US may ban TP-Link routers/switches over links to Chinese government | Hacker News Reader

US may ban TP-Link routers/switches over links to Chinese government

theverge.com

22 pointsbhouston7 comments

I put OpenWrt on my WiFi routers when I can (Linksys Velops, ugh). TP-Link routers usually have a very easy OpenWrt install, and seem to work well afterwards. Are the flaws/problems this article hints at in hardware or software?

Agreed on TP-Link being a good choice for OpenWRT hardware. If the concern is only software, then I'll be on the lookout for liquidation sales of TP-Link stock.

TP-Link products are actually great value for money. I find them incredibly reliable and cost effective, especially their Omada line.

Anyhow good news for Ubiquity/UniFi I guess, which is a local US company.

Original report (gift link): https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/us-ban-china-...

HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42449503

Every single router on the entire market uses chips from three companies based out of the US and Taiwan. If TP-Link has malware in their chips, every other manufacturer does too and the US government probably put it there.

If the concern is software, then just like everyone else is saying, install OpenWRT on it. GL.iNet routers already come with their own version of OpenWRT. You can do the same on those if you don't trust it.

From Nov. 2, 2024 in Ars Technica:

> Hackers working on behalf of the Chinese government are using a botnet of thousands of routers, cameras, and other Internet-connected devices to perform highly evasive password spray attacks against users of Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, the company warned Thursday.

> The malicious network, made up almost entirely of TP-Link routers, was first documented in October 2023 by a researcher who named it Botnet-7777. The geographically dispersed collection of more than 16,000 compromised devices at its peak got its name because it exposes its malicious malware on port 7777.

— https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/11/micro...

mikrotik for the win

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