Comments on: Don’t buy a BT Home Hub if your gamer

By: Micheal W.

Micheal W. — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:24:11 +0000

Bet it’s still WEP 64 bit though, really who advises these people

By: DalSoft

DalSoft — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:01:36 +0000

Just got the following email from O2, are they reading my blog
——————————————————————————————————

Dear ********,

To ensure that your O2 Broadband always performs at the highest level, we occasionally carry out updates on our O2 Wireless boxes.

That’s why we’re writing to you to let you know that over the next few days, we’re going to update yours. You’ll see your O2 Wireless box turn itself off and back on again, it’ll take around 30 seconds.

These updates will increase the security of your O2 Wireless box.

There are two changes we need to make you aware of:

Password to access the Router

We’re going to set up a password to protect the settings on your O2 Wireless Box. You don’t need to do anything. You’ll only need it if you want to change the settings. (In most cases, you’ll probably never need it.) The password is the serial number of your O2 Wireless Box.

You might find that it takes longer to access the settings pages on your router at http://o2wirelessbox.lan, this is because of the new security features we’ve put in place to protect you online.

Wireless Network Name

If you ever have to reset your wireless box, it will set up a new wireless network name to increase the security of your O2 Wireless Box. You don’t need to do anything to make this happen either.

If you would like to see more information around this, here’s where you can find it here

Felix Geyr

Head of O2 Home and Broadband

By: DalSoft

DalSoft — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:00:53 +0000

Out of interest I checked my O2 Wireless II box and found it had a similar set-up although not quite as restrictive, however to my horror I noticed the default security was WEP, so basically if I used that router with their default settings anybody wardriving could use my router, how does that hold with the Digital Economy Bill? Are users liable for not knowing how to change the default security of the router supplied by there ISP?

I’m so glad I invested in my own router, this was the first time I switched on the o2 router, as I use my own Netgear RangeMax Router. Ever since the early noughties when I had a USB modem, I’ve never trusted the kit you get from ISP’s, they always seem to have the ISP’s own firmware (crapware). Looks like I’ve been proven right, as what the ISP supplies you with seems to be getting worse not better. My advise is never buy a router from a ISP, save your money buy your own and if you’re not technical get a friend to help you set it up.