On 17/01/14 11:49, theo.schmidt@wilhelmtux.ch wrote:
Am 16.01.2014 14:58, schrieb Daniel Pocock:
My blog entry about Swisscom backdooring their routers has been extremely popular
link?
If it goes on in Switzerland then it can be happening anywhere
Also in Switzerland: I'm presently using a Swisscom analog phone line (copper, self-powered, works without external electricity) and a provider called VTX, basically a reseller for Swisscom like all ISPs in Sitzerland, I believe. I'm able to use any analog phones (even 50 year-old ones) and any analog modems/routers. (They are of course digital, but the line is called analog.)
Besides the freedom/security issues mentioned, I am able to switch it on and off at will in order to use less electricity or indeed use models which are more efficient, solar-powered, etc.
I want to switch to a different provider because VTX:
- use Credit Suisse banking
- use "dumbo"-advertising, always quoting speeds in "Megas" but now
saying what "Megas"
- try very hard to switch us to IP-telephones and more speed (which we
do not need) without telling us the consequences, e.g. a compulsory locked-up router.
But from your experience, Daniel, switching to Swisscom would be just as bad.
Anybody Swiss here have a good alternative to either Swisscom or VTX?
I should have been more clear: I have the Swisscom router, yes. The backdoor is gone and it is no longer connected to Swisscom, I use it with Init7 http://www.init7.net
I am using their DSL service, I hear they have fibre in some cities
Cheers, Theo
PS Cablecom UPC have just announced a nefarious scheme to provide free Wifi eveywhere there are private Cablecom UPC routers, but *only* for Cablecom UPC customers.
This has already happened in other countries too
What is really needed is an independent router based or mesh solution to compete with that