Setting up FTP service on TG582n

[#1]

hi all,
I'm struggling with the TG582n router that came with my luvverly new FTTC service.  The Thomson/Technicolor docs are gruesomely bad, and PN won't support this router except for the most basic get-connected stuff - understandable, but disappointing given how nightmarish it is to do anything "interesting" with the Technicolor routers.  This stuff was sooooo easy to do on my old Netgear ADSL router - the Technicolor one feels like a huge retrograde step.
Details: I want to expose an FTP server to the Internet (not for long, of course, for security reasons!).  The FTP server runs on one of my machines that has the static local IP address 192.168.1.3.  By default, the router assigns FTP service to its own internal FTP server at 192.168.1.253, serving files from a USB hard drive connected to the router; that's NOT what I want to do.
So I go to the appropriate GUI page, attempt to edit the FTP service IP address from ...253 to ...3, and get an error banner saying You Can't Do That.  And the ...253 FTP service has now been deleted too.
OK, next step: try the CLI (strong coffee first, of course).  Here's what I tried (not the #comments, of course!)...
# Can't seem to do anything much unless I delete the service first
service host delete "FTP Server"
# Start again
service host add name="FTP Server" mode=server
# Set up the service, same as it was before
service host rule add name=FTPserver portrange=21-21
service host rule add name=FTPserver portrange=21800-21805
# Now try to hook it to my chosen host
service host assign name=FTPserver host=192.168.1.3
# Which generates this error:
   Failed to assign service.
Any ideas?
And while we're at it... any idea why I can't restore settings to the TG582n from a file?  If I save the settings when the router is working normally, then immediately try to restore from the same file (so there should be no functional change),  the router hangs and needs a factory-reset.  Great.
Thanks in advance everyone.
Jonathan

[#2]

Hi Jonathan,
You should just be able to delete the existing game/application via the webpage, and then add a new one as normal via the webpage. Perhaps you could try this?
There is a way to backup the configuration, one of the pages of the router webpage has an option to dump the current configuration and restore a previous configuration.
Thanks,
Matt

[#3]

hi Matt, thanks for responding so quickly.

Quote

You should just be able to delete the existing game/application via the webpage, and then add a new one as normal via the webpage. Perhaps you could try this?

Did try, didn't work. Believe me, I'm not going hacking around in that ghastly CLI without good reason 
I was able to add other services (for example, SSH server) via the web interface just fine.  Only the FTP service caused trouble.  I'm fairly sure it's because the router itself has an FTP server, but I knew that and had tried to disable it.  Evidently I didn't use a big enough hammer 

Quote

There is a way to backup the configuration, one of the pages of the router webpage has an option to dump the current configuration and restore a previous configuration.

Yes, indeed.  Saving is fine - it produces an .ini file with all the expected gunk in it.  Restore, though, simply doesn't work - it bricks the router and I have to do a factory-reset.  Please note that this was on an UNMODIFIED .ini file that I had dumped from a working router only moments earlier.
Jonathan

[#4]

did you try that wired as it certainly won't work via wireless

[#5]

Quote from: Oldjim

did you try that wired as it certainly won't work via wireless

Most definitely wired.  I don't do wireless if I can possibly avoid it. 
Assuming "that" means reloading the configuration: of course I expected the connections all to drop for a while, but "a while" got to be rather a long time so I gave up and hit the factory reset instead...
Jonathan

[#6]

Hi
ive been trying to add ftp aswell but it wont let you, you can add the other services no problem
Need a fix for this as i often ftp for my work
Please fix
Cheers
Kev

[#7]

Quote from: kevhky

Hi ive been trying to add ftp aswell but it wont let you, you can add the other services no problem Need a fix for this as i often ftp for my work

So far, I worked around it by using scp, the secure copy protocol. You need a SSH server running at one end (I run open sshd under cygwin on my XP box) and any cygwin/*nix thing at the client end. Works a treat, though it won't help if you have some client that can only do ftp.
I'm with you, though: we need a fix for this. For averagely tech-savvy users like me, the Technicolor routers offer a grotesquely bad user experience. I'm on the lookout for a different router that will do what I tell it without a fight.
Jonathan