I thought I understood the thread before I posted yesterday, but perhaps not. My signature says I'm 'new around here' but though I haven't posted, I've been lurking and reading on this and other FW forums for some years. I meant only to respond to Merlin's request for input, not to initiate a privacy debate about my own reflection on the topic. I belieive I've missed where auto ID recognition and updating will take future FW updates for Merlin (and possibly Asus), or what is it that Asus may/may not do down the road? I schedule time to get by the forums monthly. The entire site provides a great deal of info and interesting feedback, but I update my routers only when it's necessary for my system, when there is specific risk, such as when SSL or OpenVPN has been patched on all models. I've bookmarked update pages, so manually locating, downloads and flashing would seem difficult to mess up, to me. I don't have any interest in allowing a router (or an OS) to perform this function for me. Up to now, few router manufacturers have attempted to push unannounced updates. Those that did, have proven disastrous at times; Ooma bricked my Ooma VoIP/router with an unannounced upgrade, which wasn't supposed to affect my newer unit. The infamous unwanted, stealth OS-push of last summer bricked an SSD, even though I'd taken pains to lock it out, and it was off-line for a week. Thankfully my Asus routers have never been affected, and I've never bricked a router or system by manually downloading/updating. Many on this forum reset their units daily and sometimes more, and also haven't lost a router, but I'm cautious. I wait a while following each release, to check other's comments on their results. I updated both Asus units after first rumors of leaks surfaced, since Asus was never known for being proactive or with providing fixes. Asus didn't use to see the need to post a hash for FW downloads on their site. I hope I haven't missed the point here, and didn't mean to go astray. Does the new notification system mean Merlin updates will now become automatic and can't be reverted, or will users face mandatory cycles, with or without opting-in or out? Will owners lose their historical, manual ability to revert, or will the ability to flash to a different 3rd party FW remain intact? I like Merlin FW and am sitting on the fence today. I stumbled into this thread last night, as I was preparing to update both routers, to take advantage of the recent fixes. I'm not particularly politically correct, but the "love it or leave it" sentiment meant something far different to me in a different era, pardon my confusion. I'd be grateful for a PM/note, to help me sort it out so, I don't limp around or drag this thread along. I'm not senile yet, just tired. Final question, will routers whose IPs are assumed by a VPN, (or in the case of multiple routers, or use of more than one VPN on a different day), cause ID headaches for Merlin and the server? I liked Interconnect's post, since I've always checked the page and model manually. Thanks for bearing with me.
