groovyman 0 Posted July 5, 2012 Seems that certain Cisco (Linksys) routers are shipped with automatic updating turned on (or was turned on by the end user). Last week Cisco sent a firmware update that did a lot more than just update the firmware. Read the linked articles below for the full story. The affected models appear to be the EA4500, EA3500 and EA2700. From now on I will no longer purchase Cisco routers, I don't care how much apologizing and backpedaling they do and I also don't care that it affects a just small group of routers. I think this is completely irresponsible and I can no longer recommend their product. It's going to take them a long time to live this down. Linksys firmware upgrade for Wi-Fi routers angers some users http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228687/Linksys_firmware_upgrade_for_Wi_Fi_routers_angers_some_users Cisco Changes Privacy Policy for Linksys Routers After Uproar http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/258694/cisco_changes_privacy_policy_for_linksys_routers_after_uproar.html Cisco Connect Cloud chaos http://www.zdnet.com/cisco-connect-cloud-chaos-7000000282/ Users enraged by Cisco's cloudy 'upgrade' to Linksys routers http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/02/cisco_router_firmware_update_too_cloudy_for_some/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Birdman Adam 0 Posted July 5, 2012 This is disgusting. I will never buy cisco again. Now, is my Linksys WRT54GS affected? I will probably switch to DD-WRT soon either way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted July 5, 2012 I just picked up a pair of ASUS RT-N12s for $48 each... WRT'd them, added them to my WDS network based off my WRT'd RT-N16... everything's peachy. And yeah, I have a WRT'd old 54G in the mix as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted July 5, 2012 I am afraid this is only round one from cisco They are coming out with a line of switches that has non-standard (rj-45) connectors so they will be pushing everything to that platform cameras phones etc. I think they want only cisco devices plugged into cisco switches Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Birdman Adam 0 Posted July 5, 2012 Looks like Cisco is down the toilet. Every once in a while I see companies go on pointless rampages like this. Oh well. They are useless, old, slow people. Many companies are providing a better service at a much better price! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dustmop 0 Posted July 5, 2012 I hope the backlash they receive from this teaches them something. And they better not screw with the commercial/enterprise grade hardware! For SO/HO hardware, DD-WRT or bust! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groovyman 0 Posted July 5, 2012 I've been using a WRT54G w/ DD-WRT for years. The WRT54GL is still available in the market, but because of this fiasco I will not buy Cisco/Linksys product for a long while. There's too much competition out there. What a way to tarnish a reputation and kill a brand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike_va 0 Posted July 5, 2012 Man, I saw this and was amazed... I was done with Linksys after my last purchase an E2000 did not even work until it had a firmware update! Only reason I got that was dyndns built in (which no longer works), now I think I'm just going to DD-WRT my WRT54... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted July 6, 2012 DD-WRT is quite useful, I've been using it for years for DDNS, VPN tunnel, usage graphing, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmoore 0 Posted July 9, 2012 I've been a big user DD-WRT for years and it's good. If you want some really amazing firewall/VPN/etc software, I suggest checking out pfSense: http://www.pfsense.org/ You can run it on an old PC, in standalone hardware or even VM's. David Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
