think twice about buying Linksys routers

[Giles Orr]

On 6 July 2012 10:11, Jamon Camisso <jamon.camisso-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On 06/07/12 07:21 AM, Colin McGregor wrote:
>> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 8:42 PM, D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh-pmF8o41NoarQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>>> <http://www.extremetech.com/computing/132142-ciscos-cloud-vision-mandatory-monetized-and-killed-at-their-discretion>
>>> You now have to ceded control to Linksys' cloud service.
>>
>> I don't have an issue with buying Linksys hardware. I would have a
>> problem with running Linksys software. In other words, I wouldn't get
>> Linksys hardware that I can't reflash to something like Tomato Linux
>> :-) .
>
> That's a terrifically *bad* way to reward a company. That's like saying
> I don't like your software, but here, take my money anyways and continue
> making poor executive decisions, and software.. That's like staying in a
> bad relationship with someone when you know everything about them except
> their physical appearance is incompatible with you..
>
> Also, tomato runs on more than just Linksys.

I'm inclined to agree that it would be better to vote with your money
and buy something not Linksys/Cisco, but so long as Linksys doesn't
actively interfere with people flashing better firmware onto their
products I don't think an outright ban is called for.  Although
encouraging your less technical friends (ie. those who don't know how
to / don't want to deal with flashing routers) to buy elsewhere would
be good.

I'd suggest looking at TP-Link.  They're chewing up the low end of the
market with equipment that (in my admittedly limited experience) seems
to be proving quite reliable.  And more than half their line appears
to be flashable with OpenWRT at a noticeably lower cost than the
equivalent Linksys equipment.

The only downside is the theoretical possibility that the Chinese
government may have insisted that Shenzhen manufacturers make the
hardware "phone home."  I'm somewhat skeptical about this as I think
the Chinese government would prefer to dominate the world financially
rather than cripple their companies' competitiveness by requiring
extra, unnecessary circuitry.  And besides, that "threat" also extends
to pretty much any piece of hardware that includes Chinese chips ...
which is everything.

-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
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