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Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

kb.netgear.com

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Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#131

Post by gabriel_shatana »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #109
gogopuppygogo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All low end proprietary network gear is going managed by cloud. Ubiquiti on the soho side and now consumer. Open source is the only equipment you can trust to not adopt this model as it’s much more profitable than shipping a box once every five years.

Why can't we have network equipment that's designed from the ground up to run open source router firmwares? When my ISP gives me new networking hardware, the first thing I do is look for ways to flash new firmware on it or put it into bridge mode.

There's librerouter actually, but Is more intended for mesh network scenarios.

https://librerouter.org/

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#132

Post by brigandish »

smcl wrote: post #107
httpsterio wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Arris box I currently have is a PITA to use. It takes several seconds to navigate between pages and its extremely illogical. I was just going to see if I can flash it with Openwrt or dd-wrt because it's just unusable.

I don't know if you realise it or not but "PITA" is almost the perfect expression to use for networking equipment by the name of "Arris": " Jonathon Green, a British slang lexicographer who authored The Vulgar Tongue: Green's History of Slang, told me that his favorite rhyming slang word is "arris," which means ass, because it actually goes through more than one round of partially-dropped rhyming. "Arris," he said, i…

Since he's British it should be "which rhymes with "arse", glass only rhymes with ass in the north of England and beyond, and even there they'd prefer arse over ass (a turn of phrase I hope to never use or see again!)

Can't get the journalists nowadays.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#133

Post by ClikeX »

userbinator wrote: post #72
duxup wrote: post #32

My new clothes washer has an app. It requires access to location, and phone settings or the app closes by design. I don't think this stuff stops without legislation.

Things like this are why I buy "dumb" equipment, which will remain obedient to you and not the manufacturer. My white goods are all many decades old. Washer and dryer are both entirely computer-free (mechanical controls) and don't even contain a single semiconductor (unless you count the indicator bulbs I replaced with LEDs.) Many people often think the house/life of a software developer is filled with "smart" things…

I buy "smarter" devices. Washing machines with better energy saving features. But I'll never buy "smart" appliances that require an internet connection.

My fridge just needs to keep my food cool. and I don't need to brew a cup of coffee from the bedroom.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#134

Post by m463 »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #49
nichos wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't legislate morals. Don't depend on the government to solve your problems, vote with your wallet.

You can't legislate morals, but you can successfully legislate many consumer-hostile practices out of existence. Germany was pretty successful when it came to many dark patterns trying to trick consumers into "agreeing" to "contracts".

I find europe more enlightened than the US when it comes to privacy, but I can't help but think things like the GDPR wouldn't have gone through if the companies doing it were domestic.

The US doesn't care at all, until it's huawei.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#135

Post by toyg »

duxup wrote: post #32

My new clothes washer has an app. It requires access to location, and phone settings or the app closes by design. I don't think this stuff stops without legislation.

On the other hand, a new firmware for my recent Brother printer added a bunch of cloud-based features that are pretty cool (scan to dropbox, etc). When done well, this sort of thing is great.

> I don’t think this stuff stops without legislation

I agree, but sadly I expect it would quickly boil down to “click OK to waive all your rights, which you really want in order to make the device actually do what you bought it for”.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#136

Post by m463 »

ethanwillis wrote: post #43

I was gonna buy a new DOCSIS 3.1 netgear modem for my gigabit service. Guess I won't be doing that now. I'm tired of this type of bullshit. It's exactly why I'm leaning really heavily towards Mikrotik for all of my networking gear at home. These types of devices are user hostile, bad for the environment, and set a precedent for a type of world we shouldn't want to live in.

I use mikrotik switches and run openwrt on them. rb2011 series and one rb750gl.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#137

Post by dkdk8283 »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #125
jchw wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran into a similar issue with a Linksys consumer router. Needless to say, that was back in the box and to the retailer in a new york minute. I ended up going with Ubiquiti equipment for now, since it was available locally. Much more expensive and complicated but Linksys convinced me it was worth any cost to get the hell away from them. But I will definitely be looking into the Turris Omnia, pfSense devices, and may…

Doesn't Ubiquiti require online registration, too? It was the first thing I had to do to set up my Unifi AP.

Ubiquiti does not require registration by default but it does collect and uploads data by default.

This is configuring the AP via CloudKey. Don’t know about other methods.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#138

Post by m463 »

zakki wrote: post #86

Why no backlash for iOS and Android? We have to register to use the devices.

I believe you no longer have to register your ios device - but it is a dark pattern. On the screen to enter your apple id, you don't have a "skip" choice, you have to say "don't have one" and I believe then you can skip setting up an apple id.

You can use it like a phone at that point - you can send text messages and make calls, but I don't believe you can install any apps.

That said - you must go online - turn on cellular data or wifi before you can use the phone, it must be "activated". And apple phones home a lot.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#139

Post by Silhouette »

jchw wrote: post #56
shock wrote: post #38

I recently bought a couple of Netgear Managed Switches (for Business)⁰ and in their datasheet they list "Local-only management" as a feature. Only after they arrived we discovered that you only get limited functionality in the Local-only management mode, you have to register the switches to your Netgear Cloud account to get access to the full functionality. Reading up on it, this was achieved only after a community o…

I ran into a similar issue with a Linksys consumer router. Needless to say, that was back in the box and to the retailer in a new york minute. I ended up going with Ubiquiti equipment for now, since it was available locally. Much more expensive and complicated but Linksys convinced me it was worth any cost to get the hell away from them. But I will definitely be looking into the Turris Omnia, pfSense devices, and may…

I ended up going with Ubiquiti equipment for now, since it was available locally.

Sadly, even Ubiquiti gear has recently been criticised for doing the built-in phone home thing.

Re: Netgear Firmware Requires Online Registration

#140

Post by [deleted] »

bserge wrote: post #93
userbinator wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like this are why I buy "dumb" equipment, which will remain obedient to you and not the manufacturer. My white goods are all many decades old. Washer and dryer are both entirely computer-free (mechanical controls) and don't even contain a single semiconductor (unless you count the indicator bulbs I replaced with LEDs.) Many people often think the house/life of a software developer is filled with "smart" things…

Damn, that's impressive. Sadly I've yet to see an old non-electronic washer or dryer still work. Just about everything is simply worn out, even the hoses crack and crumble. But they did last a long time compared to new stuff. Tbh, there's nothing wrong with electronics, "smart" doesn't mean it needs an Internet connection.

[deleted]
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