Before you buy that managed Netgear switch, be aware you may need to create a cloud account to use its full UI
- Reference: 1600718105
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/21/netgear_mandatory_registration_switches/
- Source link:
For instance, owners of its 64W Power-over-Ethernet eight-port managed gigabit switch GC108P, and its 126W variant GC108PP, need to hand over information about themselves to the Netgear Cloud to get full use out of the devices.
“Starting from firmware version 1.0.5.4, product registration is required to unlock full access to the local browser user interface,” said the manufacturer in a note on its [1]website referencing a version released in April this year.
The latest build, 1.0.5.8, released last week, continues that registration requirement. These rules also appear to apply to a dozen or so models of Netgear's kit, including its GS724TPP 24-port managed Ethernet switch.
“I recently bought a couple of Netgear Managed Switches for business, and in their datasheet they list local-only management as a feature. Only after they arrived we discovered that you only get limited functionality in the local-only management mode, you have to register the switches to your Netgear Cloud account to get access to the full functionality,” fumed one netizen on a Hacker News discussion [2]thread . “I would not have bought the switches if I had knew I needed to register them to Netgear Cloud to have access to the full functionality specified in the data sheet.”
It appears the Silicon Valley giant is aware that not everyone will rush to create a cloud account to manage their network hardware because it has [3]published a list of functions that one can freely access without said registration – for now, anyway.
We've asked Netgear to explain the move. The manufacturer most recently made the headlines when, after being informed of a security flaw in a large number of product lines, [4]promptly abandoned half of them rather than issue a patch.
Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey, England, opined: “It’s a conundrum because it is software and you do have only a licence to use it: you don’t own it so one might argue this helps protect intellectual property rights. However, that’s different for the hardware which is pretty useless without the software.”
Woodward pointed to Netgear’s online [5]privacy policy , which, like every other company on the internet, states that data from customers and others can be hoovered up for marketing purposes, research and so on (see section 11).
“Bottom line,” he concluded, “is that [Netgear] are like most other commercial organisations: they want your data to market further products to you. They can justify it legally I’m sure, and there are some legitimate reasons for having the data such as improving servicing, but it doesn’t sit well with me. If they expressly stated that they would not use it to market to me or share with others then I might be more inclined to accept it.”
It doesn't take much to imagine a future where even business-grade hardware is bound to a cloud account and requires a subscription to function. No subscription equals your office hardware bricked. Perhaps Netgear is just leading the way? ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://kb.netgear.com/000062364/GC108P-GC108PP-Firmware-Version-1-0-5-8
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24530009
[3] https://kb.netgear.com/000061174/What-features-of-my-NETGEAR-Smart-Managed-Pro-Switch-can-I-access-without-registering
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/netgear_abandons_45_routers_vuln_patching/
[5] https://www.netgear.com/about/privacy-policy/
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Hyde Park, New York? Nice place, also where FDR served hot dogs to some visiting Brits:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-franklin-delano-roosevelt-served-hot-dogs-king-180963589/
Vote with your wallet
No sale is the way to deal with nonsense like that.
No. Nope. Never. I wont do it.
I lose respect for any idiot who feels this is an acceptable idea.
I hope Netgear gets all this sill shite out of their minds before I am in the market for some hardware again.
Doesn't that break GDPR? You can not restrict access if the user doesn't consent.
Thanks Netgear
…for reminding me why I already swore never to buy your shit again. As if I'd forgotten anyway.
N600
Just dumped the unsupported router and glad I've avoided this.
I will confess to a 4 port GB unmanaged switch though. More impressed with the 8port+1 TP Link for my small LAN. QoS is on the router for now.
If I had bought gear limited like this
Sale of Goods - not as described, does not function correctly - full refund (by chargeback if necessary)
Is this a kind of ransomware?
I'm starting to believe I'll need to build my next switch or AP - as long as there will be enough carefree peole buying the devices anyway instead of letting them take dust on shelves or in warehouses.
But I hope they are going to piss off someone with enough time to bring them into court.
Does this mean that when you register the product, you get some sort of code to unlock the full feature set or that Netgear require these products to be managed via their cloud? If it is the latter, then the administrative interfaces of these devices would have to be exposed to the Internet and these products would cease to be useful whenever Netgear drops them out of it's cloud or their cloud is turned off. How utterly useless!
"No subscription equals your office hardware bricked"
I think I have read that Cisco has some product lines that do this? (new product lines which have been quite controversial with the new subscription model). I don't know specifics as I have generally tried to avoid anything Cisco for at least 15 years now.
The org I work for uses Aerohive for corporate wireless which is a cloud based management product(company was purchased by Extreme Networks last year I think, I've been an Extreme Networks ethernet customer for 20 years now). Last year our subscription lapsed. I asked support in advance what would happen as we were just about to expire and our vendor was struggling to get a quote. They said no issues just can't manage the devices. We ended up getting the order in on time but it got canceled for some reason(never got notification, I was assuming once the order was processed Aerohive would automatically update the subscription on their end and things would just keep working) and we ended up with no subscription for several months(took me that long to need to login again to poke at the interface before I realized the order never went through as our vendor confirmed it was received by Aerohive and being processed several months before). At the end of the day there was no impact, network stayed up and fine. The only reason I had to access the management UI at the time was to a quarterly "rogue AP scan" for PCI, otherwise it was not for at least another 7 months before I actually had a need to make a configuration change(adjusted radio strengths).
Even without a subscription I would wager that I would be able to login to the command line of the Aerohive access points and make changes there if needed. I mean I can already login and make changes, I don't think the AP would phone home and say "hey I don't have a subscription so you can't make any changes", but it's technically possible I suppose. I logged into the CLI of the APs many times while cleaning up the configuration last year. I monitor each individual AP via SNMP with our general monitoring tool and even without subscription there was no issues gathering metrics either.
If it is a one time deal, who cares?
Put up some bogus information and give it a throwaway email created on hotmail or whatever. It isn't as if they can verify the information is true, they probably just want to get your contact info so they can notify you of firmware updates (though the real reason will be to try to sell you extended warranties, support contracts, other Netgear products etc.)
Never bought one, never will
That's them off my suppliers list - which is admittedly restricted to HP/Aruba and D-link.
I can't think of any reason to buy network infrastructure which requires internet access, but Netgear has apparently deluded themselves into thinking that some people can.
Cisco Linksys scandal
I just put those three words into Google and the first link was https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/07/02/1743253/ciscos-cloud-vision-mandatory-and-killed-at-their-discretion
So this is not the first time managers have thought this was a good business decision. Although the victims were mainly retail consumers, there was a big enough backlash to persuade Cisco that this wasn't the best decision they ever made. The Linksys brand was subsequently sold. That Netgear has chosen to do something similar to business customers is astonishing.
The mesh network I bought for my home required to access my GPS location on my phone in order to work. No mention of this anywhere in the advertising materials, on the product webpage, anywhere.
Well, I spoofed the GPS signal so it thinks I live in the middle of Hyde Park.