<story><title>What happened with ASUS routers this morning?</title><url>https://www.downtowndougbrown.com/2023/05/what-happened-with-asus-routers-this-morning/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jameshart</author><text>So, you want to manually download an update, install it and brick your device on your own schedule?</text></item><item><author>daneel_w</author><text>We&amp;#x27;re definitely two different kinds of people. When it comes to network equipment I value control and security over that sort of convenience any day.&lt;p&gt;(add.: and I don&amp;#x27;t mean &amp;quot;different kinds of people&amp;quot; in a condescending way, but that we value different aspects and have different methods for going about these things)</text></item><item><author>jameshart</author><text>The convenience of having a device that can phone home and update itself is far more valuable than the risk that occasionally one of those updates might cause a problem.</text></item><item><author>daneel_w</author><text>Even if it turns out (once this event has been fully understood) that the vendor-installed firmware &amp;quot;phoned home&amp;quot; to collect an update of sorts that led to this?</text></item><item><author>throw0101c</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have had an Asus for years and use the vendor firmware, and update it semi-regularly when I remember to, and have never had an issue.&lt;p&gt;I bought an Asus because they have decent capabilities out-of-box, but also because there is the &lt;i&gt;option&lt;/i&gt; of using third-party firmware (which I&amp;#x27;ve never bothered to do).&lt;p&gt;Even with this event I&amp;#x27;ll probably stick with the OEM firmware.</text></item><item><author>e3bc54b2</author><text>Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. It was also extremely painless experience, and I&amp;#x27;d really recommend people to buy routers with OpenWRT support, even if they cost a little more. A router is something you buy for a decade or more, and it&amp;#x27;s worth the investment. Our livelihood depends on network availability, and depending on whims of terrible router firmware is not something to rely on.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cesarb</author><text>&amp;gt; So, you want to manually download an update, install it and brick your device on your own schedule?&lt;p&gt;Yes, because I can plan for it. I can do it on a weekend or a local holiday. I can do it in the evening after work, or in the morning so that I have the whole day to go out and buy a replacement. If it&amp;#x27;s not critical, it can wait until my vacation.&lt;p&gt;And even without any risk of bricking, it should still be done on my schedule. I don&amp;#x27;t want the connection to glitch while I&amp;#x27;m in the middle of a live stream, or an online multiplayer game, or a call with a distant relative.</text></comment>
<story><title>What happened with ASUS routers this morning?</title><url>https://www.downtowndougbrown.com/2023/05/what-happened-with-asus-routers-this-morning/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jameshart</author><text>So, you want to manually download an update, install it and brick your device on your own schedule?</text></item><item><author>daneel_w</author><text>We&amp;#x27;re definitely two different kinds of people. When it comes to network equipment I value control and security over that sort of convenience any day.&lt;p&gt;(add.: and I don&amp;#x27;t mean &amp;quot;different kinds of people&amp;quot; in a condescending way, but that we value different aspects and have different methods for going about these things)</text></item><item><author>jameshart</author><text>The convenience of having a device that can phone home and update itself is far more valuable than the risk that occasionally one of those updates might cause a problem.</text></item><item><author>daneel_w</author><text>Even if it turns out (once this event has been fully understood) that the vendor-installed firmware &amp;quot;phoned home&amp;quot; to collect an update of sorts that led to this?</text></item><item><author>throw0101c</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have had an Asus for years and use the vendor firmware, and update it semi-regularly when I remember to, and have never had an issue.&lt;p&gt;I bought an Asus because they have decent capabilities out-of-box, but also because there is the &lt;i&gt;option&lt;/i&gt; of using third-party firmware (which I&amp;#x27;ve never bothered to do).&lt;p&gt;Even with this event I&amp;#x27;ll probably stick with the OEM firmware.</text></item><item><author>e3bc54b2</author><text>Boy am I glad I replaced stock firmware with OpenWRT the moment my router came out of box last week. It was also extremely painless experience, and I&amp;#x27;d really recommend people to buy routers with OpenWRT support, even if they cost a little more. A router is something you buy for a decade or more, and it&amp;#x27;s worth the investment. Our livelihood depends on network availability, and depending on whims of terrible router firmware is not something to rely on.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>daneel_w</author><text>Now you&amp;#x27;re just taking a silly defensive position by trivializing what I said using stupid rhetoric... I prefer to be in control over &lt;i&gt;updates for network equipment&lt;/i&gt;, even the router in my home, reviewing changes and feedback, and to be &amp;quot;on the ready&amp;quot; in case the update does not work. I leave automatic updates for things like browsers.</text></comment>