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Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

routersecurity.org

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Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#201

Post by genewitch »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #121
genewitch wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i hope so at $100-$125/port

> i hope so at $100-$125/port Ooof. pfSense on retired hardware is cheap, like free. Using them since 1.2.something. Mid 00's.

well, me too. I "wrote the book" - dsl|broadbandreports forum post - on how to set up ipcop and later pfsense on a virtual machine. However the old pfsense (my iso of that version is from 2010) doesn't support ipv6 correctly (if at all) - and the new version is DRM'd and owned by "netgate" and requires connectivity to install - which is something i can't provide in my environment, so i am unable to test all of the "new and improved" versions of the tools we knew and loved.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#202

Post by mixermachine »

fph wrote: post #169
jeroenhd wrote: post #8

My ISP sent over a Fritz!box (though they offered a "bring your own" option as well). It came preconfigured for my ISP. I turned off remote access and TR-069 through a toggle in the settings, then changed the admin password. Really, that's all you need to do to take control of one of these routers. There are good reasons to dislike the AVM routers, but their software is actually pretty solid in terms of customisation…

Can you upgrade the firmware when a Linux kernel bug gets fixed? If the answer is no, then it's not 100% your router.

There are some hacking tools for Fritzboxes out there but Avm themselves are pretty good at supporting their hardware for a long time. The 7490 was released in April 2013 and just received another security update (January 2025).

Quite a long support time.

To me they seem to be the best standard solution that can also be setup by a "beginner" user.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#203

Post by immibis »

stjo wrote: post #174
microtonal wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why the market needs some regulation. Here in The Netherlands, ISPs are required to offer free (as in freedom) modem/router choice. Not only can you replace the router, you can even use your own XGS-PON/AON/etc. SFP(+) module. For a while I had fiber running through an XGS-PON SFP module in my own Fritz!Box. Now I use the provider's ONT (which is just a fiber ethernet media converter) hooked up to a Unifi Clo…

You could also solve this with competition. If there were 10 ISPs it would be disadvantageous to give your customers reasons to leave you. Why aren’t there more ISPs? Maybe too many regulations. It is trivial to lay cable, except of course all the permits.

Because it's illegal to dig up the road without a permit and they won't give a permit to install new fiber when the road is already full of perfectly good unused fiber. They only grant one of those the first time.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#204

Post by wink »

mixermachine wrote: post #200
jiehong wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But internet in Germany is famously spotty and not great, at least compared to our neighbours the French or the Polish.

It's getting better. The situation is not ideal but very slow connections with <100 MBit/s are rare now.

I kinda disagree with everything here.

a) non-mobile internet has never been spotty unless you were on an overloaded vodafone cable connections, those are infamous

b) 50 MBit/s is not "very slow" for any reasonable definition

c) enough neighborhoods in bigger cities and probably also in more rural parts don't have more than 100. I'd need to see some proper source for that.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#206

Post by account42 »

microtonal wrote: post #147
OkGoDoIt wrote: post #21

I wish. I own my own modem and router, but Comcast won’t let me use them unless I pay a whole bunch of extra fees or accept a stupidly low monthly data cap. I’ve got my router downstream of theirs which is a bit annoying, especially considering their modem-router combo overheats and needs to be rebooted via unplugging power at least once a month. Sadly I have no other options here in San Francisco. My house is not wi…

This is why the market needs some regulation. Here in The Netherlands, ISPs are required to offer free (as in freedom) modem/router choice. Not only can you replace the router, you can even use your own XGS-PON/AON/etc. SFP(+) module. For a while I had fiber running through an XGS-PON SFP module in my own Fritz!Box. Now I use the provider's ONT (which is just a fiber ethernet media converter) hooked up to a Unifi Clo…

Here in Germany ISPs are also required to let you use your own router for free.

So instead of making you pay for that option they increase the base price and the provide discounts if you use the provided router. In the end you still end up paying more with your own router than with the provided one. And will probably have a worse support experience if there are ever any issues.

Do the laws in the Netherlands have teeth against such shenanigans?

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#207

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

OkGoDoIt wrote: post #21

I wish. I own my own modem and router, but Comcast won’t let me use them unless I pay a whole bunch of extra fees or accept a stupidly low monthly data cap. I’ve got my router downstream of theirs which is a bit annoying, especially considering their modem-router combo overheats and needs to be rebooted via unplugging power at least once a month. Sadly I have no other options here in San Francisco. My house is not wi…

Starlink?

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#208

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

jen20 wrote: post #168
disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the US is much less dense than a lot of Europe. Ireland has a similar density, and rural areas have pretty crummy coverage.

That explains why you can't get decent service in rural Montana, but not in San Francisco! The best fiber services around (other than Google) tends to be the municipal ones that don't give one of the big operators space to pull their bullshit though.

Yeah totally, it's not a perfect comparator, but given that the rest of Western Europe is much, much denser I thought that it was important to note.

The crummy service in cities apparently is due to regulatory capture, while the good EU service is again down to regulation, but in a much better way.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#209

Post by egberts1 »

tombert wrote: post #190
egberts1 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can bridge the Verizon directly into your own router. This is how I did it: https://egbert.net/blog/tags/verizon.html

I'll look into it. Just an FYI, it appears that the link you provided doesn't work in Chromium? Something to do with TLS...It does seem to work with Firefox.

Because Chrome client refuses to negotiate toward Cha-Cha-Poly algorithm in its TLS variant.

Even if the HTTP server (such as my website) demanded ONLY Cha-Cha-Poly.

Re: Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

#210

Post by zamadatix »

issafram wrote: post #101
zamadatix wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bridge mode for AT&T's fiber plans is notoriously shitty at just being a dumb bridge... but it does at least pass the IP through so you can port forward like a normal person would (the built in port forward is so ass backwards). My connection became significantly better (marginally better in max throughput, significantly better in connections/s, QoS, and jitter) when I went from "bridge" mode to replacing the ONT…

Got a link to that device? Also, does that break any AT&T terms of service? I don't want them to cancel my account.

Terms of service, probably. Never bothered to read it, I'm sure I break their terms of service 6 ways to Sunday. At the same time I've been doing this type of bypass with AT&T for years and never heard of anyone getting blocked for it either. I'm sure someone somewhere has though but I suspect they are much more interested in those abusing their connection or causing legal troubles than someone paying but silently using a different modem.

As for the one I'm currently using, https://pon.wiki/guides/masquerade-as-the-att-inc-bgw320-500...

There is a Discord "8311" which has a 10G-PON US channel for a community around this.

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