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TP-Link Begins Lockdown of Firmware In Response To FCC
An anonymous reader writes: In response to an FCC rule that requires manufacturers to lock down computing devices (routers, PCs, phones) to prevent modification if they have a "modular wireless radio," TP-Link has begun locking down its routers to prevent firmware not signed by TP-Link from being installed. This essentially prevents open source OSs (OpenWRT, for example) from being used on routers. TP-Link may not be a prestige brand, exactly, but the company makes a lot of routers suitable for installing third-party firmware, precisely the sort of thing being locked down makes difficult if not impossible.
Except the FCC has repeatedly stated time and time again they have no intent of hurting third party open source firmware and they're solely focused on the radio component not causing interference. They even recently modified these rules to appease people worried about this:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/fcc-we-arent-banning-dd-wrt-on-wi-fi-routers/
So I have a sneaking suspicion this support employee has no damn idea what they're actually talking about.
The FCC are not enforcing this, they are enforcing lockdown of the radio (and for VERY good reasons... channel 14 is bad...).
If OEM's are too lazy to sort out radio and OS (like android) well... more fool them
The last few routers I've bought for family and friends have been TP-Link, and of course I immediately flash them all with OpenWRT. The last two routers I bought had firmware from October that was locked down, just like TFA makes note of. I wasn't pleased with the google effort and time required to get to where I wanted to go.
As I recall, first I had to find a sort of neutral flashing dd-wrt firmware from early last year, that was possible to be flashed by TP-Link's firmware. Then, since TP-Link's October's firmware was useless, I had to flash the router with a much older version of their firmware, making the unit an April TP-Link router. Once I got that far, I was able to flash to OpenWRT as planned.
I'm happy with the units price and performance under OpenWRT, however I will look to other vendors from now on. Of course I must also blame the FCC, which sort of hurts because lately the FCC has been making a lot of good calls for its actual constituents, (while ignoring its paid-for lobbyists).
So this is the end of open source firmware on basically any device with a radio
As has already been well discussed, the FCC already specifically clarified that the only thing they have an issue with is the ability to use firmware to change the radio in a way that would go outside of allowable ranges, for example the ability to jack up the transmit power beyond what is legal for such a device.
TP-Link is simply taking the lazy option, which doesn't really shock me considering they named their company "Toilet Paper - Link".
Exactly.. That Netgear WRT1900ACs is a sweet system. Nice CPU, two radios, Managed switch, Lots of flash, enough RAM, USB2 & 3 and even an eSATA connection. PLUS the manufacturer is running OpenWRT as their default firmware and are supporting the development by releasing the source code. Now with the "s" variant out, the plain WRT1900AC is available for just over $100. Hard to beat that. Heck, just using it for the managed switch part is almost cost effective for a 5 port switch, but add the routing, file sharing, USB ports and it's a fine multipurpose tool.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
tplink still makes quite a number of decent standalone wireless access points with injector capability. ive never used their AIO devices, but instead ive built a network at the office with a central gentoo router connected to a switch, and the AP's locked to vlans with an IDS sniffing the network. FWIW if you need alternatives, pc engines Geode based alix routers are great (AND include AES offload at the cpu level for true random number generator acceleration.)
Good people go to bed earlier.