[ale] If at first you don't succeed...

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi Leam,

I like mid-line to upper-end Netgear and Asus products.  Some Asus routers were revealed to be vulnerable to a wan side attack a few months ago.  I don't know if they ever patched that.  My Asus is not facing the internet at the moment.  I can get you model numbers if you want.  There was a big fiasco not long ago with Cisco / Linksys forcing users to use a remote control panel and taking away their control without the users having a choice.  Unless you set up an account on their remote management website, you couldn't control the router.  The company eventually relented, but I don't trust them.  

I recommend you test any router you get at the GRC Shields up service.  This will let you determine if you have any common open ipv4 ports.  It will also let you see if it's vulnerable to an external upnp attack.

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Unless you need it, I would make sure remote admin and upnp are turned off in the router's control panel.  Remote admin usually defaults to off and upnp usually defaults to on.  Sometimes the routers are vulnerable to external upnp attack even with the control panel setting off.  Of course, update to the router's firmware to the latest firmware on install and put in a long snarky admin password.

Device selection also depends on whether you want to flash custom firmware.  I think some asus routers support open-wrt but don't remember for sure.

Sincerely,

Ron

 

Leam Hall <leamhall at gmail.com> wrote:

>quit mumbling about the ISP and make sure you're not trying to use a 
>crossover cable between your cable modem and your internal router...
>
>New cable modem in place. Netgear wireless router in place but needs a 
>serious update, only uses WEP. Eek! Comcast tech support not bad at
>all.
>
>I need to start the hunt for a wireless router. Is the WRT54 still the 
>way to go, or something else? I'd like to have access to it. Mostly to 
>learn.
>
>Leam
>
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(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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