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Cisco Pushing 'Cloud Connect' Router Firmware, Allows Web History Tracking
Myrv writes "Reports have started popping up that Cisco is pushing out and automatically (without permission) installing their new Cloud Connect firmware on consumer routers. The new firmware removes the user's ability to login and administer the router locally. You now must configure the router using Cisco's Cloud connect service. If that wasn't bad enough, the fine print for this new service allows Cisco to track your complete internet history. Currently, it appears the only way to disable the Cloud Connect service is to unplug your router from the internet."
1. Unplug router
2. Open garbage can lid
3. Insert router
4. Close garbage can lid
5. Purchase new router
That shit? Fuck it.
Have to disconnect my router.
Their they're doing there hair.
that's all I can say really. This sounds worse than sony's disabling of features in a firmware update. Only this one you can't just not do. (and deal with the consequences of not being up to date)
But I bet this one gets sufficient backlash to require them to backpedal. Significantly altering the behavior of a purchased product by remote control, without opt-out. Arguably illegal?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Does Verizon use Cisco routers?
http://www.cisco.com/web/siteassets/legal/connect_cloud_supp.html
I especially like how they get to keep your Internet history. Why do you think this is a good idea Cisco?
Your new Cloud Connect contract ...When you use the Service, we may keep track of certain information related to your use of the Service, including but not limited to the status and health of your network and networked products; which apps relating to the Service you are using; which features you are using within the Service infrastructure; network traffic (e.g., megabytes per hour); Internet history; how frequently you encounter errors on the Service system and other related information ("Other Information"). We use this Other Information to help us quickly and efficiently respond to inquiries and requests, and to enhance or administer our overall Service for our customers. We may also use this Other Information for traffic analysis (for example, determining when the most customers are using the Service) and to determine which features within the Service are most or least effective or useful to you. In addition, we may periodically transmit system information to our servers in order to optimize your overall experience with the Service. We may share aggregated and anonymous user experience information with service providers, contractors or other third parties to assist us with improving the Service and user experience, but any shared information will be consistent with Cisco's overall Privacy Statement and will not identify you personally in any way....
Buy your router from this enormous list which covers a huge range of budgets:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start
Re-Flash it and be done with these folk. This newer firmware is much friendlier than the original OpenWrt you may have tried years back, and if you don't like what it's doing, you get a command prompt and make it do exactly what you want.
Does this mean that Cisco routers, by default, have a backdoor enabled that allows the router to phone home for updates and for Cisco to send them back? None of the routers I've ever used (granted, it's been a while since I've used stock firmware) have ever had any sort of "automatic updates", much less one that's turned on by default.
Cisco Intelligence Agency.
As if were not enough that IT Managers the world-round are trying to smother their employees and businesses with the cloud, Cisco has adopted the same model and is currently deploying their own brand of chemical warfare.
I guess this is one company to add to my blacklist...
Aside from the fact that Juniper is Ferrari and Cisco is General Motors.
Would this violate federal wiretapping laws?
So if my router can't get to the Internet (my static IP changed or something), and I can't log in locally to the router, how do I configure it? Surely we are missing part of the story.
Although this is pure speculation, but I have reasonable suspicion as a former employee of Cisco, that this really plays well with law enforcement and other three letter government agencies, having the ability to track all Internet activities. That's all I have to offer on this subject. Be careful.
That's a large field. Is this just the home routers (the old linksys stuff?) I can't see them doing this on enterprise or core routers. The solution is to put it in bridge mode if it's an ADSL router and do your own NAT, etc. with a BSD/Linux box of some type. Run Zeroshell if you want a nice GUI.
Really, this is slashdot. Leave the provider installs and help desks to the punters. If you're reading this there is no reason you should be running what the ILEC initially installed.
Cisco is getting weird. On one side (enterprise) you have to pay through the nose for updates, on the other (home) you can't avoid them.
Before we get our panties all in a bunch, let's wait for some packet sniffs to see what is really going on. Just because the lawyers put it in the EULA, doesn't mean the coders wrote it.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
Wooo, a gigantic web-based backdoor with unknown remote login methods and an interception of all internet history tied directly to my company's cisco account with all our personally identifiable information?! WHERE CAN I GET ONE?! And by one, I mean the phone number for the account cancellation department.
By the way, my company actually runs some awful piece of crap from Cyberoam but now I'm slightly happier about that. Thanks, cisco.
when my linksys dies i won't buy one of your products. i'll probably just buy one of the Apple routers. the cost is about the same as your overpriced crap but they will work better with the icrap i already have at home.
i've tried the cheapo routers and they seem flaky
* The Cloud firmware is ONLY for EA2700, EA3500, E4200v2 (not v1) and EA4500 routers. Older routers (E4200v1 or older) will not see this update. These routers shipped with information explaining that Cloud would be released this summer and update to the Cloud firmware when it was released.
* You can prevent this update by turning off "Automatic Updates" in your router. However if you didn't already do this then YES ... disconnect from the Internet before you do anything else. Then go in and turn off the Automatic Updates. Then you can reconnect. Warning: If you've already been upgraded it currently isn't possible to downgrade to the older firmware.
* If you have updated ... you CAN do -some- local router configuration without having internet access. Just go to http://routers/ LAN IP address]/ while it is disconnected and you will be prompted for the router's local password (usually this will mirror your WiFi password). You will be limited to editing the network settings (LAN, WiFi, etc) and security settings (router password, VPN, firewall, DMZ). Parental controls, Guest Access QoS and USB storage won't be accessible until you are able to log in while the router is online (you'll use your CiscoConnectCloud.com login at this point).
NOTE: If you have an EA2700, EA3500 or EA4500 that shipped with the OLDER firmware (every router out there so far, the new firmware shouldn't appear in new routers for a couple more weeks) and have not set it up yet and WANT the older firmware ... do NOT use the CD setup. Configure it using the traditional web UI while NOT connected to the Internet and turn off Automatic Updates. Again ... this is only for people who do NOT want the Cloud firmware capabilities.
* Just an FYI ... the Cisco Connect Cloud concept allows people to manage and view their home network from anywhere on the internet so long as their router has a connection to the internet. Mobile apps allow your phone to control your home network (manage guest settings, see who is online right now, etc). Additionally it enables a plugin mobile application architecture that our partners can leverage to allow remotely managed network applications. It is an entirely new direction and yes ... it has some kinks ... the biggest ones being forcing this on the user and then limiting their ability to manage their device without it being on the internet. ...
So ... I anticipate a flood of groans about all of this, and I don't disagree with a fair amount of them. Let me make some things clear:
a) Yes, I work for Cisco Linksys.
b) No, I am not speaking directly for Cisco in this post nor am I posting on their behalf (I just wanted to get some quick assistance out there to the people who read this).
c) No, I do not work for the groups (PM, Engineering) that made the decisions to do this update automatically, to not allow you to downgrade, and to not allow you access to your full configuration capability while the router is offline. Which means I can try and funnel your feedback to those groups but I can not force anyone to implement any of it.
d) While I don't like the situations mentioned above in item "c)" ... I -do- like the CiscoConnectCloud.com concept and feel that Cisco will improve it significantly over time.
e) I completely ... 100% ... recognize that the /. audience most likely prefers things like DD-WRT, Tomato, etc (though some will really like the mobile Cloud concept, I do, and I've been around the block a few times at this point). Cisco Linksys is definitely moving more towards the average consumer market instead of the tech adopter market with these products.
f) We do still sell non-Cloud routers, like the E900, E1200 and E2500
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
china did it stage 1 is starting
My company has colocation facilities in two datacenters. Some of the gear is Cisco gear.
When it comes time to replace said gear, it will not be replaced with more Cisco gear.
I don't care if the professional grade equipment doesn't have the same craptastic firmware "upgrade" methodology. For those of us that know to take their buying power elsewhere when downright evil decisions like this happen this is the type of thing that makes us do it.
My parting "upgrade" to you Cisco: my company's dollars you just lost. Maybe you'll still hit your quarterly numbers, but you won't do it on my back.
Cisco had limited what Linksys routers could do as to discourage corporate sales.
There are many better choices than Linksys these days.
The N900 is pretty nice, along with dozens. They're cheap (you can get decent non-cisco routers for $30 on sale)
Just use something else.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Has anyone found a list of which routers are "supported" by this? I'd like to know if I have to take mine off-line right now.
Do I have a few days to go to openWRT, or do I have to do it today?
Are they sure it was a push update and not something the routers downloaded automatically, on their own? As in, you could have had this option disabled to avoid this mess? A lot of devices these days are set to download updates by default; it doesn't seem to me like it would be all that practical for Cisco to push that many updates... unless the devices already had some kind of phone home ability... which again it would be easier (and pretty common) to just have the devices themselves download and patch than it would be for Cisco to do everything.
Install DD-WRT. Many Cisco routers are supported.
Here's a question to put our Machiavellian thinking caps on for: Will Cisco's stock go up or down because of this? They're WAY pissing off their techie constituency, in an amazing way. They've just completely stopped the sale of routers to those people overnight. But they're grabbing data from the masses, and will be selling that. What will the media and the stock market think?
They already got my EA3500 router, now I can't get in locally. I hope there's a workaround for this or an alternate administration URL.
So who just plugs in a firewall/router and starts using it out of the box without changing the password and checking over all the settings?
Under the Administration / Management tab, you'll find a radio button clearly marked "Remote Management", and beneath that settings for Remote Upgrade. The day I installed it I discovered remote management was enabled by default, so I immediately set it to disabled. I remember thinking "My god, that's f*ing stupid! Who would ever want to expose router management to the wild side?" Apparently this answers my question.
Anyway, for anyone here who is outraged that their router has been pwnd by Cisco, SHAME ON YOU for not securing your own damn router yourself before hanging it on the intarwebs!
John
Working IT Security for a large global company, I can tell you that Cloud Connect would violate company policy immediately and exclude Cisco products from consideration for future projects. It will also prompt us to consider replacing Cisco equipment that has not yet reached end-of-life because our industry certifications require us to be on the latest manufacturer firmware. If we can't stay on old firmware we lose compliance. If we move to new firmware we lose adherence to security policies. Solution: replace all Cisco gear.
get one of these hardware boxes:
http://soekris.com/
and run openwall (or whatever you want) on it.
it keeps the money OUT of cisco's hands in both hardware and software. you can trust your hardware (no motivation to do evil spy things on generic pc style hardware) and you can trust your software. no one will force something on you, this way.
my soekris box has been running non-stop (other than moves) for years, literally, 5 years or more. no blown caps, no blown power suplies, no 'china syndrome' electrolytics that are on ALL cisco, netgear, etc style circuit boards) and software that just plain works.
tomato firmware (and similar) are cool, but they require vendor hardware and at this point, I'd just assume NOT give cisco ANY (!) of my money for any hardware of any kind.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Clearly, Cisco mis-judged customer expectations when introducing such a major change in the way routers behave.
On another note, they could have provided similar functionality without the mandatory "Cisco Cloud:"
When the user logs into the router the first time after the upgrade, the router could ask the user:
* Do you want a Cisco-managed cloud and all its goodness, along with the down-side of providing information to Cisco that some customers would prefer to keep private?
* Do you want a locally-managed cloud, running on a computer in your LAN that is "always on"? This will require installing software on a local computer.
* Do you want classic behavior?
AND - and this is important - allow the user to change his mind at any time.
If I were running a business, I would NOT use the Cisco- or any-other-vendor-managed cloud without contractual assurances that company-related data, including technical data, would be protected from accidental leakage. In other words, if I want to outsource for cloud services, I'm going to want a business-grade contract and expect to pay accordingly.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The last time I posted how Cisco uses their routers to sell our privacy people responded that they were just complying with laws, which I question deeply because of the EXTENT to which they improve and market their eavesdropping capability, and how they constantly boast having a lead in the market in this area, appearing to go far beyond the law.
Now we have this? Really? Someone care to argue they are just complying with CALEA to avoid being sent to guatanamo bay?
Open Standards Portal
This is typical of the short-term thinking that is all too common among corporations today. They're throwing away their credibility with professional users – you know, the ones who buy the expensive Cisco gear that generates most of their profits – so they can grab a few quick bucks by data-mining the consumer market. How many network administrators are going to hear about this and rule out Cisco for future consideration? Keep in mind that the silent and unprompted nature of the update implies that there already was a back door into the routers, even before this recent change. And I don't think that Cisco can cleanly separate its credibility in the home and enterprise markets, even if this is what they're planning to do.
The first Cisco firmware to be released without a soul sucking smartnet contract, sucks your soul directly.
Are you sure these updates weren't supposed to go to China?
Remotely modify/destroy proprietary configurations on tens of thousands of consumer routers without customers' permission? Class action lawsuit time!
I set up networks for home/small business locally and have always recommended Linksys routers, along with Tomato firmware. I also come from a 20+ year background of network support, where I ALWAYS used/recommended Cisco. I was pretty happy when Cisco acquired Linksys, and until NOW, had been reasonably pleased with where Cisco was taking Linksys. THIS Orwellian crap by Cisco terminates ANY recommendation by me for ANYTHING from Cisco. Yeah.. I realize I'm but one, but from what I'm seeing here on Slashdot and elsewhere, this move by Cisco is gonna stop ANYONE with any brains from using/recommending Cisco in the future.. Hope it was worth it, you morons in the Cisco executive suite...
Anybody got a source for used WRT54GL's?? (besides eBay, that is)
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
I'll never buy another Linksys product. I don't want remote administration from the public internet side of a router.
I already use Sonic.net DSL, one of the last of the independent ISPs - no filtering, no proxying, net-neutral, no quotas. Just bits.
I especially like how they get to keep your Internet history.
This also means they are using bandwidth quota with out notifying the end users before doing so.
Don't try to out wierd me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you, free with my breakfast cereal. --Zaphod Beeblebr
F consumer routers/firewalls Cisco ASA. you can get them from amazon for near sub $300 bucks.
Typically one cannot access the internet (cloud) before one has configured their router.
Mac/Win/Linux compatible. For $100: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC414 For $180: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD031LL/A/AirPort-Extreme?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg Easy to setup and configure. And nobody screws you out of your privacy. Great support staff too. I currently have an Extreme installed. It shoots out internets like the cannon on a warship.
Help me, help you. - Jerry McGuire
get an asus rtn66u. supports tomatousb and is the best router on the market today.
I did a live chat with "Eva" at Cisco about this and she had Tech Support call me the next day. The tech I spoke to gave me a dropbox URL where I downloaded the previous firmware that came witht the router. He also attempted to explain why this was a "good thing".
So if you are as pissed off as I was by this "upgrade" don't be afraid to get ahold of them and demand the previous firmware. What a bunch of idiots to push something like this on their customers. I am happy that they helped me to get back to the old firmware - but I will sure think twice about purchasing Cisco products in the future if this is the way they treat their customers.
I remember when there was enough hate toward microsoft that we had protests in front of the MS offices (windows refund EULA events and such).
there have been other protests with people carrying signs (etc) when we feel we've been wronged and need to make our view clear to the corps.
I wonder if people feel bad enough about this to organize a day where we take our ciscos, bring them to some parking lot and destroy them. get the press to cover it and explain WHY we are doing it.
maybe even do it in the parking lots of best buy, frys, microcenter and places that sell cisco gear to consumers.
wouldn't that be grand?! imagine group 'burn-ins' (lol) where we destroy the cisco gear, thus saving unsuspecting end users from having to deal with this crap. and mostly it would be to make a statement and get some press coverage. unless there is public visibility in this, cisco won't be shamed enough.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
This is China West; just wait till the election.
Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
wiki linky
Walk with Music;
We must allow end-users to maintain control of their own router configs so they are still able to open PDFs emailed to them from unknown senders!
Isn't it funny how often things which are sold as improving security move control from individuals to some corporate entity, somewhere?
You can ebay a Juniper SSG5 for under $100.
It's WAY more router than you need for most home users, but it's full of awesome. You will need to use a cheap access point for wireless though (most of the geeks I know keep their access points separate from their routers anyway).
All routers supplied by Verizon for FiOS service has a WAN side log-in port open, and they install firmware upgrades and you can do nothing about it. If you want FiOS you have to let them do whatever they want with the bits coming of the router at their end.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I've got the Cisco EA4500 and I AM FUCKING PISSED
DD-WRT (www.dd-wrt.com)
It's also interesting that people who have installed the Cisco Connect software for configuring their routers, when they browse their router after it has installed the Cisco Connect Cloud version, the software is uninstalled from their PC.
Um, why are you guys screwing around with consumer grade crap anyway?
Take an old PC (Can even be a micro PC, provided it has more than one NIC) Put 2 NICs in it and install Smoothwall Express onto it.
Since Smoothwall is a Linux-based open source operating system, the old PC will become a nice, easy to configure, open source firewall/router alternative system, and easily more powerful than the standard SOHO crap that Cisco is slinging.
I've been running it for 10 years (with regular OS upgrades) on an old gateway 450mhz Pentium 2 PC. It's a trusty old warhorse that keeps on cranking and is WAY overpowered for the job. (Smoothwall will run on a 486DX. I know, I've done it.)
How many crappy SOHO routers have YOU gone through in that time?
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
What enables Cisco to DO remote management? And what ensures that no other entity in the world can remotely "manage" my router in the same fashion?
What a great avenue this could be for malware distribution, intelligence collection, massive denial of service, etc. Be pretty cool for bad guys (or LE or TLAs) to be able to replace the firmware in millions of routers unbeknownst to their owners.
Does anyone here know how Cisco's remote management interface is "secured"? Even if there's sound cryptography involved, there's always router software flaws, bad key generation, vulnerabilities in Cisco's upgrade servers, poor operational security at Cisco, and other avenues to attack the overall system. And of course the cryptography itself might be unsound, too... usually takes folks a couple tries to get that right.
Wow.
Similar to Smoothwall, I use the free version of Untangle server as my Gateway. The wireless router is connected on one of the switch ports and the Internet port is disconnected. The wireless router is being used only as an access point in this configuration and has no ability to communicate outside the LAN as it has no gateway address or DNS address set.
A+, Network+, Linux+, Server+, CCAI, CCNA, CLA, LPIC-1
This is on par with Logitech's Harmony remote. I bought one a few weeks ago and did see the "must have intern access" label on it but I wasn't prepared to have a useless brick with no built in codes if I didn't have an internet connection. You'd figure it would contain codes the other 99% of univeral remotes out there or at least left me download a batch code file and load it up. On top of that I have to sign up, download software and only load up 4 codes at a time.
Took me an hour of getting connection errors to finally get my codes in.
Fuck yah....
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
I realize that this is an issue with Cisco more than with the concept of the cloud... but this is exactly the sort of thing that makes me allergic to cloud services generally. "The cloud" means giving up freedom and privacy having to trust entities that continue to demonstrate how deeply untrustworthy they are.
No cloud anything for me, thank you. I'm fine using my own private servers.
I called Cisco Technical support in the USA, and provided them the serial number for my EA4500. The rep. tracked my serial number to an IP address and determined I am using the router in Costa Rica and therefor she cannot help me. I need to contact the Costa Rica support.
So Cisco is tracking my router, and geolocating my IP address and providing it to their support people
Note: they didn't determine this from my phone number, my number is a voip number in the USA.
FOR creating legal grounds to sue the s**t out of you ....
for making a very smart marketing move ... right when personal privacy is really sensitive stuff these days ...
for giving other manufacturers - your most dangerous competitors - the opportunity to take your consumer base real easy...
for not having a bloody clue as to what "dont piss the customer base" means ...
inline with the brilliant decisions to buy and then kill very succesful consumer products, launch videochat products with no fear of overpricing and fetureless features or generally for making very sure that in the next shareholders meeting some very smelly stuff will hit the ceiling.....
may I suggest purchasing a couple dozen tons of "Marketing for Real Dummies" ?
We've got a couple of angels in the US if they're tracking web history...
It may be a breach of the standard computer fraud & abuse act if this hit any private/corporate/gov't systems.
For the home users, it's almost certainly a breach of the video privacy & protection act -- just access a netflix or hulu (non https so it's captured) URL that you're paying for, and you'll have them on wrongful disclosure of video purchase or rental history.
Fuck class action, I'll blow $25k for a 50% chance of a 50k reward if I can sell the rest of the profit rights to a law firm.
But better still -- if a few people are willing to do that without class action, their lawyers won't have the time to fight the cases individually.
Back in the day, it was possible to configure Cisco routers by attaching a VT terminal to their RS-232 interface. Perhaps users not wishing to use the "cloud" interface can configure this way instead.
I don't care about the subset of Cisco owner/licencees who are getting the shaft, because I use a PC-based router ( to nit-pick, a Mac mini ). But, as more and more of my devices come "smart" by default, I will .... might as well get a running start
Luke, help me take this mask off
Cisco addresses this issue in a blog: http://blogs.cisco.com/home/answering-our-customers-questions-about-cisco-connect-cloud/ The blog states, in part: "Cisco prides itself on offering the best customer experiences, and privacy and security are at the core of everything we do. That goes for Cisco Connect Cloud too. When a customer signs up for a Cisco Connect Cloud account, personal information is used only to establish an account in order to provide customer support. Consistent with Cisco's practices, Cisco Connect Cloud does not actively track, collect or store personal info or usage data for any other purposes, nor is it transmitted to third parties. We also wanted to clear up any confusion about Cisco's `opt in' practices. Cisco Connect Cloud was delivered only to consumers who opted in to automatic updates. While we hope this reminder of our standard company practices will allay any concerns, customers who do not wish to establish a Cisco Connect Cloud account and would prefer to revert back to the traditional Linksys setup and management software can do so by calling the Linksys customer support line at 1-800-326-7114. One of our agents will walk you through the process."
Yes, from the television coverage:
"This just in, Tom: a large group of computer geeks suffered respiratory distress in the downtown Microcenter parking lot, apparently from burning large volumes of some electronic device. We're not sure of their reason, but we're having an awful hard time finding someone who cares."
Well, I am in the market for a new router, and guess which brand just fell of my list. Yes, we can vote with our wallets.
"Rolling back the Cisco Connect Cloud firmware to the Classic EA Series router web interface".
Their products have features like "SocialMiner" and of course "lawful intercept" -- which is the perennial code phrase used by a raft of corporations to denote their backdoor and MITM spying activities.
https://www.networkworld.com/community/node/57070
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/11/03/2137233/Cisco-Social-Software-Lets-You-Stalk-Customers
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/a-pound-of-flesh-how-ciscos-unmitigated-gall-derailed-one-mans-life.ars
My Time Capsule recently died (awesome thermal design there Apple) and I've been looking for a replacement WAP.
Thanks Cisco, you just eliminated about a million slightly different models for me. My pre-Cisco WRT54G has been a trooper though, that's for sure... it's slow for wireless these days, but it's still a great router (running a Tomato hacked up to do IPv6).
- chrish
1. I smell the influence of a marketing person in all this, and not an engineer's decision. Although it's not out of the question that there was a government hand in it too.
2. Am waiting for the new Drone Bus, an nnovation in public transportation where the bus gets driven by a remote drone pilot over a non-encrypted link. Because nothing could go wrong with that idea.
Cisco's headquarters is Building 10, 150 West Tasman Dr, San Jose CA 95134. John Chambers sits up there.
I don't have an affected router, but I *DO* have an old Linksys that I could toss on the pile. Maybe not burn them, but walk by and toss them into a pile around that damned rock fountain.
The 7204VXR is not only safer and faster, but it functions as a space heater as well!
I forget if it could handle IPv6 very well, though - probably depends on what interface cards you're using. My Linksys won't do v6, but it sounds like Iike I'm not going to want to upgrade its firmware any time soon.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
They just *hacked* every device in that class ever sold... Massive multi-state criminal proceedings to follow. Cisco top executives expect prison time. Former cisco customers tell the judge to not allow lube.
Years ago I was looking for a solution to building a corporate network backbone. Looked at Cisco - of course, plus others. One day I went to a sales presentation for XYLAN. I saw a router that didn't care what was plugged into it as long as it could do standards based things. Saw one box with FDDI, Token-Ring, and Ethernet network blades happily routing away across networks. The box could have handled three more blades of whatever and still gotten close to wire-speed.
Alcatel bought XYLAN, and I've been an Alcatel guy since then. Almost 15 years now. (Before that I was a Cisco guy.)
No issues with any propitiatory bullcrap. Sure, there is some Alcatel-specific management stuff in the background, but still, never had an issue with anything software related, (Recently bought wireless solution and had to upgrade code on controller to open new licensing scheme, but it still worked before the update.)
Anyway, Cisco Shmisco.
The 7204VXR is not only safer and faster, but it functions as a space heater as well!
Barely. At 375W it's not enough to heat my spare bedroom, which is tiny (7x10'). I'd suggest you try a couple of 12K's loaded with STM-64 linecards so you can regulate heat output by enabling or disabling cards. Keep in mind that for maximum power output you need a loopback fiber to keep the lasers on at maximum power.