NETGEAR Suing ASUS For Wireless Hanky Panky

[thiggins]

Hmmm.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...0-netgear-suing-asus-for-wireless-hanky-panky

 

[RMerlin]

False advertising? Let's talk about Netgear advertising a router with a dual-core CPU and 256 MB of RAM, where only one core is enabled, and only 128 MB is also accessible by the FW.

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/R6250/R6250_DS_20Jun1374-73764.pdf

<cough>.

 

[Waveblade]

False advertising? Let's talk about Netgear advertising a router with a dual-core CPU and 256 MB of RAM, where only one core is enabled, and only 128 MB is also accessible by the FW.

http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/R6250/R6250_DS_20Jun1374-73764.pdf

<cough>.

So what's the other core/RAM used for? I know the 6250 gets better speeds for its USB clients but wow.
Edit: Found the forum link
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=11218


Anyways, I've actually heard this before from someone in the industry that their routers have higher power than typical FCC guidelines.

 

[iGamer]

lol Merlin

all I know is I love my RT-N16, and even if it puts out more power than it should It doesn't interfere with any of the dozen or so gadgets around it lol.

btw I've been a long time follower of SNB, just got around to registering! and Tim you may remember me, I won the DIR-657 a couple years ago! I use it as an AP for the back of the house ATM.

 

[stevech]

WiFi and IEEE 802.11 specify a listen-before-transmitting protocol (CSMA/CA). This is the fundamental way that nearby WiFi shares the frequency / channel with other WiFi and non-WiFi signals. The radiated power is governed by FCC regulations - that in the US are far higher than products support due to economics and need.

Tech lawsuits: They are often frivolous, nefarious. Look at the damage done to Buffalo in WiFi, where some (expletive deleted) University in Australia selected only Buffalo to sue, saying the school had patents on wireless. Right. Buffalo came back after a moron judge sided with the University and locked Buffalo out of North America (only) for some 2-3 years.

 

[Grievous Angel]

This is hilarious. I thought there was only juicing in major league baseball.

Now we have to keep an eye on this. I can imagine a settlement where ASUS has to update the firmware to take the AC66U off blast.

 

[sm00thpapa]

LOL! Netgear has always been 2nd to Asus.

 

[kamaran]

Why would any company seek to to make a false submission to the FCC? Is there a danger the hardware emits more radiation with higher power output than would be legally permitted?

 

[thiggins]

Why would any company seek to to make a submission to the FCC? Is there a danger the hardware emits more radiation with higher power output than would be legally permitted?

WiFi products are regulated under Part 15 of the FCC regs. All manufacturers must have products tested and submit the results to the FCC for approval before products can be sold in the US. It is US law.

The higher power is not a safety issue, it's an interference issue.

 

[kamaran]

WiFi products are regulated under Part 15 of the FCC regs. All manufacturers must have products tested and submit the results to the FCC for approval before products can be sold in the US. It is US law.

The higher power is not a safety issue, it's an interference issue.

Sorry the keyword I missed is "false". Why would any company seek to lie? Is it interference? What are the implications of this interference?

 

[Grievous Angel]

If ASUS did this--submitted one version to the FCC with lower power, but selling higher power units to the public--then I get it. That is pretty shady, puts Netgear at an unfair competitive disadvantage, and is pretty shady on the part of ASUS.

I, however, will enjoy my illegal output. I'm on 4 acres of land--I'm not interfering with anyone.

 

[thiggins]

Sorry the keyword I missed is "false". Why would any company seek to lie? Is it interference? What are the implications of this interference?

Market share, which = money.

Interference can prevent other devices that operate in the same frequencies to malfunction. Devices include wireless cameras, baby monitors, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, and many more.

 

[kamaran]

Market share, which = money.

Interference can prevent other devices that operate in the same frequencies to malfunction. Devices include wireless cameras, baby monitors, cordless phones, bluetooth devices, and many more.

I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

Why claim lower power on their devices? Does this mean consumers and competitors believe the product is less likely to interfere with neighbouring products? So its consumers who are also being deceived?

I'm trying to gauge how this false submission would give them a competitive advantage over netgear?

 

[thiggins]

The suit claims that ASUS submitted product test data to the FCC that was taken with lower power settings that are used on products shipped to consumers. It further claims the lower power settings allowed the products to pass certification tests that they would not have passed otherwise.

The claim is ASUS tested with lower power to pass FCC Certification. Then shipped products with higher power settings to improve performance.

 

[BostonDan]

N66U and AC66U. To buy or not.

I was considering upgrading my current dir655 to either the n66u or ac66u, but now this news has me concerned that Asus will update firmware to achieve compliance and I will end up with a product that doesn't perform well.

The thought of staying with older firmware to keep high performance doesn't sit we'll either as I don't want to miss out on security updates.

Anyone else concerned about the potential outcome?

 

[panhead20]

but now this news has me concerned that Asus will update firmware to achieve compliance and I will end up with a product that doesn't perform well.

The thought of staying with older firmware to keep high performance doesn't sit we'll either as I don't want to miss out on security updates.

Anyone else concerned about the potential outcome?

Not at all, with the current source available, any security updates can be made against the existing code.

 

[RMerlin]

I was considering upgrading my current dir655 to either the n66u or ac66u, but now this news has me concerned that Asus will update firmware to achieve compliance and I will end up with a product that doesn't perform well.

The thought of staying with older firmware to keep high performance doesn't sit we'll either as I don't want to miss out on security updates.

Anyone else concerned about the potential outcome?

Best-case scenario: Netgear look like fools, and the lawsuit gets thrown out.

Worst-case scenario: Asus is found guilty of selling routers that transmit higher than allowed by the FCC, and are forced to issue a firmware that reduces it back to legal levels. In which case it means it would certainly not be worse than the competition, just at the same level. Which means the router would still be at least as good, if not still better.

Quite likely scenario: Asus countersues Netgear on some other issues, both parties sit at a table, and have Chinese food while they settle it out in a closed meeting.

In either cases, this issue will probably take months to be resolved.

 

[thiggins]

That is not the worst case scenario. Look at the CISO suit against Buffalo. Buffalo had to stop selling all wireless products in the US while the suit proceeded.

I would expect NETGEAR to request that the court do the same with ASUS. CISO was only charging patent infringement while NETGEAR us charging illegal activity.

OTOH, the CISO suit was in the Texas court known for being friendly to patent trolls.

 

[thiggins]

I was considering upgrading my current dir655 to either the n66u or ac66u, but now this news has me concerned that Asus will update firmware to achieve compliance and I will end up with a product that doesn't perform well.

I retested the RT-AC66U yesterday and will publish results shortly. Found slightly lower downlink throughput on both bands. Biggest effect is at lower signal levels. Still had connection over the entire tested attenuation range, but throughput was lower.

 

[BostonDan]

Argh!!!!

Thanks for the responses all. I'm still concerned that the Asus correction, if really required and issued that the worse case scenario may cause this router to degrade to unknown levels, potentially far below the competition if they pumped up signal to compensate for other design shortcomings. I'm now leaning towards the EA6500 or saving some cash and getting a Netgear R6100 or Linksys EA3500.