Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
jahed.dev
Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
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Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#2> I had to move away from Asus as they didn't provide a good hardware solution for 4G
Surely a 4G USB dongle would work fine in a linux router such as those from Asus?
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#3Huawei AX3 does something similar. As does any Xfinity router (but I think you can turn that off) but the Xfinity mesh is actually pretty decent if you have a subscription. Similarly, in Vietnam HCMC you can connect to wifi anywhere in the city because every telco/isp router creates a mesh like Xfinity. It's not a bad idea: having wifi network everywhere, but I suspect 5G will obviate this need. Wouldn't surprise me if home routers became a thing of the past in some areas if 5G delivers.
FYI: `airodump-ng` is a great way to see whats going on with any new router since it hops channels.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#4The security model for this doesn't look utterly broken. Seems that you need to go into the main router and "add" the mesh nodes. They obviously appear there by attaching to these hidden networks.
But since this is configuration-free, that suggests that the mesh devices store a single static key for these networks and can join any such network. Whatever protocols exposed on that interface better not have any security problems, or you'll have a backdoor.
You could make this somewhat secure by having a TPM in the mesh device that signs a challenge-response to get the hidden network key by MAC-address, but that seems too complicated.
They could simply having the mesh endpoints broadcast a proprietary AP, and 'adding' by joining that network from the primary device and setting configuration.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#5Unrelated but kind of related: I stopped looking at TP-Link routers(and other cheap chinese routers) as soon as their android app required registration: obviously for legal reasons due to all the "good-faith telemetry"[surely not shady at all], etc.
Disgusting.. ended up paying more for an asus router(related to the article: not needing 4g/5g), not perfect or made in the west nor enterprise-tier but good enough for home usage, also pretty decently supported by open firmware solutions.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#6So after the Ubiquiti debacle I went out and looked for a similar combination (solid hardware + not-too-annoying software). After briefly considering Mikrotik (which has issues with ac (wifi 5) and no ax (wifi 6) support) I settled on Grandstream for now. They don't just make phones but a small set of fairly nicely featured wifi APs for ok prices. Hardware seems solid, Software not annoying.
I've bought a few pieces from TP-Link when I was a poor student, not too bad as far as datasheet-specs per dollar goes, but the firmware was always exactly the kind of trashfire you'd expect and the hardware exactly what you paid for (not much). Definitely the kind of device you have to try real hard to fake your surprise when you find dozens of unpatched CVEs and no firmware updates.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#7Huawei AX3 does something similar. As does any Xfinity router (but I think you can turn that off) but the Xfinity mesh is actually pretty decent if you have a subscription. Similarly, in Vietnam HCMC you can connect to wifi anywhere in the city because every telco/isp router creates a mesh like Xfinity. It's not a bad idea: having wifi network everywhere, but I suspect 5G will obviate this need. Wouldn't surprise me…
The public hotspot systems are actually much "worse" in terms of the overheads the author wrote about.
With a couple of unused SSIDs, they're just sending out a simple 802.11 beacon frame every so often and that's it. The energy cost and disruption to surrounding networks/channels must be minimal.
With a hotspot, not only do you have regular network traffic flowing and causing more potential interference, your router/modem is also using more power to process the traffic and modulate that signal into the wireline side. At least one estimate I found would be around $23/year of 24/7 use of the hotspot network (it may be less with newer hardware, article is from 2014) https://www.extremetech.com/computing/185560-new-report-illu...
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#8I'm the one who made the original observation of the hidden network in the TP-link forum: https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/170160
Took a long time until TP-Link offered a firmware update to disable the mesh functionality. Happy to see the issue mentioned here.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#9I have been more than happy with both my tp-link AX50 and tp-link AX11000.
The most stable routers and best router firmware that I’ve owned.
Re: Hidden Networks in TP-Link Routers
#10Not sure what they mean by "build my own router", it's easy enough to flash open firmware on a lot of tp-link models. https://download1.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads/betas/2021/1...