Okay, so, I'm enraged right now at Verizon. Livid beyond belief.
Last night I was having connectivity problems, so I decided to reboot my Westell 6100 modem/router which I've been using for the past week because my Cisco 857 is in transit to the new house in Idaho. When it came back, I still had no internet, which was odd given the lights on the front said otherwise.
So, I logged into the web interface, and got a really nasty surprise...
The web interface had changed from the Westell white with blue to the Verizon red and black branding. I knew right away what had happened - I had been pushed a firmware update by Verizon without my explicit permission or knowledge.
So I went to investigate why I had no connectivity even though the lights were saying I did... PPP interface was flapping, so I decided to reset to factory defaults to see if I could clear the issue. Clicked "Factory defaults" and waited while it rebooted. When it came back, it was still on my 10.x.x.x IP internal scheme, which was awfully weird. So I logged back in, still same exact config I had before.
Frustrated, I tried to use the reset switch on the back, only to find out the router was ignoring the switch and not resetting even after holding it in.
I try to use the Westell firmware utility to 'upgrade' the router to the older Westell branded firmware, only to discover its braindead upgrade utility can't find the router cause it calculates the netmask as 255.0.0.0 rather then 255.255.255.0. I go to change the IP in the router to 192.168.1.1, and discover its not accepting changes there either. At that point, I was too frustrated and fell asleep cause I had a huge move today.
Fast forward to 2:30 or so today, I call up Verizon pissed. They acknowledge the router got an upgraded firmware image automatically (forget the fact I had explicitly disabled that feature for this very reason), but I'm shit out of luck. Even though the fact my formerly perfectly working 6100 is now bricked because of something Verizon did without my approval or knowledge, they will not provide me with a new one for free because the router is out of warranty.
ARGH! I hate Verizon!
I fought them for almost a year on some major problems with my DSL line, stemming from water in the conduits under my street.
I don't even have the time or energy to persue this to the level that I'd like to - I'm about to close up my apartment here and move across country.
All I can say, is that I'm glad I won't be dealing with their craptastic service after next week.
All I really am interested in, is a replacement 6100 from them, since it's my hardware they broke, not something they leased to me.
I don't care nor do I want to involve the court system - its just not worthwhile for me to do so. I could have cared less about the router, it was being retired anyway for the near future and if/when I returned to NJ/NY I'd reuse it if needed.
I'm angry at them because they didn't do the right thing. I'm angry because I won't be the last person this happens to either.
Are you getting internet but it acts like it can't find any internet addresses? That is, you have a solid PPP connection but no internet access?
If I had to venture what is going on, I'd say the firmware that was put into it either didn't download fully or was corrupt, and the stupid router installed it anyway.
Reminds me of when working on DD-WRT, if for some reason, the router botched writing the firmware to the flash, and only got say, 2MB of out the 5MB it was supposed to, it might be enough for the router to boot, and show a GUI, but not do much else.
The fact that I get a semi-functional GUI but not much functionality seems to fit that theory. In my book, that qualifies as being bricked - esp. when you can't get a new firmware image on to it cause you can't change the settings to allow the firmware program to work.
Original service was back in 2006. I remember having to put down money to get the router since I didn't opt for the year contact and it was a dry loop dsl (no dialtone). Service shut off in Nov 2006 cause I was losing apartment.
Service was activated again at new residence in Feb 2007, opted for a year plan this time (not sure if I was entitled to router, and just never bothered to follow through on getting it). Existing equipment was used.
I did a firmware update for ADSL2+ support on my own (using verizon provided update tool), which ended up fixing some stability issues, though I still had problems for around 6 months with the service before verizon did something on their end to fix it...
Had something to do with water in the conduits under the street - something verizon knew full well of and did not fix.
Problem 'fixed' itself eventually and I switched to using a Cisco router after my WRT54GS died.
I'm moving currently, so nice expensive router is on it's way out west, so I had to switch back to 6100.
The 6100 I have is the Verizon specific one - E90-610015 - that they provided to new customers at the time. However, this Verizon branding is what tipped me off to the change - I have a 327w that underwent the same UI change with the latest firmware.
Up until last night, the 6100 has always had the Westell generic UI.
Update: There is no way to flash the router at this point. I've not been able to find an actual image file of the firmware, just a tool in .exe, which does not work right cause it really stupidly assumes anything in 10/8 is 255.0.0.0. My home network is 10.14.1.0/255.255.255.0. Tool can't find router, so no way to force an old firmware on to it.
Also if you can't reflash because of the network numbers, try borrowing something that will do address translation for it.
On the newer interfaces, there's an actual check box to disable the auto update. I don't remember exactly when they added the checkbox.
If someone changed it, I'd like to know how, considering only person who can access the equipment is me (I'm the only one who lives here). Some sort of built in account?
I'm still highly concerned about the potential that there may be some way to remotely control these routers without the knowledge of their owner. Even if its just the ISP, thats still a major hole in my book.
Tried the nat game with it using iptables. The tool still didn't pick it up. :-/
the rotuers have an open port enabled by the manufacturer that to the best of my knowledge CANNOT be turned off to allow them to push firmware to the routers (in fios' case to add stability for video svc and QoS) but for DSL i'd imagine it's similar minus the video svc's... ie firmware pushes to update stability.
Id suggest EECB or contact vz's offices and ask for Ivan's office advise any associates you speak to that you have an issue that Verizon has failed on multiple frons to resolve and you are looking into filing complaints with the BBB and the PUC...NORMALLY those should get something in gear..
Again sorry if this is off topic as im quite tired but fond this post from the Consumerist and wanted to add what little .02 i could.
This is a DSL with a Westell 6100. But, like you said, theres a good chance the same rules apply to the DSL equipment as do the FiOS.
It would explain how the firmware mysteriously appeared on the router. I hadn't rebooted the equipment in a while as everything was working rather well for a while.
they don't.
This shits not even possible. They don't have a network capable of remotely flashing a customer's dsl modem firmware. If the rep said something about a router firmware upgrade they would have been talking about the CO VZ router. the 6100 is not considered a router but a modem by VOL. you calling it a router confuses them. hard to say what the real issue could be by the vague troubleshooting steps. could be bad, could need walled-garden disabled (192.168.1.1/verizon/ redirect, if that doesn't work add .htm), or if modem is getting a 10.x ip from pppoe it could be a authentication issue on their end. ask about any outages in your area next time you talk to them. if they did update their router firmware causing you to lose connection it would be happening to lots.
I dont think that'd work so good.
& to the person who asked why she wasnt putting it in backpack on her trip its because the TSA can be problematic with electronic devices that they dont commonly see. (other than laptops etc) I know i get very interesting looks @ the checkpoint with 4 Motorola radios in my laptop bag.
If I may ask, where in Idaho are you relocating to? I've a spare D-Link wireless router (with software) I'm not using that I'll just give to you.
My e-mail is my ham radio callsign with a yodel at the end if interested.
Doug, KB7RKY
DN17, Lewiston, ID
Thankfully, my partner has equipment out there ready to go (including wireless). But, again, thank you for the offer.
I'm planning to get my license sometime soon, so I will have to look you up once the deed is done. :)
Boise is where I am heading. Was out there on vacation eariler this year, and completely loved it.
brielle
Boise's a nice place...been there many times myself.
Good luck on your ticket...hope to hear you on the air sometime.
Doug
This is unacceptable practices by a company. You should also go to their website, dig thru their 'contact us' links until you find the emails of the media relations people. There are numerous emails listed there. You should select one, and then 'bcc' the rest, and also send your email to a TV station and a large News Paper, detailing this whole mess. Maybe one of those stupid asses at verizon will stop playing with themselves long enough to pay attention to it. Otherwise I agree with the one earlier post you have about suing them.
We consumers need to stick together with this stuff. Why is it that if monopolies are illegal we have so many of them?
Good luck to you.
fiz~
This seems to be totally illegal. I don't know how they can do it.
It took me over a week to get verizon to fix my bad connection - I don't feel like calling halfway around the world a dozen or so times to have people who have no idea what they are talking about spout flowchart BS at me. If the modem gives me problems I will call.
What it really comes down to, is Verizon would like to push people into upgrading to FIOS, & the network problems will miracously disappear.
It's all about money, they don't
care about the consumer. That's obvious!
I think Verizon is playing head games and ignores the maintenance of their switch now that they dumped everything on to Frontier Communications.