Comments on: Eircom Exposes Its Broadband Customers to Serious Security Risks http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510 An Irish Voice in the Blogsphere Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:53:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Bart B http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-44184 Bart B Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:33:09 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-44184 Hi John, Things are not as bad as this ANYMORE. Eircom improved their security setup because it came under a lot of pressure to do so (this blog and my complaint to them MAY have played a small roll). The fact that they now use WPA rather than WEP as the default is a very good thing. Pitty news came out last week that WPA has been at least partially broken. Now it's time to move on to WPA2. Bart. Hi John,

Things are not as bad as this ANYMORE. Eircom improved their security setup because it came under a lot of pressure to do so (this blog and my complaint to them MAY have played a small roll). The fact that they now use WPA rather than WEP as the default is a very good thing. Pitty news came out last week that WPA has been at least partially broken. Now it’s time to move on to WPA2.

Bart.

]]> By: John Harrington http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-44180 John Harrington Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:31:49 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-44180 Folks, it is not at all as bad as the above posts would seem to indicate. Eircom do not put a password on your router when shipped to ensure folks who are not PC literate are not locked out of their own equipment. A password is very easy to add once you have setup the router. Also WPA, a much stronger encryption service is now default on all new routers. If one was to highlight issues with Eircom it is their capacity capability. Most of the secondary and tertiary exchanges are already at max capacity, and their engineers only have rudimentary knowledge of how the setups should be configured on the frames to optimise service and bandwidth allocation. I advise everyone using their service to run the test (Eircom's own publicly available test) on this link : http://home.eircom.net/speedtest freequently and screendump the results into a Word document for future evisence. I think you will get a bit of a shock...!! Folks, it is not at all as bad as the above posts would seem to indicate. Eircom do not put a password on your router when shipped to ensure folks who are not PC literate are not locked out of their own equipment. A password is very easy to add once you have setup the router. Also WPA, a much stronger encryption service is now default on all new routers. If one was to highlight issues with Eircom it is their capacity capability. Most of the secondary and tertiary exchanges are already at max capacity, and their engineers only have rudimentary knowledge of how the setups should be configured on the frames to optimise service and bandwidth allocation. I advise everyone using their service to run the test (Eircom’s own publicly available test) on this link : http://home.eircom.net/speedtest freequently and screendump the results into a Word document for future evisence. I think you will get a bit of a shock…!!

]]> By: John http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-44018 John Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:02:31 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-44018 Am extremly amused by all the comments as i used to work for eircom when they still belonged to the irish people, back then before broadband it was acceptable to know feck all about pc's but quite honestly i would be extremly embarresed to be like that now, considering that the irish boom that is now on its last legs was built on the I.T sector. Am extremly amused by all the comments as i used to work for eircom when they still belonged to the irish people, back then before broadband it was acceptable to know feck all about pc’s but quite honestly i would be extremly embarresed to be like that now, considering that the irish boom that is now on its last legs was built on the I.T sector.

]]> By: Bart B http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-43445 Bart B Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:05:42 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-43445 Hi Scared in SoHo, you'll find instructions here: http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=793 Best I can do, Bart. Hi Scared in SoHo, you’ll find instructions here: http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=793

Best I can do,

Bart.

]]> By: Scared in SoHo http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-43441 Scared in SoHo Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:12:01 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-43441 wow, im scared of the fact im an eircom interweb user... can you please tell moi how you do the very simple thing of setting up a password on the eircom router whatnot..? thank you wow, im scared of the fact im an eircom interweb user… can you please tell moi how you do the very simple thing of setting up a password on the eircom router whatnot..?
thank you

]]> By: INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-43365 INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:16:19 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-43365 sorry if im going completely against the grain here bart, but if people can SEE just how quickly owned that def wep can be, it will open their eyes. + they may get some free bandwidth for leeching ;) sorry if im going completely against the grain here bart, but if people can SEE just how quickly owned that def wep can be, it will open their eyes.
+ they may get some free bandwidth for leeching ;)

]]> By: INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-43364 INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:13:39 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-43364 eircom are a goddam joke, netgear/chorus/upc ftw! and hey, just for shits and giggles....heres the default wep key generator for eircom, http://s4dd.yore.ma/eircom/ eircom are a goddam joke, netgear/chorus/upc ftw!

and hey, just for shits and giggles….heres the default wep key generator for eircom,

http://s4dd.yore.ma/eircom/

]]> By: Bart B http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-41849 Bart B Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:45:40 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-41849 Hi Reg, If you can look after your own security then none of this is a problem. Now, the poor customer support is of course still a problem as are the generally low bandwidth limits but security is only an issue if you listen to Eircom. If you are not a heavy user then Eircom can be a good option. Because Eircom actually own the infrastructure you tend to have less hassle because when things go wrong there's only one party involved. So far I have experience with DigiWeb, Eircom and ICE when it comes to broadband. I'd recommend DigiWeb over the other two. Had them for years in my last house and they gave a reliable and fast service. I'd put ICE at the very bottom of the list. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy! Good luck with what ever you choose, Bart. Hi Reg,

If you can look after your own security then none of this is a problem. Now, the poor customer support is of course still a problem as are the generally low bandwidth limits but security is only an issue if you listen to Eircom.

If you are not a heavy user then Eircom can be a good option. Because Eircom actually own the infrastructure you tend to have less hassle because when things go wrong there’s only one party involved.

So far I have experience with DigiWeb, Eircom and ICE when it comes to broadband. I’d recommend DigiWeb over the other two. Had them for years in my last house and they gave a reliable and fast service. I’d put ICE at the very bottom of the list. I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy!

Good luck with what ever you choose,

Bart.

]]> By: Reg Laffan http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-41847 Reg Laffan Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:07:49 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-41847 I am at present with Perlico and about to change to Eircom but now after reading the comments on your blog I will think again. I am unable to receive or send emails and Perlico don't seem interested in helping. People like you Bart are needed. Thank you I am at present with Perlico and about to change to Eircom but now after reading the comments on your blog I will think again. I am unable to receive or send emails and Perlico don’t seem interested in helping. People like you Bart are needed. Thank you

]]> By: Bart B http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510&cpage=1#comment-39717 Bart B Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:30:57 +0000 http://www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=510#comment-39717 Donal, I'm not psychic so I really cant tell what the story is with your particular modem. If it is set up to use WPA with a strong password then you have a reasonable security level. If you are an Eircom customer with a default setup then you need to go to the Eircom site and follow the instructions for updating your security settings because you probably are vulnerable. Bart. Donal,

I’m not psychic so I really cant tell what the story is with your particular modem. If it is set up to use WPA with a strong password then you have a reasonable security level. If you are an Eircom customer with a default setup then you need to go to the Eircom site and follow the instructions for updating your security settings because you probably are vulnerable.

Bart.

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