I didnt mention because i am also not sure how a far away lightning could cause issue over the ethernet cable which is not meant to carry electricity; damage only the router port and nothing else. I presume it was due to a electrical surge in the ACT junction box due to fluctuations in the voltage. Their equipment must not have surge protectors causing voltage to leak throughout the board including the ethernet cables.
I seriously doubt this. Do you have any source?
your router login settings does not matter to them. Because the firmware is customized and provided by them, its directly accessible by them.
dazzwilliams
Discoverer
Their junction boxes usually come with an power adaptor which has an inbuilt battery which gives back-up of around 4-5 hours., So that internet is not down in case of powercut in your locality.
I presume this adaptor should rule out the possibility of surge..but can't say for sure
enthusiast29
Innovator
TR-069, google that.
I used hathway for 2 years. I used the ZTE modem/ router provided by them which comes preconfigure with lot of stuff. For some reason, there was an internet disconnection and on raising a complaint ticket, I was provided a resolution within 4 hours time. The helpdesk guy called and asked me to check that the internet connection was working to close the ticket, and I said i need to turn on my desktop to check it; for which he responded that the i can connect to wifi and check and he proceeded to tell me the wifi password. That password I have used in many websites like an idiot. Thats when I realized, these guys could see a lot more.
enthusiast29
Innovator
They can't see shit in bridge mode. Even you won't be able to access the modem after enabling bridge mode unless you connect directly using LAN on the modem on some port which is not in bridge mode.
AFAIK, tr69 gets disabled in bridge mode and you have your network behind your personal router's firewall.
They push all these nasty access in name of the customer experience through their pre-configured routers. I quoted another TOI article above, though it does not clearly state how much of snooping is going around from ISP side.
enthusiast29
Innovator
Yes, in bridge mode that protocol is disabled. Hence why I suggested that initially.
with your personal router's firewall, the DNS queries, IP headers, etc. has to reach the ISP provided router and then to the ISP infra. Concern is that a lot of helpdesk guys at lower level having the ability to see all these stuff. Generally, more people having access to stuff always leads to less stringent monitoring, weak access controls protocols, violation of segregation of duties, etc.
The power adaptor does not protect against sudden voltage fluctuations. Only a surge protector with proper grounding can achieve it. The backup batteries in the ACT junction box lasts for 8 hours these days.
enthusiast29
Innovator
No, bridge mode bypasses the modem of ISP. It's just acting as a dumb fiber to ethernet converter. It seems like you're not aware what bridge mode is, I suggest you google on it a bit.
Also if you're so concerned about privacy it's better you host your own recursive DNS server and encrypted tunnel VPN.
i googled a bit and most forums mention that it has to be disabled specifically. Did you have the option to disable it?. For me i disabled Remote management features.
Configure your network so that that anything leaves your personal router is encrypted, run your own DNS, maybe host a Pi-hole on your local network, etc.
enthusiast29
Innovator
It's mentioned so because people don't generally do bridge mode and run off directly from ISP provided router.
Some ISPs like airtel blocks you from changing those remote management features on some CPEs. The one I got (huawei) was also blocked but only via HTML which I edited and disabled myself.
But as said already...
Well, running your own DNS makes the DNS queries private but then once you get the IP from the DNS server that communication is not private and the ISP knows what IP addresses are you requesting to serve from them.
You need a private VPN as well, something hosted outside of your network like a VPS.
Last edited:
That’s the upgrade I’m planning for.
blr_p
Northstar
That's how the surge entered Similar happened to me well over a decade ago when my ISP of the time strung CAT6 ethernet cables through trees and over rooftops. One thunderstorm took out the ethernet card I had on my PC. The PC was fine, just replaced the card. You will have to do the same with your Deco router if they offer just the module where the ethernet cable is plugged.
Maybe get a surge protector that you can connect to the ISP's ethernet cable which you then connect to the router. This will need to be checked on a periodic basis to see that the suppressors are still intact and can protect.
The surge protectors costs 4k. I am not sure if surge protectors withstand multiple lightning surges. New Deco price is 3199. Not a cost effective solution.