>-----Original Message----- >From: Peter Humphrey <pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk> >Sent: Monday, August 8, 2022 4:08 PM >To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org >Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] About to have fiber internet and need VPN info > >On Monday, 8 August 2022 17:25:08 BST Laurence Perkins wrote: > >> I would strongly recommend getting your own equipment with most ISPs >> since the rental price on their equipment will buy a new modem yearly. >> >> Now, that said, the other ISP in the area also has a backdoor, and >> they try to connect to it any time they're running diagnostics, and if >> the connection fails then they reset the circuit. So your choice is >> use one of their sanctioned models and leave the backdoor alone or >> else have sporadic dropouts. > >Life isn't like that in the UK - at least, I hope not. I'm not aware of any >such behaviour by my ISP.
I've heard a few, similar stories from your side of the pond. So far as I can tell it's a matter of incompetence, not maliciousness. 99% of their customers can barely use a computer, and anything that goes wrong, even locally, will get blamed on whichever service department said customer thinks of first. Were it me running the show I'd have the backdoor only be active when somebody has pressed the WPS button on the router. That would seem a good compromise between privacy and service. But lots of ISPs have standard methods they developed in the 90s when the Internet was slightly friendlier and they often don't have anyone competent to update their policies on staff. LMP
