Don't care, he should still do a manual update and try resetting it.
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My family are with TalkTalk, they're not that bad. It's actually quite quick. xD
If the firmware was damaged the device would probably be bricked, the likelyhood of it corrupting the firmware peice that just so happen to control the downloading and installation of firmware is minimal.
In case you didn't notice, routers are basic computers. Computers do not need to 'brick' to have errors.
This may/will sound so silly but I recently had a similar problem and it wasn't until I accidently knocked my router onto the floor and the ariel came off, that I realsied the ariel had been loose all along :P. So basically, (assuming your ariel is detachable like mine), make sure that it is screwed in completely. This sorted my problem and was great!
Although if you still end up switching ISPs, I also reccomend O2. I found them to be the cheapest so I signed up with them at my student house. Don't think I had any problems with them :).
The HomeHub does not have an external aerial.
Why do people think switching ISP is the solution? A freakin' £20 router may fix his problem if a hard reset doesn't!