Are Speedtouch 5x6i only for ISDN?

I found small print mention on a Thomson website that the 'i' suffix Speedtouch routers are for ISDN lines. Does this mean they work ONLY on those lines?
If so it would seem surprising, as so many outlets market these routers without any such comment.
I think this was a non-UK Thomson site so maybe that makes a difference?

In some places in Europe they do ADSL over ISDN, but this is very unlilkely to happen here.

maybe somebody thinks it looks better with an i on the end. Check if it supports Annex A (POTS/PSTN) to be sure.

A long time ago, I asked Speedtouch what the significance was in the "i" and was told that that was the ISDN version of the router. If I wanted a standard ADSL router, I'd need to check that it was for POTS (Annex A). When ordering from a retailer, the POTS product would be shown without an "i", therefore.

Digging around a bit it seems that these routers often come in retail boxes with the designation "5x6(i), but what is in the box can be either variety. It is the plate on the router which gives its exact type. Confusing.

I bought a 546 ADSL router in August last. The box it came in had no "i" designation on it at all, so what you've observed isn't universal. Instead, mine just says "Speedtouch 516/536/546". The retailer and the end-purchaser then have to look on a white label on the side of the box, to see which one of those it is.

What the retailer can't tell at all from the box is whether the router inside is a v4, v5, or v6, except by opening up the box and looking at the router itself.

I'd certainly agree that Thomson Speedtouch dropped a real clanger in the way they've described the various models on their websites and especially their confusing packaging.

So it is not even consistently inconsistent! The one I have is in a 546(i) box but is the PSTN ADSL version.

Edited by jupiter (Mon 06-Nov-06 16:28:46)

I think the usage by Thomson is consistent:
5xy POTS version
5xyi ISDN version
5xy(i) applies to both or could be either

The problem comes when someone includes the "i" without the brackets (well, it's only punctuation, and we all know that has no impact on meaning...) when not specifically referring to the ISDN version. The suffix "i" is almost always a good thing in a car model number - surely it must refer to a go faster router too!

Any UK user referring in this forum to his 5xyi router can normally be assumed to have made a mistake.

Yup. Frankly, Speedtouch's version descriptions and packaging labeling are a complete mess.