The US FCC backed off on preventing users from flashing the firmware on their routers, as long as they do not operate outside authorized radio frequency band, not that this had anything to do with why users wanted to flash to DD-WRT. This has not stopped TP-Link from doing so, as of now they will not sell routers which allow a user to install customized firmware. Assumedly this is a CYA move to ensure that they cannot be sued if someone does change the frequency limits, output power, country codes or other banned modifications but is more likely to cause a decline in their sales. The Register has more on the decision from the FC and TP-Link here.
"In a brief statement and FAQ published this week, TP-Link – which is based in Shenzhen, China – said the FCC's revised rules on radio-based equipment makes user reprogrammable firmware illegal in America, and therefore it cannot sell in the US routers that can be re-flashed by their owners."
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No danger in that, I always
No danger in that, I always think Toilet Paper Link when I see one of their products.
Do you really thing that more
Do you really thing that more than 0.1% of their customers ever bothered to flash the firmware of their router? Chances are 99.9% of them never bothered to change the administrator password. This will have no tangible effect on their sales.
well said these sell like
well said these sell like hotcakes to regular consumers on amazon and i doubt they ever change anything.
This point exactly. I
This point exactly. I purchased that exact TP-Link router pictured here on recommendation of The Wirecutter. It’s worked perfectly as wireless router for our apartment for the last 2 years with the default firmware. What are the killer features I’m missing out on by not using custom firmware like DD-WRT?
Killer feature for me: 1.
Killer feature for me: 1. adblock installed directly on router. My laptop and my phones will never see google ads ever again!
2. VPN
3. torrents running on router.
And no , it is not only for geeks.
As long as they do not use
As long as they do not use this as an convenient excuse to lockup all routers firmware, some people get great features on the open firmware without having to spend $$$$ to get said features! So in spite of all the NSA FUD spaffers out there trying to spin things as necessary for closed firmware with the open back doors in it for the 3 letter(or More) agencies only! I would think that some makers could just make the radio portion of the device restricted to operating in the FCC approved envelope and let the other part of the device’s firmware be open source and user/owner friendly, how hard could that be!
+1
+1
TP-Link make awesome routers,
TP-Link make awesome routers, but my current TP-Link is my last one unless they break off that decision!
I got a tp-link wdr-4300
I got a tp-link wdr-4300 router and installed DD-WRT on it. The router has been working great with DD-wrt firmware.
Pleas! all the time i see
Pleas! all the time i see people going on about ddwrt, wen there is other firmwares out there that are much better. eg Gargoyle https://www.gargoyle-router.com/index.php
Gargoyle has the best QOS of all the third party softwair out there and has a HTML5 interface. It’s very newbie friendly. Has a grate forum unlike the rudeness you get on the ddwrt one.
I have 3 TP-Link routers and would never run the stock crap they start off with. It’s full of bugs and hols. If any one wants to have a look at Gargoyle I am on the forums to help you out. If any one gets stuck with a TP-Link router that will not flash pleas ask in the forums of openwrt or Gargoyle as there is a work around to get them flashed away from the stock firmware. Sorry for the bad spelling. PS Gargoyle works on any router that can be flashed with openwrt not just TP-Link ones.
pps Gargoyle has a plugin
pps Gargoyle has a plugin system wich includes DNS baste AD blocking so no more ads on all your smartphones and any device that is on your network. A ping watchdog wich will ping any ip you ask it to and if no ping is reseved then it will reboot your router or run a script. A email wich will send you emails whenever spasific things happen. + a lot more.