I'm watching for the release of the ASUS RT-AC5300 to see what the reviewers say. Spendy. Looks like a dead spider. But the specs look oh so nice... It even appears that whenever my Crapcast connection goes down I can tether my cell phone directly to the router instead of having to tether it to the computer.
I am sure it will be a great choice..If my current ASUS RT-N65U dies tomorrow, I already know what to get next.
Old thread, New info:
Backdoored D-Link Router Should be Trashed, Researcher Says
https://threatpost.com/backdoored-d-...r-says/120979/According to Kim, both SSH and telnet run by default in the D-Link router. On top of that, two backdoor accounts, which can be used to bypass HTTP authentication, also exist. The router also suffers from default passwords – the password for admin is “admin” while the password for the root account is “1234.”
In addition to the backdoor accounts, a backdoor in the device’s software also exists. If an attacker sends a string, “HELODBG,” to the router’s UDP port, it allows root access in telnet.
The router also suffers from a hardcoded PIN in its Wi-Fi Protected Setup that can be gathered from the either the router’s App Manager program or its HostAP configuration tool, according to Kim. If for some reason an attacker didn’t want to use the hardcoded WPS PIN, they could easily generate their own temporary PIN. The algorithm the software uses is so weak that the researcher claims it’d be trivial for an attacker to generate valid WPS PIN suites and brute force them.
The credentials needed to contact the firmware’s over the air (FOTA) server, or access a dynamic DNS No-IP account, are also hardcoded, and the device’s HTTP daemon is also chock full of vulnerabilities, including two remote code execution bugs, Kim said.
The router’s UPnP permission rules are misconfigured, too. That means an attacker could forward traffic from the wide area network (WAN) to the local area network (LAN).
TPLink tl-wr1043nd is doing great job for me last couple of years. Great signal all over the place, protection on very good level. It's older model but with new FW.
Hi there
One of the most important pieces of technology that I'm surprised hasn't been incorporated into Wifi technology - at least for things like wifi cards etc is hardware encryption of the wifi signal - some key using the Mac address or equivalent between Router and wifi card would afford decent protection.
With powerful Wifi signals sent half way across the City - you only need some clever but nasty bozos to capture the signal, and with a data analyser can get passwords etc as on normal wifi everything is sent in Plaintext.
You are usually OK from the CABLE / Fibre box to and from ISP but it's the wifi signal that is a security nightmare -- Things like data analysers are ridiculously easy to get on the normal open market - no "Dark Web" needed.
I'd advise people NEVER to do online Banking or buy stuff on the web using Wifi. The better hotels now often have LAN connections in the rooms and if your computer / tablet doesn't have a LAN card for about 5 USD you can get a good USB-->LAN adapter.
I'm really surprised that nobody seems to be interested in Wifi encryption -- if there was even 0.1% interest in this as the amount of often totally pointless discussions on what is the best A/V software there would be a solution.
Currently you can restrict connections to your network based on factors like Mac id of the card but that doesn't stop people from tracking your Wifi data which is a greater risk than having somebody attempt to penetrate your network which is much more easily detectable.
Fortunately most wifi signals aren't that strong - but with some of these mega powerful wifi signals coming from the latest batch of hardware it's high time IMO this area was looked at seriously --wifi encryption.
Cheers
jimbo
Public hot spots are worst. I'm sing a data plan for my phone, second card for 3G internet only, 2GB a month is more than enough for any on-the-go internet I could ever use, cheap, safe and faceless, it's a prepaid service not tied to any name or person.
Hi there
Even if the router has some sort of encryption the data sent by your wifi card can still be picked up --it's a RADIO transmitter as well as a receiver - so if it's transmitting anybody with the appropriate receiver can pick it up. Similarly the router acts as both transmitter and receiver so it's obviously not impossible to crack this stuff if you are of that mindset. So at which point does the wifi data transmitted from your Wifi card actually get encrypted.
3 / 4G phone services are the best here -- the phone companies usually have a tight rein on Hacks etc. IMO as CountMike says for on the go internet when you need to have some sort of security use a cheap 3/4 G phone plan -- in most places you can get 2GB of data a month quite cheaply now on phone networks --I'm sure most people don't want to download a full 4K UHD movie on a mobile phone.
Public wifi is OK for things like internet streaming, watching footie etc - just don't do any financial transactions on it.
Note also even if there is some sort of encryption on wifi - it's possible for people using the signal from your wifi card to create a "peer to peer" network -- and then you are in Total trouble.
Really my advice is NEVER use wifi for any internet transaction that involves Money -- if you don't have access to a wired network use your phone for these - using the 3 / 4G connection NOT the wifi.
Cheers
jimbo
Last edited by jimbo45; 02 Oct 2016 at 04:30.
A lot depends on how strong your wifi signal actually is. I can pick up 2 or 3 dozen signals in my house most of the time, but none other than mine is strong enough to be useful even if I could get into them. I'm thinking my neighbors are in a similar situation with signals from my router. It might be different if I were living in an apartment building. Anyway, the only PC I use for financial dealings is connected to the router via cable.
I have the ASUS RT-AC68P. My internet is through a cable company. I stream movies and shows on 2 TV's plus I have an IPAD and 2 cells phones on the WIFI. My laptop is wired along with my printer and magic jack phone service. Reception is good and no lag when streaming. :)
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