Hi all, first post after lurking & searching.. 

In a nutshell, I was looking at upgrading the TG585 v8 that Telecom supplied - but trialling a couple of alternatives has not really yielded much joy - in fact, stats & speed wise (all other factors being equal) it's a step backwards so... I was wondering if there are any settings that I should be checking into to make sure I'm not missing something vital?

Details.
TG585 V8 stats
ITU-T G.992.5; 
downstream: 13275 kbit/s, 
upstream: 1033 kbit/s; 
output Power Down: 17.5 dBm, 
Up: 12.0 dBm; 
line Attenuation Down: 5.0 dB, 
Up: 3.0 dB; 
snr Margin Down: 12.0 dB, 
Up: 12.0 dB

On speed test I get around 11M down and 0.8M up - ish.

Changing to an alternative unit (I'll leave the model out of this discussion for the time being*)
downstream: 7612 kbit/s, 
upstream: 921 kbit/s;  
line Attenuation Down: 8.5 dB, 
Up: 2.5 dB; 
snr Margin Down: 17.0 dB, 
Up: 11.5 dB Speedtest shows about 6M down 0.6-0.7M up - ish.

As mentioned, all things infrastructure wise, are equal (same port, same cable, even the same power point the router gets plugged into) but I am fairly certain that I'm missing something in the setup of the router somewhere. I've matched all of the settings that I have for Telecom and the TG585 (eg user, password, dns settings, making sure its G.992.5 Annex A). I'm a bit clueless in general, but not a total novice and I've double-triple checked I have what I know to be right is right on the new router. 

So I guess my query is two fold.
1) Is it just down to the fact Telecom have control over the provisioning of the TG585 that you can expect better performance (as its a known quantity / works with their network better)? or;
2) Should I expect at least similar stats / speed with any ADSL2+ device if set up correctly?

I'm guessing the latter and hence I've probably messed up a setting somewhere - any tips for buried settings I should check etc?

Oh, couple of other bits of info to note if helpful. I'm in an ADSL2+ / VDSL location (Cabinet TIS/V from what I can tell), and we have a master splitter installed which is currently being run to single jack which is the first point after the demarc in the basement.

Thanks in advance

(* mainly as I'm not asking for specific vendor configuration guidance per se, more a general 'good practice' settings checklist which can be applied to any potential brand of router..)