Netgear WNR1000v3 - New Firmware

[#1]

I'm finding the wireless performance to be pretty poor on this router, although I am limited to where I can position it in my house. I used wi-fi scanner on my phone to see if the channel I was using was too crowded (6) but I was the only network in the range using that channel. I switched to channel 4 and things improved. This morning it was bad again (couldn't stream 1080p video to my phone in the next room) so I switched channel again to 8 this time and it's fine. Since changing to the new firmware V1.0.2.54_60.0.82NA I am locked to North America and the only speed setting I have is upto 54mbps.
Pete.

[#2]

I finally decided to upgrade my firmware from the version supplied by Plusnet almost two years ago: 1.0.2.30_53.0.66B1 - a version that doesn't exist on the Netgear support site.
The current version for regions outside North America is 1.0.2.60_60.0.86WW
If you want to find it quickly, the page is here: http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/other/# - you'll need to enter WNR1000v3 as the model number. The site asks you to register in order to download, but you can 'continue without registering' and you'll get the same file, which needs unzipping once you've downloaded it.
The upgrade went well and all my settings were preserved as far as I can tell. There's just one potential problem that I've found:
If you choose the 'Basic' tab in the new interface then click on 'Internet', under the heading 'Internet IP address' there's a choice of 'Get Dynamically from ISP' or 'Use Static IP Address'. In my case, the static option was checked, even though I'd previously taken my address from Plusnet. I clicked on 'Get Dynamically..', then 'Apply' and the router did a disconnect/reconnect. So far, so good, and the new connection was fine. However, on the Basic/Internet router control page, the 'Use Static IP Address' setting was still checked. I can't change it.
The address in the box next to that setting is shown as <blank> . unde: . unde: . unde:
The real IP address can be seen in the 'Advanced/Home' page, so there's no big problem - I think. I'm assuming that if the connection is reset from the Plusnet/BT end the router will still pick it up, but I'll have to wait and see.
Oh, and there's a minor problem that the user guide hasn't been updated to reflect the new interface - at least I think that's the case. The user guide's filename contained 'Oct2010', so I didn't download it.
Graham
(Edit: corrected typo.)

[#3]

I reported the issue described in my last message (can't change 'Use static IP address' setting even though the IP address is taken dynamically) to Netgear support. Sadly, all I got back was a standard message, made up of prefabricated parts, telling me how to reset and reconfigure the router. It began "We understand that you cannot connect to the internet", which isn't the case and isn't what I told them.
Ah well. I tried.
Graham

[#4]

The standard advice to do a reset to factory default settings is in case the old stored settings are not fully compatible with the new firmware. Otherwise you don't know if your problem is due to a bug in the new firmware version or because the settings format was changed slightly and they're not completely compatible.

[#5]

OK - thanks.
I'm not going to do a reset now, as I don't think I have a problem, other than with the interface of the Internet Settings page. However, if in future I find that I can't get a new WAN IP address after a reconnect from the Plusnet/BT end I'll try a reset.
Graham

[#6]

ive been having so many issues with wireless connectivity for the past few days and then looked at my firmware and realised i was in the usa region. So out of the blue i decided to downgrade to the latest worldwide firmware version then changed my region to uk and my wireless problems were no more.