home automation: use TellStick with UMR to control household devices over internet
• Connection Status Overview Bar
• Network Time Protocol (NTP) synchronisation: used to keep track of your monthly traffic consumption
• Custom WAN port MAC address
• Show hosts on LAN
• Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) supported: allows you to host VPN server behind UMR
• Swedish and German language support added to configuration wizard

v3.0.3, 27 April 2009

• Support for a whopping 15 new modems added
• Resolved a number of issues related to features introduced with v3.0

v3.0.5, 4 June 2009

• Support for 5 new modems added
• Traffic consumption report now has more intervals (2.5GB and 5GB)
• Response to STATUS remote control command improved
• Custom DNS entries now allowed (e.g. to use OpenDNS)
• Norwegian, Polish and Finnish language support in configuration wizard.

v4.0, 10 August 2009

• Support for the very latest “HSPA+” modems, 9 new modems added
• GPS tracking (requires GPS dongle)
• Wake-on-LAN
• Telnet API for SMS, HTTP and Home Automation
• Internet Traffic Consumption notification via e-mail
• Monthly traffic counter reset date can be adjusted (default was first day of month).
• Traffic counter can be reset manually.
• Entire configuration can be saved/restored.
• SMS Phonebook, practical for saving phone numbers when sending out an SMS.
• Optional offline mode by default for USB modem Internet connectivity. Modem won’t connect until manually instructed to (via web or SMS) do so.
• User interface idle time-out period raised from 5 minutes to 10.
• Updated Linux kernel and WLAN driver.

v4.0.1, 7 September 2009

• support for 5 new modems added
• TEST EMAIL button (for testing outgoing SMTP mail server).
• GPS position now includes additional digits (seconds) for improved positioning accuracy
• UPNP has been corrected.
• Active FTP method has been implemented.
• Port Forwarding beyond port 65000 now visible in GUI.
• Disconnect/Connect user interface button working on all UMTS modems within MODEM->MODEM STATUS page.
• ZTE modems compatibility improved.
• Home Automation scheduler
• Support for blank spaces between words within APN field.

v4.0.2, 22 September 2009

• NOTE: Improved stability. Corrected a major issue where UMR can ‘crash’ and remain unresponsive until a manual power restart has taken place.
• Corrected an error message on the INTERNET->WAN PORT SETTINGS page when switching between manual and DHCP settings.
• Support for Sierra Wireless Compass 597 (Sprint) added
• Limited support for Huawei E182e
• Added ‘None’ as alternative to authentication method on the MODEM->PPP page (may speed up connection time)
• IP address is displayed in ‘Connection Up’ SMS notifications

v4.1.0, 15 December 2009

• Support for 11 new modems added, including some HSPA+ (i.e. exceeding 7.2Mbps download speeds), namely:
  • BandLuxe C170
  • Huawei E161
  • Huawei E1762
  • Huawei E510
  • Nokia CS-10
  • Nokia CS-15
  • Option GlobeSurfer® iCON 322
  • Sierra Wireless AirCard USB 302
  • Sierra Wireless AirCard USB 306 (21Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up)
  • Vodafone K3765
  • ZTE MF668 (Rogers Canada) (21Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up)
• GPS position can now be updated in real-time using GPSD
• Choose the Google map type (Hybrid, Satellite, Terrain, Road) to use with GPS
• Sunrise/Sunset event scheduling for home automation. Your geographical position is either entered manually or detected automatically if GPS is enabled. Sunrise/Sunset times are displayed on the Status Overview if position is known.
• You can now randomise the minutes component of scheduled home automation, for more realistic anti-burglary impact
• Extra wireless socket controllers supported for use with the “blue TellStick” (TellStick 2.0), namely: Everflourish (not self-learning!) Rising Sun, Arctech and Brateck.
• Support added for Gembird’s directly wired USB-controlled electrical sockets. Use Web interface, API, SMS and scheduling to control.
  

  Gembird SIS-PM

  

  Gembird mSIS-PM (1 socket)

• Verified to work with the DovTelCon (Dovado Tellstick Control) API program developed by Daniel Buecke (Thanks Daniel!!) This Windows system bar utility allows you to quickly take control of all your home automation devices locally or from remote.
• With 4.1.x firmware, Dovado now also provide a Windows-based utility to apply the firmware upgrade from your PC without having to login to the browser-based configuration inteface.
• When enabling Remote Management, you can now specify hostnames in your white-list as opposed to just numerical IP addresses. This will be useful if you use Dynamic DNS at the remote management location.
• You can now access the API features from the Internet as opposed to just from the LAN. You can enable/disable the API features which can be accessed over the internet.
• You can view which LAN->UPNP ports are in use
• You can now disable ping responses to ICMP requests from the Internet. Available from SYSTEM->NETWORK SETTINGS
• You can specify a Network Time Protocol server (NTP)
• Daylight savings is an option on the NTP settings.
• If you send a Connection Up SMS command you get more info if the Connection Tracker is enabled
• multiple VPN sessions behind the UMR are now supported
• Navigation between setup pages has been optimised in speed terms.

v4.1.1, 17 December 2009

This was just a single bugfix release hot on the heels of v4.1.0

• Restored the correct behaviour of “allow all hosts” condition for remote management when the hosts field is blank.

v4.1.2, 10 February 2010

The focus of this firmware release was to provide SMS functionality for modems that prove challenging in this respect.

• 11 more modems fully supported, namely:
  • 4G-System XSStick W14
  • Alcatel One Touch X030
  • Alcatel One Touch X060s
  • Huawei E122 (3 Denmark)
  • Huawei E182e (recommend USB modem firmware update)
  • Huawei E1820 (recommend USB modem firmware update)
  • Longcheer WM71
  • Sony Ericsson MD300
  • Sony Ericsson MD400
  • Vodafone K4505
  • ZTE MF662 (OTE Greece, 21Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up)
• You can select your preferred SMS access method: SIM / Modem / Auto. The recommendation if you’re having SMS problems is to both SIM and Modem modes explicitly and test by sending an SMS.
• The following modems now have SMS functionality:
  • 4G-System XSStick W14
  • Alcatel One Touch X030
  • Alcatel One Touch X060s
  • Huawei E182e (recommend USB modem firmware update for Swedish TRE customers)
  • Huawei E1820 (recommend USB modem firmware update for Swedish Tele2 customers)
  • Longcheer WM71
  • Sony Ericsson MD300
  • Sony Ericsson MD400
  • Vodafone K4505
  • Vodafone K3765
• The Network Time Protocol (NTP) server can be specified as host or numerical IP address and it can reside on the LAN subnet.
• Resolved DHCP issue that occurred in WAN mode with Cisco networks.
• Fixed issue with Dynamic DNS passwords containing !”#?=)(
• Fixed issue on required fields on the email notifications settings screen.
• Fixed issue on simultaneous triggering of multiple Nexa home automation receivers.
• Wake-On-LAN (WOL) aliases can now supported on the UMR API.
• SMS enabled for home automation on Rising Sun, Arctech and Brateck receivers.
• Sanity checks between port-forwarding rules and selected remote management port.

v4.1.3, 19 February 2010

This was a bugfix release, resolving the following issues:

• Remote management stability
• Restored support for the Novatel modems MC930D and MC950D
• MTU problem for Option modems

v4.1.5, 25 March 2010

This firmware update introduced a pre-configured database of APN settings selected via dropdown lists of countries and mobile operators in the configuration wizard and modem settings screen. The countries included in the APN database are:

• Canada
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Italy
• Kuwait
• Norway
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Sweden
• Syria
• UK
• USA

There were a couple of bugfixes in this release, namely:

• a fix for an issue related to Sirf mode on the Globalsat BU-353 GPS
• and a fix for a problem, where the Connection Tracker wasn’t executing “Reboot and Redial” correctly upon failure

Two new modems were added in this release:

• Novatel Wireless U998/MC998D (Bell Canada)
• Sierra Wireless 309

v4.1.6, 9 April 2010

This was a bugfix release, resolving an issue with the Network Time Protocol (NTP) clock.

v4.2.0, 19 May 2010

This major firmware release includes a number of new Home Automation features, SMS developments that enable SMS functionality on “difficult” Sierra modems and support for six new modems.
The new Home Automation features are as follows:

• You can now group appliances under aliases, e.g. you could use this to control appliances on a room-by-room basis
• support for the NEXA brand of wireless wallplug dimmers
• you can now Dim-Over-Time (DOT) in the Home Automation Scheduler
• Everflourish (GOA) and NEXA self-learning wireless wallplug receivers now supported

The following areas have been improved:

• SMS functionality is now supported on Sierra modems 302, 306, 309, 888 and 889. The latter pair require K2 Sierra Wireless firmware to benefit from this improvement.
• Cosmetic improvements to the configuration screens
• Fail-over support on the Connection Tracker
• Improved settings protection in the event of power failure while saving settings

The six new modems supported are:

• D-Link DWM-156
• Option 505m
• STC-U720 (Sweden Telecom)
• Vodafone K3765-Z
• Anydata 555c (MTS India)
• Epivally SEC-8089 (TATA Photon India)

v4.2.1, 1 June 2010

This release brings support for 8 new modems plus SMS support for 2 modems already supported (ZTE’s MF662 and MF668). The new modems supported are:

• BandLuxe C321
• Huawei E1752
• Huawei UMG181
• ProMate eGo.5
• T-Mobile 120 (ZTE MF626 rebrand)
• Vodafone K4505-Z
• ZTE MF102
• ZTE MF110

Other fixes/enhancements are as follows:

• PIN code issue resolved on Nokia USB modems
• Fixed Home Automation SMS and case sensitivity (now you can send “bedroom on” as well as “BeDrOOm on”)
• Added support for adding Everflourish and Proove devices via the API

v4.2.2, 3 June 2010

A quick fix release to deal with a cosmetic error on Home Automation (Manual Control)

v4.2.3, 22 June 2010

This release adds Finland to the list of countries included in the dropdown APN database and fixes a few issues, namely:

• Fix for self-learning non-dimming NEXAs
• Huawei E122 now operates in full power mode
• The “all” group in Home Automation rebuilds itself when a new device is added through the API
• Improved Wake-On-LAN
• Fixed Bandluxe C100s/C120 running with PIN code

v4.2.4, 5 July 2010

This release adds support for the ZAIN modem ZTE MF633 and updates support for the D-Link DWM-156 modem to handle latest modem firmware. There is also a bugfix on the Home Automation Scheduler.