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Netgear vs TP-Link

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking May 5, 2017October 22, 20221990s, 3com, cisco, FCC, netgear, TL

If you’re looking for the pros and cons of Netgear vs TP-Link, I have experience with both and I’m glad to share it.

Netgear is a well established brand, having been on the market since 1996.

I don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of TP-Link. They were founded in 1996 but if you were buying their stuff before 2005, you’re well ahead of me. But I like them a lot.
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Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Linksys vs TP-Link

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking February 21, 2017August 1, 2017belkin, cisco, FCC, firewall, linksys, TL, wrt54g

If you’re looking for the pros and cons of Linksys vs TP-Link, I have experience with both and I’m glad to share it.

Linksys is a well established brand. From 2003 to 2013, they were Cisco’s consumer products division. Since 2013, they’ve been part of Belkin. Prior to Cisco buying them, they were an independent company, founded in 1988. Linksys was the first company to sell 100 million routers.

I don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of TP-Link. They were founded in 1996 but if you were buying their stuff before 2005, you’re well ahead of me.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Asuswrt-Merlin vs Cisco

Dave Farquhar security, Servers and Networking December 16, 2016December 13, 2021asus, best buy, cisco, linksys, vulnerability

I recently saw advice to buy a Cisco RV130W instead of buying an Asus router such as an RT-AC66U and souping it up with Asuswrt-Merlin. I can see both sides of the argument but in the end I favor the Asus solution when I consider Asuswrt-Merlin vs Cisco. Here’s why.

Now, if you’re arguing business vs personal use, there’s no contest. In a business setting, buy the Cisco.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How to find inexpensive routers to run DD-WRT

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT, Servers and Networking April 1, 2015August 3, 2017Broadcom, cisco, DDWRT, linksys, TL, WAN, wrt54g

I’ve been using and recommending DD-WRT for years, but it’s getting harder to find inexpensive routers to run DD-WRT. Many inexpensive routers now use non-Broadcom chipsets that DD-WRT and other third-party firmware don’t support well, or at all.

But there’s still a way to get inexpensive, compatible routers that isn’t likely to change any time soon.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

More encryption = more safety

Dave Farquhar security November 24, 2014November 23, 2014cisco, NSA, SSL, TLS

Mozilla, Akamai, Cisco, the EFF, and Identrust are teaming up for Let’s Encrypt, an effort to make SSL encryption free and easy.

This is important, because it means mundane stuff will get encrypted. When SSL/TLS traffic are no longer flagged as special, security will increase. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Phil Kerpen, net neutrality, and socialism: A post-mortem

Dave Farquhar net.culture September 15, 2014July 4, 20161940s, 1990s, Bing, certifications, cisco, hp, internet providers, job description, journalism, Kansas City, marx, Missouri, nbc, net neutrality, netflix, university of missouri, whirlpool

I learned the hard way a few weeks ago how net neutrality can be equated with socialism, an argument that puzzles people who work on computer networks for a living and see networking as a big flow of electrons. I think it’s very important that we understand how this happens.

Here’s the tactic: Find a socialist who supports net neutrality. Anoint him the leader of the movement. Bingo, anyone who supports net neutrality follows him, and therefore is a communist.

Political lobbyist and Fox News contributor Phil Kerpen told me Robert W. McChesney was the leader of the net neutrality movement, and he sent me a quote in the form of a meme longer than the Third Epistle of St. John. Yet in a Google search for the key words from that quote, “net neutrality bring down media power structure,” I can’t find him. So then I tried Bing, where I found him quoted on a web site called sodahead.com, but I couldn’t find the primary source.

For the leader of a movement the size of net neutrality, he sure keeps a low profile. Google and Netflix are two multi-billion-dollar companies that support net neutrality. I’m sure it’s news to them that they’re taking orders from Robert W. McChesney. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

USB malware: What you need to know

Dave Farquhar security August 5, 2014October 11, 2019antivirus, cisco, cloak and dagger, computer security, malware, NSA, resellers, usb device, usb keyboard, vulnerability

Tomorrow morning on Fox 2: How this USB drive could be worse than the worst malware you’ve ever imagined!

Yes, when a security vulnerability hits TV news, it’s a big deal. It’s probably also sensationalized. And it’s not time to panic yet. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

This week in mobile

Dave Farquhar Android June 16, 2013June 15, 2013android, apple, cisco, citrix, IOS, Jelly Bean, nexus

I have zero intention of doing a mobile roundup every week, but it sure seems like there were a few noteworthy developments in the mobile field this week that are worth mentioning. So, here goes.

Dave Farquhar

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In defense of telework

Dave Farquhar security February 27, 2013October 11, 2019cisco, IM, Kansas City, raid array, VPN, yahoo

I work from home one day a week. Most of my coworkers do as well.

So I was interested when I read about Yahoo! doing! away! with! telecommuting! (with apologies to The Register. I couldn’t resist.)
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Dave Farquhar

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Home network projects for a budding sysadmin

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking February 13, 2013July 4, 2018cisco, pfsense, windows 7, Windows Server

A very good question came in as a comment to my earlier post, the benefits of practicing IT at home. What do I mean by putting some Windows 7 machines on a domain? It’s one of several good home network projects.

I mean standing up a server with centralized user accounts and shares, running on Windows Server or Samba, whichever you can afford. Make it a print server too, and print from it, just like you would from an office. Then extend it, and extend your sysadmin skills. Here are several ideas for projects of varying length, difficulty, and expense.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

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