Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 783 Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 18:01 Post subject: Netgear AC-1450 weird issue after restore from older backup
Netgear AC1450 running build 44187. Running as a wired access point only (my house has some steel beams that create dead spots). Had an issue with the configuration and had to do a 30-30-30 reset. I uploaded an old config file from 42577. Considering that the configuration was pretty basic, I should have just set it up again manually, but the configuration seemed to work fine.
About an hour later, I hear "Dad, did you change the wifi password?" I checked and found that the password on both 2.4 and 5GHz bands was set to "roundsparrow579". I have never seen or used this password in my life. I set it back to my usual password (32 character alphanumeric from GRC's Perfect Passwords generator) and everything was fine.
I'm just wondering where this odd password came from. I checked the syslog on both the main router and the access point and didn't see any unknown IP addresses. Between that and the wifi security, I don't think I was hacked. Even if I was, I doubt they'd touch the access point and not the main router. I'm just wondering if that password is embedded somewhere in the code.
Not a major problem, but just a weird scenario I thought I'd share with the rest of the group in case anyone had seen it before or encounters it in the future. _________________ __________________________
Netgear R7800
DD-WRT v3.0 STD
Linksys WRT1900AC
DD-WRT v3.0 STD
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 14246 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 22:08 Post subject:
If your backup config didn't have changed passwords for wi-fi, then it used the Netgear defaults. Not sure if this device is MIPS or ARM, but if it's not MIPSR1, 30-30-30 is NOT advised. _________________ "Life is but a fleeting moment, a vapor that vanishes quickly; All is vanity"
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Linux User #377467 counter.li.org / linuxcounter.net
Yeah I own two of these routers. When you reset them to factory defaults even in DD-WRT the wifi password will be whatever is written on the sticker on the unit. Same goes for the user name and password. The last few versions of dd-wrt releases the nvram had to be reset to defaults to make it stable at least on a x64 system. Rolling back versions might have wiped out your nvram settings so it restored itself to factory defaults. I would prefer it did that other than bricking itself with bad nvram settings.
