Is my network actually at any risk? Should I take any steps now that I’m not receiving security updates? This was a really expensive router and I’m going back to school so I’m definitely not going to be in the market for a new one for quite a while. Probably wouldn’t be going back to tplink even if I did.
Thoughts?
All of the mainstream router manufacturers have critically insecure firmware. Nearly all routers ship with hundreds of vulnerabilities, and sometimes even zero-days, even when initially released.
It’s why it is so important to find and acquire routers that are capable of being re-flashed with third-party firmware such as DD-WRT or OpenWRT.
Check with the router database of each project to see if what you currently own is eligible. DD-WRT enjoys wider support but is more limited in functionality. OpenWRT is more powerful but needs more capable hardware to run on.