Upgrading from 2006 Cisco Router

[Quibbie]

My Cisco Linksys router is second hand and still works reasonably well with a one year old Dell 3910 mini tower and a 3 year old rented modem from Spectrum. The Ookla speedtest shows 496.93 Mbps download and 406.26 Mbsp upload.
Aside from the occasional local power outage, it hasn't failed.

I'm new to and nervous about routers, but have managed to reset my password from the default Admin to a strong password on both my 5G and 2.4G networks. I'm able to poke around to confirm no one besides me is using it. I live in public housing with a couple hundred other people, and the actual closet which contains the hardware looks like a thick nest of thin vipers.

With 535 square feet, two rooms and one interior wall, the TP-Link I'm using for an equally old computer running Windows 7 is adequate. I'm buying a new Samsung Galaxy S24 soon. I'm not a gamer, use sound infrequently (deaf with implant) stick with Firefox, DDG or Chrome. I've developed preferences, like anyone, and am not a fan of AI. I make do with what little I have and plan on further belt tightening.

I've squeaked by through a combination of an incessant search for knowledge, but most recently from generous individuals that have connected remotely with me on forums.

 

[degrub]

Do you have a more specific question ?

We will need model numbers on your network equipment, also.

 

[Quibbie]

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Edit: Router is model EA 6500 Cisco Linksys class B 5139-8224 serial number and Mac address if you need it
Modem is Spectrum E31U2V1 H/W version 2.72.3

Thank you.

 

[Tech9]

What's the budget? Any home router will do what you need starting from TP-Link Archer C80 for around $50 new. If you have a Gateway from your ISP (or modem/router) - you don't need anything, just enable gateway mode and Wi-Fi on it.

 

[Quibbie]

Between $100-$200. I've read TP-Link has possible vulnerabilities with unwanted "spyware", but maybe that's a fallacy. The purpose is to gain a bit of security when I eventually buy my own modem.

 

[Tech9]

Okay, you have a modem only. If you don't want TP-Link for whatever reason something like Asus RT-AX3000 for $110 (current Amazon US price) is more than enough for your needs. This one:

 

[Quibbie]

Thank you.

 

[Tech9]

This Linksys EA6500 is actually 2012 model year device, can't be from 2006. Old and unsupported, but if you never had any issues with it and it still does what you need - you can simply continue using it as before. Online security is more user behavior related.

 

[Quibbie]

On my lookup, it was between 2006-2012. Thanks for nailing this down. It's bugged me for quite some time.

Same points: old and unsupported, no issues. I'm very conservative & still learning. I want to be prepared for any unforeseen problems, having solutions before it's critically necessary.

 

[Tech9]

Linksys EA6500 v1 is 2012 model, v2 is 2013 model. A new router won't help much in user security since most of the traffic is point-to-point encrypted. The router doesn't see most of it. If no one had any interest to hack this Linksys router itself yet - you perhaps can continue using it as before. Newer and supported routers in theory protect themselves better, but this is not guaranteed. Asus had malware issues lately. You can't protect yourself from unknown future threats. There is no solution to this. What you need is updated clients. Your Windows 7 PC is more of a concern if used for Internet access. Update it to Windows 10 at least.

 

[Quibbie]

No one ever had any interest to hack this Linksys. I am concerned someday it will suddenly stop functioning, without warning.

With no TV, the Windows 7 PC is reserved for watching movies, and TV on Amazon, Hulu, Thirteen and using 365 Office remotely through my college.

So routers don't see much traffic or can be configured to block anything significant?

 

[Tech9]

So routers don't see much traffic or can be configured to block anything significant?

The routers don't see anything encrypted and it's most of today's Internet traffic. Some offer URL blocking, DNS encryption, simple packet inspection, etc. - in your case with few clients you can easily do all of the above on the client side and with much better visibility and efficiency. All modern browsers use Safe Browsing by default and block malicious URLs already. Some browsers encrypt DNS queries by default, modern Android/iOS phones do the same. Windows has own Defender, Linux-like systems use sandboxing, etc. The router is least likely device to detect and stop a threat. Asus (some TP-Link models with Home Shield as well) uses user data sharing (anonymous, but may contain browsing history) to 3rd party company (Trend Micro) to do whatever they have as protection in firmware options. Some people are not very comfortable with this requirement. It is optional though and disabled by default.

 

[Quibbie]

I see your points. Thanks for the summary, suggestions and time you've invested. It is appreciated.

 

[Tech9]

I had one EA6500 in my routers collection and with original Linksys firmware it's so simple that there is nothing much to hack on it. Sometimes devices offering basically no extras are more secure just because no one has any interest to invest time in hacking something with zero return of efforts. For the same reason ISP provided gateways are usually bullet proof.

 

[Quibbie]

Sometimes devices offering basically no extras are more secure just because no one has any interest to invest time in hacking something with zero return of efforts

YES!

Thanks again and have a good day.