SNBForums Policy on ASUS TM-AC1900 Conversion Discussion

[thiggins]

Further discussion of methods to get around ASUS' lockdown of TM-AC1900 firmware to prevent conversion to RT-AC68U will not be allowed. The main discussion thread has been deleted. Conversations related to defeating the lockdown have been deleted. New threads or Conversations opened on the topic will be deleted.

ASUS did not request the removal of this material or otherwise influence these actions.

 

[JohnnyWad]

How do I delete my logins have no use for this forum any longer

 

[dirtyclyde]

Me too delete my login and all my posts I don't have a need either!!!!!!

 

[MasterBash]

then just go and stop posting

 

[scjr]

I’m staying.

This is great forum, with plenty of experienced longtime members who are very helpful. As a matter of fact, all my future purchases at Amazon will go through this site to support it. Keep up the great work, Tim.

 

[VANT]

I’m staying.

This is great forum, with plenty of experienced longtime members who are very helpful. As a matter of fact, all my future purchases at Amazon will go through this site to support it. Keep up the great work, Tim.

Do you have a tm router? No ? So why are you talking here?
Personally, I do not like censorship, and I do not like such activities.

 

[scjr]

Do you have a tm router? No ? So why are you talking here?
Personally, I do not like censorship, and I do not like such activities.

Really?

No one is censoring you. You’re still posting, right? Owner runs the forum the way owner sees fit. There are rules here. This is just another rule.

 

[SwampKracker]

Do you have a tm router? No ? So why are you talking here?
Personally, I do not like censorship, and I do not like such activities.

I do not have a TM router, yet I support Tim's decision. This is not censorship, just moderation. People who want to "get a deal" by purchasing a TM-AC1900 to convert into a RT-AC68U can have their discussions anywhere else that allows it. I don't see the problem.

 

[Mic]

I have to disagree with the decision to shut down TM-AC1900 discussions. I have owned Asus routers from N66 to 3 AC68u to 3 RT-AC3100 and also an AC88U. I had sold my AC68u to upgrade to AC3100/88U before AiMesh came out. As I was sure AiMesh wasn't mature and I didn't want to spend a lot of money beta-testing for Asus, I got the TM-AC1900 to test before moving my AC3100 to AiMesh with the intent of selling the TM routers after I'm satisfied with AiMesh performance. Now, my beta-testing of AiMesh is more perilous than before unless I want to use my genuine Asus units. There are a number of TM-AC1900 owners who got locked into TM firmware after the lockdown and would like to now use a non-TM and non-Asus forked firmware such as DD-WRT but who now can't. Keeping the discussions alive may have helped them in revert out of TM firmware.

Now, I support Asus in general as a company (bought their motherboards too) and also RMerlin, but if TM-AC1900 is supposed to be a TM product, then neither Asus nor RMerlin should have any say in terms of whether TM-AC1900 should be allowed to be hacked. They can say that you're not allowed to put their firmwares on TM-AC1900 and have every right to booby trap their firmwares to not let you put it on, but it's up to the end-user what they want to do with their TM-AC1900, including hacking and loading third-party firmwares. TM has the right to say that discussions on hacking TM-AC1900 should not be allowed but I doubt TM cares as discussions on TM-AC1900 hacking has been going on for years and TM-AC1900 is a discontinued product (not to mention that TM probably cares much more about running the cell business then its deprecated routers). Now, it would have been nice had Asus let people know about the lockdown before it happened out of good will (though I agree that Asus has no obligation to) and I hope that RMerlin will do that in the future if RMerlin firmwares will also propagate the lock down (though from what I've read, I doubt that RMerlin will take that step).

Above thoughts aside, perhaps the latest hacks to bypass the lockdown scared Asus in that there is no other way for Asus to lockdown TM-AC1900 and that is why discussions on TM-AC1900 have been banned? If that's the case it is unfortunate because well, censorship doesn't work on the Internet (unless you're China) and methods of defeating the lockdown are already out in the wild and will continue to be out in the wild.

Last thought, I hope this post doesn't get deleted as it does not discuss in any way how to defeat the lockdown.

 

[monaro-ds]

Forcefully installing software/firmware on someone else system they do not own is “hacking”
If anything, it’s the ASUS who hacked TM routers

 

[ASUS LOL]

Well, I guess in the SNB/ASUS relationship, we know who wears the collar and who holds the leash!

And, this will likely be a read-only thread in 3...2...

 

[ASUS LOL]

Really?

No one is censoring you. You’re still posting, right? Owner runs the forum the way owner sees fit. There are rules here. This is just another rule.

BS...I'm sorry, but when the owner/admin deletes member PMs, 'at their discretion,' that's crossing the line.

 

[byerss]

I created this account just to express my displeasure of censoring discussion of modding the TM-1900.

This is hardware we purchased and own. I do not see any harm in allow us to discuss modifications to our own property. Hopefully another forum picks up the torch.

 

[rdallen]

I think Tim has every right to decide what kind of forum he wants. And he has decided. A little disappointed that the thread wasn't simply locked - rather than deleted. It had a lot of information in there.

There are plenty of other forums out there which will host this discussion - for example linksysinfo.org (plenty of non-linksys discussions there). The discussion will continue - as there is a demand for it. Just a question of where.

 

[Stephen Harrington]

I think Tim has every right to decide what kind of forum he wants. And he has decided. A little disappointed that the thread wasn't simply locked - rather than deleted. It had a lot of information in there.

There are plenty of other forums out there which will host this discussion - for example linksysinfo.org (plenty of non-linksys discussions there). The discussion will continue - as there is a demand for it. Just a question of where.

There is the start of a thread on Whirpool.net.au ... I'm not sure what there rules are though .... anyway just an opening suggestion.

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2693988

StephenH

 

[Sammy2]

Pretty sure the EULA for both these routers doesn't permit reverse engineering and that you are granted a license to use the firmware but you do not own it.

Thing is the hardware works but runs on vulnerable firmware. Since it says Asus and T-Mobile on the case and obviously has Asus designed hardware and firmware on it it would seem they are both liable for neglect as later firmware that fixes certain security issues is actually available yet the companies will not permit the routers to have that firmware.

It is not censorship when a site owner limits and cuts off discussion as the owner is paying the bill for the forum. There are other venues or anyone here can start their own with their own rules.

 

[Sam Sopheak]

It has been fun, it's time to move on to other forum or blog!

 

[badbob001]

So is it okay to discuss how to unlock the router to be compatible with third-party firmware? Or does it mean that unless the router comes with a button labeled 'use non-asus firmware', then any workarounds for that is considered 'hacking'?

The thing is, why are we so concerned about what is done to a device that Asus has essentially abandoned? Would we be okay if operating systems only allowed you to install on hardware that was only released in the last few years? Oh, I guess meltdown/spectre going to take care of that.

 

[future2521]

Asus must be pissed off recently

 

[Sammy2]

We will not allow further discussion of methods to get around ASUS' lockdown of TM-AC1900 firmware to prevent conversion to RT-AC68U. The main discussion thread has been deleted. Conversations related to defeating the lockdown have been deleted. New threads or Conversations opened on the topic will be deleted.

ASUS did not request the removal of this material or otherwise influence my actions.

I'm curious as to what did. Thanks.