Asus locking down routers to comply with new FCC rules

[sinshiva]

anybody with telnet/ssh access to a non asus router, try one of the following;

strings /dev/mtd0ro | grep ccode

or

strings /dev/mtd/0ro | grep ccode

one of them should work. see how locallized competing routers really are.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Good luck with that; the average joe has his router channel set to auto from the defaults and doesnt have a clue about any missing channels. Think of how many people you know who dont have a clue about the router in their house. Our small 1-2% (if even that) makes no difference to them.

Thats probably true. So what can are 1-2 % really do ? Nothing..

 

[Poseidon]

Sorry if this has been answered before but WHY does RMerlin have to comply with this guideline for his firmware(s)?

Technically he's NOT a "manufacturer" and his releases are unofficial/3rd-party.

 

[sinshiva]

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=133241&postcount=8

Sorry if this has been answered before but WHY does RMerlin have to comply with this guideline for his firmware(s)?

Technically he's NOT a "manufacturer" and his releases are unofficial/3rd-party.

 

[tokyo_networking]

Why should Asus do anything as long as the revenue keeps rolling in. Vote with your wallets and stop buying Asus routers then watch how fast something gets done.

In addition, anything stated here is preaching to the converted. Putting a product review on Amazon will raise the visability.

 

[Techno Pride]

Sorry if this has been answered before but WHY does RMerlin have to comply with this guideline for his firmware(s)?

Technically he's NOT a "manufacturer" and his releases are unofficial/3rd-party.

Merlin fw is an extension of the official Asus fw, hence he is still able to include some of the copyrighted (correct term?) stuff from Asus official fw.

If he makes too drastic changes, stuff like the NTFS driver cannot be included. I remember him explaining something to that effect.

And yeah, my AC66U came with wrong region set in CFE. It's an official set supported by Asus andor their official distributor here.

 

[sinshiva]

anybody with telnet/ssh access to a non asus router, try one of the following;

strings /dev/mtd0ro | grep ccode

or

strings /dev/mtd/0ro | grep ccode

one of them should work. see how locallized competing routers really are.

1000 views later and no bites, is the situation really that bad for the competition? remember to thank Netgear for the FCC taking a closer look at soho router localization. wouldn't it suck for their users if they didn't have ddwrt?

 

[Deleted member 22229]

1000 views later and no bites, is the situation really that bad for the competition? remember to thank Netgear for the FCC taking a closer look at soho router localization. wouldn't it suck for their users if they didn't have ddwrt?

I have a bad feeling at least here in the US third party firmware for home routers is coming to and end.

 

[DrTeeth]

No need to get all red fonty on us, dude.

Missing the point? What is the point, exactly, then?

That you don't mind your router being locked as long as it is properly localized? Gee, what a help that is for those whose routers are not.

The point is that routers are being locked down and NOT correctly localised. So one cannot change to the correct locale. I just want to be able to use my router to UK regs as that is where I am. If it is locked to the UK - I would not care as I do not intend leaving in the foreseeable future. If you want to configure your locale, do not upgrade to Merlins 374.44 or the Asus equivalent.

 

[RMerlin]

I have a bad feeling at least here in the US third party firmware for home routers is coming to and end.

Not if we don't give the FCC any reason to force manufacturers into tighter control. Hence my current stance on not wanting to give them any reason to.

 

[KevTech]

If people start letting Asus know they live outside the USA and what their dilemma is you may get some results.

Posting here does nothing as Asus does not read this forum regularly that I know of.

Send mail to: Networking_Support@asus.com

 

[sinshiva]

If people start letting Asus know they live outside the USA and what their dilemma is you may get some results.

Posting here does nothing as Asus does not read this forum regularly that I know of.

Send mail to: Networking_Support@asus.com

the situation is dire enough that i'm thinking we're at the point where US citizens need to be writing to their senators and get this FCC thing reversed or the language changed. retailers and manufacturers both should be fighting this tooth and nail. in the interim, i agree that contacting Asus is probably the best course of action currently available.

i wish i could recommend users edit their CFE/bootloaders, but i can't. it is frighteningly easy to brick routers and at times for no apparent reason at all. honestly, i'm beginning to think the CFE related threads should be stripped from the forum. I doubt even Asus could release a flawless tool for the job for both technical reasons and because it would potentially allow people to circumvent the lock after the FCC cutoff date.

ugly.

 

[ColinTaylor]

If people start letting Asus know they live outside the USA and what their dilemma is you may get some results.

Posting here does nothing as Asus does not read this forum regularly that I know of.

The RT-AC68U just won a group test done by The Register. If people start letting the reviewers know that ASUS are crippling their routers for non-US customers it might start effecting their sales/reputation. That's the only thing that would have any effect on ASUS.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/06/review_round_up_802_11ac_routers/?page=6

 

[DrTeeth]

If people start letting Asus know they live outside the USA and what their dilemma is you may get some results.

Posting here does nothing as Asus does not read this forum regularly that I know of.

Send mail to: Networking_Support@asus.com

Already done.

 

[DrTeeth]

Thats probably true. So what can are 1-2 % really do ? Nothing..

Makes one wonder why the FCC is bothering with this at all in that case.

 

[DrTeeth]

the situation is dire enough that i'm thinking we're at the point where US citizens need to be writing to their senators and get this FCC thing reversed or the language changed.

Why? If I were in the USA, I'd be in favour of this as I would expect every US citizen to be. They are not the ones being sold routers that are not correctly localised.

 

[sinshiva]

because i don't want to be locked into stock firmware.

[edit/] anybody think this will play out better for the rest of the world if the US goes into full lockdown ?

 

[DrTeeth]

because i don't want to be locked into stock firmware.

[edit/] anybody think this will play out better for the rest of the world if the US goes into full lockdown ?

This is nothing to do with being locked into stock firmware. It is a possibility for the future if 3rd party firmwares allow for the circumvention of the rule. Your point is very valid though. But seriously, how long do you think it would be before somebody had a user-friendly work-around with for the region locking or 3rd party firmware blocking?

 

[sinshiva]

i think the manufacturers will see that all paths lead to a fine from the FCC and we'll be locked in before the cutoff date even comes to pass. Asus might try as many options as they can before then, considering how they've genuinely embraced the open source community and they're the first manufacturer to even begin figuring out what they can do within constraints. can't speak for any of the others, though.

 

[bluepoint]

because i don't want to be locked into stock firmware.

No one will be locked into stock firmware if the router is in compliance. It's what's Asus is doing now in the US but didn't think much of a better solutions for others.