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story category My Router, It Spams Me
A wireless router that markets...
(old news - 04:39PM Friday Nov 07 2003)
tags: hardware · trouble
Hardware manufacturer Belkin comes up with the not so ingenious idea of having their wireless routers occasionally redirect users to advertisements. That's the claims being made in this Register article anyway, where one user reports that his wireless router was re-routing HTTP sessions every eight hours to deliver advertisements. The feature can be "opted-out" of, but it's a fairly stupid precedent to set on the part of the manufacturer. Responding to criticism, one Belkin rep notes that "We don't have the ability to spam you at a later time if you select 'No Thanks' or turn off the reminder manually." He also admits the "feature" "might be misunderstood and might PO some people," and that the manual should do a better job explaining the option. "These are all things that we at Belkin are working to remedy," he adds.

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Forums » My Router, It Spams Me
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David
No,there is another.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:

Well that is nice

A router that SPAMS you... What will they think of next...

Hint: sarcasm is implied and expected

Sisqo
World Champs. Babe Who?
Premium
join:2002-08-14
Methuen, MA

Re: Well that is nice

A computer that won't work till you buy something from some meaningless company somewhere in Florida or any other state
jj nobody

join:2000-08-31
Lakeland, FL

Re: Well that is nice

said by Sisqo See Profile:
A computer that won't work till you buy something from some meaningless company somewhere in Florida or any other state

or from Methuen, MA

Sisqo
World Champs. Babe Who?
Premium
join:2002-08-14
Methuen, MA

Re: Well that is nice

Yes you are right, but I only said that because a large amount of these companies are based somewhere in FL. No offense

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH
Or some other usless software from a meaningless company named microsoft: WINDOWS! J/k

Sisqo
World Champs. Babe Who?
Premium
join:2002-08-14
Methuen, MA

Re: Well that is nice

LOL
PolarBearWY

join:2002-02-20
Laramie, WY

said by Rambo76098 See Profile:
Or some other usless software from a meaningless company named microsoft: WINDOWS! J/k

Are you not using Windows right now? Who buys Windows, anyway? Register eDonkey. It's cheaper.

Rejected One
I Suffer From Id10t Errors
Premium
join:2003-07-31
Wilmington, DE
clubs:
·Juno Express

or an os that wont run till u get all the hot fixes for it and service packs not mentioning any names **cough** M$ **cough**
--
Hack The Planet :P

down with RIAA

The Rejected Few²

Drex
Beer..It's What's For Dinner
Premium
join:2000-02-24
La Place, LA
Spam that Spams you?

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast

said by David See Profile:
A router that SPAMS you...
Must have been made in Soviet Russia
--
The tobacco industry is more respectable than the telemarketing industry.

exocet_cm
In memory of dadkins
Premium
join:2003-03-23
New Orleans, LA
clubs:
·Cox HSI
·Suddenlink
·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T Southeast
·Charter Pipeline

Re: Well that is nice

Windows that spams you

Maybe for those REALLY slow people,
You that spams you

"I was like working on e-mail and then I sent, a couple of seconds later, I got an e-mail, it was spam, AND IT WAS FROM ME!"

--
He that feeds a disease, feeds an enemy. Some diseases are starved. Starve your sins by fasting and humiliation. Either kill your sin, or your sin will kill you. - Thomas Watson Harmless as doves 131

cyberthugin

join:2002-03-12
Kew Gardens, NY

Re: Well that is nice

I think my router is spamming me to fuuk it~
Cuz all I see is naked ladies.

Pz_

join:2001-03-31
Brownsburg, IN
clubs:
You know, I was thinking the EXACT same thing, but you beat me to it.

Logan 5
Wondering what happens next..
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-25
The WasteLAN
·Pacific Bell - SBC


said by David See Profile:
A router that SPAMS you... What will they think of next...
SPAM that routes itself to your dinner plate maybe??

This is a VERY bad idea, and the *light bulb* at Belkin that came up with this idea should be back hand slapped until he cries like the little b*tch he is for ever thinking this up.

Is Belkin so hard up for $$$ that they had to sellout to the marketing aholes who dream up new and more inventive ways to tell me that I CAN lose weight or increase my Penis size by up to 3 full inches in 2 weeks...guaranteed?

They should just stick to what they do best: Cables and KVM switches...Oh yea. They will probably have KVM's that SPAM you with Ad displays when you switch computers coming out by the holiday shopping season....

'Lord what fools these Mortals be' - Puck from MTV's first Real World

qsoak
Premium
join:2003-10-30
Long Beach, CA

Re: Well that is nice

said by Logan 5 See Profile:
said by David See Profile:
A router that SPAMS you... What will they think of next...
Is Belkin so hard up for $$$ that they had to sellout to the marketing aholes who dream up new and more inventive ways to tell me that I CAN lose weight or increase my Penis size by up to 3 full inches in 2 weeks...guaranteed?
This is the interim router. The one that actually increases penis size by up to 3 full inches, is not due out until just before Christmas.

After each use, it sends your IP and e-mail addresses to every guy selling Viagra over the net.
--
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean.--Mark Twain

SuperJudge
Magus
Premium
join:2002-11-14
Albany, GA
clubs:

Re: Well that is nice

said by qsoak See Profile:
This is the interim router. The one that actually increases penis size by up to 3 full inches, is not due out until just before Christmas.
I had a netgear router that was supposed to do that, and believe you me, it doesn't work.
--
MediaXPeer

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH

Re: Well that is nice

Yeah, id have to say from experience that routers dont help with that(ive tried)

quibbly
Premium
join:2003-02-07
Sugar Land, TX

Re: Well that is nice

After buying a few Cisco routers..my anus is bigger...could it be because I had to pay for all the support, nic card, t-1 wic and for the router? Hum...spam might be next.

palmer_j_r
Congenital Optimist
Premium
join:2000-06-08
Chicago, IL
·RCN CABLE
·Vonage
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T Midwest
·1and1

Messages (similiar to) that play Yaaaaahooooooo oooo oooo when you flush the toilet. **or** Cars that somehow knowingly direct you to "preferred" petro stations, and if you choose to opt out of this "convenient service", random engine problems with a little warning light that flashes, prefered petro not used, do you wish to opt back in?
--

Joseph Palmer
Webmaster
JPE Computing
»www.jpecomputing.com
My Photos

SuperJudge
Magus
Premium
join:2002-11-14
Albany, GA
clubs:


said by David See Profile:
A router that SPAMS you... What will they think of next...

Hint: sarcasm is implied and expected


Spam blockers programs that spam you.
--
MediaXPeer

sousademiami

join:2003-02-04
Hialeah, FL

Re: Well that is nice

Been done

technick
Premium
join:2000-12-16
Loganville, GA

screw belkin

This is why I never buy belkin.. period.. grrr.. if I still worked as a onsite tech I would have all my customers burning their belkin routers and wireless devices.. you people make me sick.
--
AMD 2500, 1024 MEG PC 3200, 180 GIG HDD, MSI KT4 Ultra Board, MSI GEFORCE 4 TI 4600»www.streamfire.net/portfolio

bokamba
Chengdu Rocks
Premium
join:2002-04-05
Falls Church, VA

Re: screw belkin

My Belkin surge protector spams me.

CyberSchnook3
Kiwi's Schnook
Premium
join:2002-07-27
Blue Nowhere
Damn.

Belkin used to be a good brand. Screw 'em now--I won't buy so much as a wire nut.
--
I am not driving you nuts! You're self-propelled!

clowny
Premium
join:2003-09-09
Crystal Lake, IL
I've never really heard anything great about Belkin & after reading this article, I'll never buy anything from those scumbags.

oliphant5
Got Identity?
Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA

Ditto. I don't care if it's just a cable...I will never buy a belkin product because of their stupidity with this router spam.

Only by people responding negatively to this kind of crap will these whore companies get the message.
--
Don't get it, demand it! The Anime Network »www.theanimenetwork.com/index.html
Muppet1
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Cheyenne, WY
Concur. Belkin's dead. What were they thinking? I wouldn't buy a Belkin door stop after this. Computer hardware? Trust them with data? Never. What else are they doing that we don't know about?
lurker93
Premium
join:2000-06-19
Houston, TX

Belkin has been insane for the past year, if you look at some of their prices at CompUSA and even mailorder.

They have $150 switchboxes (KVM) for USB at the cheap places, and $10 forty-pin IDE cables.

It stopped being even MID-quality stuff back in 2000...
After this last straw, not one more Belkin product for me.

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH

Yeah i wonder why Belkin would do this... do they think that people are just going to go, "look this router gives me spam and pop-ups and it costs more that this other one, Why by golly i think ill buy it!" I do really wonder what a company was thinking when they would do something like this. Did they not realize that it would cause a backlash and a drop in sales? Did they think that no one would notice? Only a company run by idiots would break any little trust that people had in their product.

verolom

join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA
·Comcast


Re: screw belkin

You forget that it is mainly idiots that buy Belkin routers. Sold by idiots to idiots, what's wrong with this idiotic economy?

I bet in Europe and Asia this router would never sell.

oliphant5
Got Identity?
Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA

Re: screw belkin

Based on your statement, you would think this would be the #1 router in Europe.

verolom

join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA
·Comcast


Re: screw belkin

So it's either that I am wrong or Europe is. Actually people in Europe don't buy routers based on how cool they look or how low the price is. They buy them based on what they do and how well they perform. So maybe in foreign affairs they are idiots, but when it comes to technology, believe it or not they are quite savvy. Same is true in Asia.

oliphant5
Got Identity?
Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA

Re: screw belkin

What, you did a study on the router buying habits of Europeans and Asians?

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH
well actually i just bought a gigafast router(which ive never heard of before) because it was only 5 bucks.

Belky

@cox.net

You are not fair to Belkin and kind to Networking Business Unit. Wait until how you know how bad Belkin treats its Suppliers with delayed payment, below costs, dirty tricks, and unprofessional pratices.
Rebate is another way to get your money because you will never see it: Check is in the Mail.
Do your research before you buy products from Belkin. Their employees are leaving in style because they cannot take it anymore.

Would you want to work for a company like Belkin? Talk to Suppliers and ex-employees.

Do you want to buy products from Belkin? Talk to current customers before you buy. Don't let them trick you into their traps.
cglaser

join:2002-04-21
Milwaukee, WI

Belkin router - Idiotic

There is absolutely no justification for this. It is not a 'feature', it has no usefull purpose whatsoever.

Unbelievable. I for one will never buy a Belkin product again unless they stop this practice.

Security and privacy concerns abound as well. How do they update where you get redirected? Are you redirected to a hardcoded website address and the website then redirects you to the latest rotatio of ads? Or do they pump new code into the router for it? The first is more secure obviously than the second, but it's still a concern.

What if your kid is surfing and he gets redirected to an ad you don't want your children to see?

Way to go Belkin!

See 10 replies to this post

ViviTheMage
vivi
Premium
join:2002-10-28
Minneapolis, MN
clubs:

ugh

pathetic.

AthlGrond
Premium,MVM
join:2002-04-25
Aurora, CO

You Do Have To Wonder

What were they thinking?

No one would care? That the people who did care wern't going to say anything?

Just another example of how marketing can cause more harm than good for a company.

vshep

@comcast.net

Just wait a while

*sits back and waits for the hacked firmwear for the routers to show up..*
altean

join:2002-11-05
Canada

Re: Just wait a while

well....now that you've let the cat out of the bag... there are scripts available for this...to rewrite routers and other devices..I've heard a couple of trojans are in the works, just for this exploit ..lmao
"actually this shouldn't be funny.." lol

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance

join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast

Barf...

Shameless marketing sellout alert!

I used to buy Belkin components, but now I'll just stick to cables. At the very least, products that lack the complexity to spam you at will. Jeeze...it shouldn't even be an issue of how easy it is for the consumer to opt out of this. They shouldn't even have to in the first place.
--
"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent

qsoak
Premium
join:2003-10-30
Long Beach, CA

Re: Barf...

said by banditws6 See Profile:
Shameless marketing sellout alert!

I used to buy Belkin components, but now I'll just stick to cables. At the very least, products that lack the complexity to spam you at will. Jeeze...it shouldn't even be an issue of how easy it is for the consumer to opt out of this. They shouldn't even have to in the first place.

You ever notice how much more Belkin cables cost compared to the lesser or no name brands. We all equated those bigger, heavier, cables and their much bigger, heavier connectors with QUALITY. Who knows what lurks in those big-ass plugs. Maybe their cables have been tracking /spamming us for years. I'm sure they would have to charge extra to cover the expense of installing the appropriate hardware in every cable. ??? LOL

Gotta run. This just gave me some great ideas to screw with some people in a UFO / conspiracy forum I know.
--
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean.--Mark Twain

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance

join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast

Re: Barf...

LOL...good point. Ah, who am I kidding, I already only buy Belkin cables if three conditions are met: A) I'm in a retail store, B) I happen to need a cable urgently, and C) Belkin is all they've got.
--
"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent

Belky

@cox.net

Re: Barf...and Cables

Belkin making more than 60% profits from their cables, wireless and accessory products. It is your hard earned money. Do your homework before you buy Belkin.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium
join:2002-12-03
United State
·CenturyLink

Lovely ???

A Belken router that redirects? Isn't that special.

I for one would not buy a Belken router, but not because it "occasionally redirects." I don't buy Belken because in the past every one of their electronic products I did buy was DOA when I brought it home and tried to use it. The only product that never failed was their mouse pad someone gave me.

Belken products are in every national chain discount store in America and they are always the cheapest product on display. While they may deserve an "A" for innovation and design, I give them an "F" for trying to foist foreign made cheap junk on an unsuspecting public. Shame on us for buying their 'snake oil'.

The only reason Belken is sold in any American store is the profit margin. The buyers for stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy do not care about customers or quality. They only care about line item saleability, availability and unit price. If you want a quality product ask your network guy what he recommends. You can bet he does not connect servers to Belken.

wozster
Premium
join:2000-10-21
Lenexa, KS

Further discussion

Slashdot
.
.
--
Protect online free speech

Moose-man

@207.214.x.x

Re: Further discussion

Ive been in IT for a few years now and I was never impressed by belkin products to begin with. I can tell you with this information in mind, I will never buy a single mother @#$ing belkin product ever again! Not for myself personally, or my business.

I truly hope belkin goes out of business for this, even if it means sacraficing those jobs. Obviously the company only cares about profits.

-Moose

wozster
Premium
join:2000-10-21
Lenexa, KS

Re: Further discussion

said by Moose-man:
Ive been in IT for a few years now and I was never impressed by belkin products to begin with. I can tell you with this information in mind, I will never buy a single mother @#$ing belkin product ever again! Not for myself personally, or my business.

Be sure to tell your non-technical friends and family also.
--
Protect online free speech

MuseQDaMusic
The Notes Are Free

join:2003-10-28
Racine, WI

New Meme

New meme to Spread: BELKIN SUCKS ADs...Don't Buy Belkin
Marketeers make me puke. Just make a good, reasonably priced product and you'll do fine D**CKHEADS.
--
'And what is good, Phædrus, And what is not good...Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?' -Robert Pirsig

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH

Re: New Meme

said by MuseQDaMusic See Profile:
New meme to Spread: BELKIN SUCKS ADs...Don't Buy Belkin
Sounds good!

SkullBot

join:2003-05-07
Huntington Beach, CA

Talk to the owner of the company

Send the owner Chet Pipkin and his evil brother Eric Pipkin a friendly note to tell them just how you feel. The Product Management team is a worthless bunch of hacks. Talking directly to the owner is the best thing you can do. chetp@belkin.com
ericp@belkin.com

See 6 replies to this post

cyrus360
Getting Freaky With It
Premium
join:2003-02-16
Sedro Woolley, WA

Research and Developement

delete this please. I hit the wrong button.
neftv

join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

Dum

This is kind of thinking that gets us nowhere. What a waste of time and efforts. And we want this country to provide large Mega fiber systems to homes. Yea right while manufacturers like Belken waste time on crap like this. Geeeeezzzzz!!!!!

BIGMIKE
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Westminster, CA

Re: Dum

is this the DUM post Forum
Raydr
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-19
Carrollton, TX

dirty nuts

[17:22] [A friend of mine on AIM]: Belka in russian means squirrel, belkin = squirrel's

Stewy85
Premium
join:2003-01-16
Sharon, WI
clubs:

Linksys

Im glad I stuck with Linksys.

David
No,there is another.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:
·DIRECTV
·magicjack.com
·AT&T Midwest

Re: Linksys

said by Stewy85 See Profile:
Im glad I stuck with Linksys.

You and me both

I yearn for the day my toaster explodes due to some spammer spamming it...
--
Fast and furious!! 225lbs lost and a future that I never dreamed of... Whodathunkit??

Rambo76098

join:2003-02-21
Pataskala, OH

Re: Linksys

said by David See Profile:
I yearn for the day my toaster explodes due to some spammer spamming it...

That will be the day!
Just wait... that day will be comming sooner than you expect

Iowan5
Premium
join:2002-11-27
Des Moines, IA
Why is it called a feature ?

Belkin - whore company

jdmurray
Premium
join:2001-03-02
Huntington Beach, CA
clubs:
Will my Belkin UPSes start spamming my workstations through their serial management port? Will they then cause my workstations to launch a DOS-spam attack on my own Linksys routers?

I SHOULDA STUCK WITH APC!!! AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

said by Stewy85 See Profile:
Im glad I stuck with Linksys.

And you have some REAL reason to think there isn't some marketing person there kicking themselves for not thinking of it first?

All it takes to come up with S*** like this is an employee that has worked for AOL first
--
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)

bigdaddy17

join:2003-05-08
Miami, FL

What a joke!

wtf are they smoking? Spam is the #1 one thing we are tryint to stop and here is some dumbass company trying to make routers that spam. By now I'd say the FCC would sue Belkin. What a joke!

Kompressor
Premium
join:2002-02-12
Huntington Beach, CA

Unbelievable!

I knew Belkin was crap, but damn!

JRBlood
Premium
join:1999-12-28
Syracuse, NY
clubs:

Not collecting info? Why do you need the user's IP

said by Belkin's Eric Deming:
The Router doesn't collect information on you and send it to Belkin.
Then if the URL posted in the Newsgroup thread is correct:

http: //filter.belkin.com/setup.asp?SN=serNum&RP=5digits&IP=myip&FV=rev

Why do they need your IP address? So they can collect them and activate some kind of back-door to throw another ad at the users once the "No Thanks" button in the advert has been clicked?

Belkin, you have lost ALL chances of getting into the business market, if you ever thought you would. I use to recommend the small (2 or 4 port) KVM switches as one alternative to the more expensive ones, but not anymore. WTG.

orthogonal

@verizon.net

Re: Not collecting info? Why do you need the user'

Why do they need your IP address?

Because another fine "feature" of the Belkin routers is that the spamming can be shut off remotely -- whether it can be turned back on, or if other router settings can be changed by any remote connection isn't known.

So in addition to the spamming, Belkin has introduced a security hole in your router to support the spamming.

Oh, and the router can't be reset if it's behind a firewall; in that case, clicking "No thanks" to the spam ad won't work, and you'll keep seeing it every eight hours, until you disable it via the router config.

ikarus1
Premium
join:2002-10-23
Urbanna, VA

Please...

I thought only Microsux had "engineers" in their marketing department.

"For crying out loud, when will those idiots that couldn't hack a BS in CompSci and switched to business management or "Information Technology" stop being allowed to mandate the design requirements of systems?", He said as he pushed the tablespoon beyond his molars...

Gawd, dumb as $41t.
-m-
--
FAVORITE ANSWERED QUESIONQ: I want to add an antenna to my wireless device, any suggestions?A: »www.freeantennas.com

richk_1957
If ..Then..Else
Premium
join:2001-04-11
Minas Tirith

Only thing I ever bought from Belkin is...

...Wire & Cable. A couple of years ago at work, was in a situation where we needed a small UPS in a hurry, so we went down to a local electronics store [this was in Las Vegas] and the only thing they had was Belkin products, so we got one. It was the worst!
I'll just stick to buying wire & cable - it's kinda hard to screw them up [although some of their coax lossy]
Forums » My Router, It Spams Mepage: 1 · 2 · 3


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