Is it possible to completely remove AIProtection and other Asus bloatware?

[Luboknok]

Rather than just have them disabled, can they be completely removed from router?

 

[dave14305]

No, they’re built into the firmware image (read-only).

 

[RMerlin]

No.

 

[skeal]

Rather than just have them disabled, can they be completely removed from router?

Definitely no!

 

[oso2276]

Yoy could install another firmware. If DD-WRT is supported on the hardware, you could try it. No Asus bloatware on that firmware

Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Tapatalk

 

[Elmer]

Rather than just have them disabled, can they be completely removed from router?

I found that I was getting zero hits with TrendMicro while using Skynet, so I turned TrendMicro off. Skynet is much more aggressive and doesn't dial the mothership. I doubt that the TrendMicro inactive code takes that much memory, and DD-WRT is also going to be loaded with a bunch of stuff you'll never use as well. My two cents - I'd stick with Merlin.

 

[Mutzli]

I found that I was getting zero hits with TrendMicro while using Skynet, so I turned TrendMicro off. Skynet is much more aggressive and doesn't dial the mothership. I doubt that the TrendMicro inactive code takes that much memory, and DD-WRT is also going to be loaded with a bunch of stuff you'll never use as well. My two cents - I'd stick with Merlin.

Skynet wouldn't catch any crypto currency mining, encryption malware and other two way IPS installed on your computers. TrendMicro does, hence the option to turn on IA Protect in Skynet to add malware sites to Skynets blacklist.

 

[Elmer]

Skynet wouldn't catch any crypto currency mining, encryption malware and other two way IPS installed on your computers. TrendMicro does, hence the option to turn on IA Protect in Skynet to add malware sites to Skynets blacklist.

Having a hard time understanding how Skynet is going to enhance TrendMicro's hits if there aren't any. That was my point. I've run them together for weeks and there are no Trendmicro hits. Hard to get data from a 0 byte data log. Also, if you'll remember, Trendmicro got hacked not long ago.

 

[Stevens243]

It's not enhancing trendmicro hits, it's adding items that trend sees to its blocking list. With skynet installed and on, you won't see any "hits" from trend since skynet is blocking them. More info:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...firewall-security-enhancements.16798/page-184

 

[Mutzli]

Having a hard time understanding how Skynet is going to enhance TrendMicro's hits if there aren't any. That was my point. I've run them together for weeks and there are no Trendmicro hits. Hard to get data from a 0 byte data log. Also, if you'll remember, Trendmicro got hacked not long ago.

Well, lucky you. One of my router is accessed frequently from devices that temporarily use the internet. You wouldn't believe what Trendmicro has filtered out. People are walking around with compromised phones, notebooks, etc and don't even know it. Just last week I had a guest with a Mac Book that was trying to mine crypto currency. I told him about it and he just said that his virus scanner didn't find anything and he moved on. Probly had a browser add-on that was the coulprit.

 

[Elmer]

Well, lucky you. One of my router is accessed frequently from devices that temporarily use the internet. You wouldn't believe what Trendmicro has filtered out. People are walking around with compromised phones, notebooks, etc and don't even know it. Just last week I had a guest with a Mac Book that was trying to mine crypto currency. I told him about it and he just said that his virus scanner didn't find anything and he moved on. Probly had a browser add-on that was the coulprit.

Whoa! Pretty aggressive post. Do you work for TrendMicro? I'm just stating a fact. When using Skynet (and maybe my Skynet setting are different than yours), I don't get any TrendMicro hits. Who knows why. What works for you, works for you - you do what you need to do.

 

[vdemarco]

Whoa! Pretty aggressive post. Do you work for TrendMicro? I'm just stating a fact. When using Skynet (and maybe my Skynet setting are different than yours), I don't get any TrendMicro hits. Who knows why. What works for you, works for you - you do what you need to do.

i have skynet on and the trendmicro stuff still gets occasional hits. so its all good to keep on

 

[skeal]

Every once in a while someone re-debates this topic. Trend Micro is over all a reputable company. Skynet with AI-Protection is just another layer in the security onion. I wouldn't go without it and the OP is right, we that have it are somewhat spoiled.

 

[Elmer]

Every once in a while someone re-debates this topic. Trend Micro is over all a reputable company. Skynet with AI-Protection is just another layer in the security onion. I wouldn't go without it and the OP is right, we that have it are somewhat spoiled.

Man, you people are touchy. I never said TrendMicro wasn't reputable, I said 1) they got hacked (but so do CitiBank who many would consider reputable), 2) they phone home (but many, many services do), and both of those are facts. pure and simple. Turn it on, turn it off; it's no skin off my back, just don't try to conveniently ignore or obfuscate facts. I've used them for years, but when I noticed the lack of hits, I just wondered why I should continue to burden my hard working CPU. You make your own choice.

 

[dave14305]

Man, you people are touchy. I never said TrendMicro wasn't reputable,

He could be referring to the OP, not you. Be excellent to each other!

 

[horizonbrave]

I'm also concern: can I trust TrendMicro?
They've got hacked badly, that doesn't seem good for a security firm!
So does TrendMicro knows all the websites I visit, how to prevent that but more importantly... why???
It would be nice to have a pinned discussion with all the facts and explanations exposed for people not tech-savvy like me
People keep asking and for good reasons, that EULA is scary and why should we give that much trust to a company? And of course that IPS/IDS is there and we want to use it
Thanks

 

[horizonbrave]

Why not spicing things up with a poll?

 

[GuruGuy]

I'm also concern: can I trust TrendMicro?
They've got hacked badly, that doesn't seem good for a security firm!
So does TrendMicro knows all the websites I visit, how to prevent that but more importantly... why???
It would be nice to have a pinned discussion with all the facts and explanations exposed for people not tech-savvy like me
People keep asking and for good reasons, that EULA is scary and why should we give that much trust to a company? And of course that IPS/IDS is there and we want to use it
Thanks

ALREADY DISCUSSED TO DEATH....SEARCH FOR IT

 

[Elmer]

ALREADY DISCUSSED TO DEATH....SEARCH FOR IT

I did. Wow. I was an agnostic before. Not now. Went to the privacy page and withdrew from both TrendMicro and Alexa/IFFT. Oddly you lose QOS when you do this, but I'm plugged into a managed switch that does QOS, so no biggie. It's one thing to know the ISP does it, and that DNS privacy and a VPN adverts most of that, but there's no way around your router except individual VPNs from clients. Amazing how many Asus features TrendMicro code seems to control.

 

[Val D.]

Oddly you lose QOS when you do this

Not necessarily. Lately I did some experiments with Traditional QoS and it does not use TrendMicro services. It does disable hardware acceleration, but up to 250-300Mbps ISP it doesn't matter on RT-AC86U. Looks like it actually works with some minor tweaking. DSLReports speed test shows B or C bufferbloat with QoS disabled and constant A with QoS enabled.