Looking for feedback: Anyone considering AiCloud important to them?

[RMerlin]

Considering AiCloud's history, I am wondering if getting rid of it might not be a good idea. There are a now far better alternatives to achieve similar results (free/inexpensive cloud services, Plex, Jellyfin, a VPN, etc...)

Anyone for whom losing AiCloud in Asuswrt-Merlin would be a deal breaker for using the firmware?

(I know people who don't use it will say "just drop it", but I am more concerned in people who actually DO use it).

 

[Adamm]

I feel like AiCloud has had a reputation as a security risk for the longest time and functionality can be easily replaced by various docker containers. Getting rid of the attack surface in my eyes is only beneficial to the project overall.

 

[DJones]

I don’t. And I know I’m not the feedback your looking for, however as @Adamm has said they have had a poor reputation and I personally would be more willing to have it dropped if it meant one less security vulnerability. To be completely honest ASUS’s reputation of poor software development is a big issue I feel is plaguing not only their routers, but desktops as well. The intentions are good, but it always feels like a half hearted effort.

Even if you don’t drop it, but rather disabled it or hide it from normal use that would be better. If someone wants to use it they do so completely at their own discretion.

Interested to know how people that do use it feel. I have shared this over on Gnutons Discord as well.

 

[jksmurf]

I know people who don't use it will say "just drop it", but I am more concerned in people who actually DO use it

I think folks getting their feet wet with Routers capabilities might try AICloud out initially (as I did, a long time ago), so you might get I use it responses from new users or less tech minded ones….

…but you’re right, with VPNs becoming much more mainstream and easier to set up (read you don’t have to use scripts anymore), I think a shift to those mechanisms of more secure access just makes sense.

 

[rung]

You may want to also poll the use of WAN login to the router. Seems like that is as big of an attack surface as AiCloud IMO.

 

[Tech9]

Anyone for whom losing AiCloud in Asuswrt-Merlin would be a deal breaker for using the firmware?

My opinion - leave it as it is. The moment you remove AiCloud there will be hundreds of questions why AiCloud was removed.

 

[DiGz_Au]

Considering AiCloud's history, I am wondering if getting rid of it might not be a good idea. There are a now far better alternatives to achieve similar results (free/inexpensive cloud services, Plex, Jellyfin, a VPN, etc...)

Anyone for whom losing AiCloud in Asuswrt-Merlin would be a deal breaker for using the firmware?

(I know people who don't use it will say "just drop it", but I am more concerned in people who actually DO use it).

Happy for it to go. Would love more of these "useless" features to be removed on your firmware. People can still use asuswrt for all the asus features.

 

[heysoundude]

Never used it, so I won’t miss it.
I say if nobody steps up to “waitaminute!” this within a month, it can go.

 

[RMerlin]

You may want to also poll the use of WAN login to the router. Seems like that is as big of an attack surface as AiCloud IMO.

WAN access has to stay, if only for the fact that I actually need it for development purposes. All my development devices sit within my LAN, so their WAN interfaces are what is facing the rest of my LAN, and therefore when I connect to one to do some testing on it, I access it through its WAN interface.

Note that years ago I did add an alert() popup showing whenever someone enabled it, so they are being warned about the risks associated with it.

 

[HorseCalledHorse]

I've never used it and never will, but if others do then I can't see much reason to remove it. If you don't enable it, it's not a security risk, is it? Perhaps an alert to the risks (similar to the popup for WAN access) would be enough?

 

[giosita]

@RMerlin , first off, thank you so much for your ongoing (and amazing) work that you so generously share with us.

This poll is just further proof of your commitment: after hearing user feedback on recent updates, you took the initiative to check in with us about the value of keeping the AICloud functionality in your releases.

Thank you once again - really, Asus should be thanking you daily too! I can’t say for sure, but I’d bet a good chunk of their router sales, not to mention brand loyalty, is thanks to your contributions (and of course, thanks to the rest of the community too!)

Regarding AICloud, I’d suggest considering a dedicated fork *without* the bundled AICloud services, giving users a choice in case they’d prefer a lighter and more secure version of the firmware… naturally, only if that wouldn’t be too heavy a lift on your end and if this doesn’t in any way compromise any eventual relationship with Asus.

Personally, I don’t even use the AICloud services - in fact, I feel a bit silly admitting I left it on by accident after testing it out once

I think alternative services (private cloud setups like Nextcloud on Docker, which I mostly use) are a better way to go - they offer more flexibility, security, and performance.

Kudos to you, RMerlin. Thanks as always!

 

[alchemy]

Had to login to my router to remind myself what AiCloud even does!
I feel it's a small minority that uses AiCloud, and if they know how to install and use Asuswrt-Merlin, I hope they'd know how to setup your better listed alternatives.
I personally would rather it all be removed for less running processes (if they run) and improved security.
Thanks for all you do for us @RMerlin!

 

[Kingp1n]

@RMerlin

I never used AiCloud.

For those that do, what would be the Pros / Cons & is it worth it.

As someone else said maybe hide it and whoever wants to enable it, maybe add a warning alert of the potential risk.

 

[charlie2alpha]

Never used it and never will. IMHO users of your firmware are usually the power user type and won't have a problem if you remove it. Those who want it can go back to the official firmware.

 

[ducky124]

AiCloud? What's that? LOL

 

[XIII]

Regarding AICloud, I’d suggest considering a dedicated fork *without* the bundled AICloud services

Wouldn’t that result in more work for him?

OTOH Does dropping support make merging GPL drops easier, or is this a closed source component and won’t there be much difference?

 

[hancox]

I would have to think the venn diagram of people sophisticated enough to use 3rd-party firmware, and those who use a training-wheels type "cloud" service, has to be exceedingly small.

 

[sortova]

Considering AiCloud's history, I am wondering if getting rid of it might not be a good idea. There are a now far better alternatives to achieve similar results (free/inexpensive cloud services, Plex, Jellyfin, a VPN, etc...)

Anyone for whom losing AiCloud in Asuswrt-Merlin would be a deal breaker for using the firmware?

(I know people who don't use it will say "just drop it", but I am more concerned in people who actually DO use it).

I didn’t know it existed until the CVE dropped. I have no use for it. As mentioned there are much better alternatives (I use Plex, Jellyfin and NextCloud among others)

 

[Jaime Alvarez]

Never even considered using AiCloud...