I am a security researcher currently working on checking cheap wifi routers for critical vulnerabilities. Ask me anything.

what basic steps as a private person can I take to make my router more secure - I heard about using vpn inside of your router directly?

A VPN could be used as one tool to mitigate just some of the risks, because it encrypts your traffic. But the main thing would be to change the default passwords to a secure random password. But this is a minor mitigation, but if you have an unsecure router then there's nothing much you can do. The bad actor may not be able to see the traffic, but they might still be able to take over your network.
-Mantas

what is the most secure device you recommend for private households on the market?

For privacy and control of my network, I generally use the devices from Michael Bazzel's list: https://inteltechniques.com/links.html

What do you think about ISP’s often forcing you to use their router, however save they might be. Is there any legal base for it?

If ISPs force you to use their routers, I think that's unfair. Normally, though, from experience, I've seen that you can use your own router.

What are you opinions on Iot/smart home devices with regards to home network security?

I remember hearing cheap devices can leave backdoors open. Is there any router settings or software ie ddwrt that can negate this allowing for better cheaper devices.

From this investigation I can deduct that yes, cheaper IoT devices do sometimes contain backdoors, and flashing ddwrt could potentially negate those backdoors. But this can only be done by an advanced user and the question is wether you’d be able to keep the persistence on the router.

Seeing TP-Link is one of the most common-and most price-competitive- WiFi and cable modem manufacturer that US consumers have access to, how's their security? And how is the security of factory 'remanufactured' devices?

That's a really good question. It's in my plans to investigate more popular brands like TP-Link, Netgear and other well-known brands for vulnerabilities. That way, I'll be able to check how secure they are, as well as the remanufactured devices. But until then, i can't really comment on the security status of those devices.

What do you think of ubiquiti products? They are very cost effective, and getting into homes and small businesses.

With their remote management and monitoring features, do you see any security risks with using them?

Thank you for your insight!

I think ubiquiti products are pretty good, and they're one of my favorite products to use.

What are your thoughts on the Google Mesh WiFi? In terms of security how would you rate it from 1 to 10

Can't comment as I did not test it yet.

Curious if you are aware of any independent testing that is being performed on broadband cable or DSL modems distributed by internet providers?

Actually, I do -- there was research done on a major ISP in North Europe called Telia, and the researchers found multiple vulnerabilities and backdoors [link]. This is one of the recent investigations, and there may very well be more ISPs that may not have invested in their router security.
-Mantas

Are you working with the RouterSploit project or anything similar to enable individuals or organizations to scan their own devices for these vulnerabilities? If not, are you willing to do so?

I'm not working with RouterSploit project, but I definitely know about it and think they're doing amazing work. Actually, it's a pretty good idea to include these vulnerabilities in RouterSploit

By the way, the other researchers James Clee and Roni Carta developed this tool to check for these vulnerabilities.

Anything I can do to make my TP-Link AC1750 safer?

Sure, you can put it in a Faraday cage :)

But in reality, this device is a wifi extender, so there isn't much we can suggest to make it safer. We haven't analyzed it, so we can't comment on its security.

What are your thoughts on chinese brand routers like those made by xiaomi or huawei?

The only thing I can say is that I personally would not buy any Xiaomi or Huawei devices, and let's leave it at that :)

Do you have links to resources we can read up on from others in your field? Are there any cut and dry methods to secure a router you havent investigated, yet? I.e. Changing the firmware, blocking certain ports or protocols, monitoring certain channels, etc?

There are a lot of things you can do, and it depends on the router. I’m not going to list them all, here’s a good resource on that https://routersecurity.org/#StartHere

Do you think the recent surge of cheap Chinese smart home products (bulbs, smart sockets, cameras, etc) could have similar vulnerabilities? I've tried to keep my smart home tech to the major vendors like Philips, but the Chinese competitors often offer features you can't find elsewhere plus at a much lower cost

These devices are made so quickly and so cheaply it is possible security is compromised for the price. But it's only speculation.

Is a mesh system more vulnerable than a standard wifi system?

From my perspective, I can’t say that mesh systems are more/or less vulnerable than stand-alone wifi systems. It all boils down to a particular system or device. Unless you have something specific in mind. I don’t like to generalise things.

After all of your investigations, are you able to provide recommendations on specific routers or brands?

As of today, we've investigated Wavlink and Jetstream routers. Of the routers we investigated Wavlink has already issued an updated firmware [link] that apparently fixes the vulnerabilities. So if you have a Wavlink router, I'd recommend going to their website and updating.

Do you miss Lithuania?

I do!:)

What is the worse vulnerability you encountered? Do they seem intentional?

In this research, the worst vulnerability was the CSRF and hardcoded password. In general, though, in my career one of the worst thing I've seen is just the default username:password that are still used on so many devices

how’d you get your start? sounds like interesting work. Being 15 yrs into IT career on the infrastructure side this kind of work always interested me

Honestly, with your 15 yrs of experience, just start your first project. It involves a lot of YouTube and Googling, and just learning by experimenting and you will understand how things work on the hardware and software side

Is your research limited to cheap wifi routers? Why? What are the differences between cheap routers and more expensive routers? If they're all Linux, do they prevent source code viewing/manipulation, or are the expensive ones just more complex?

Have you thought about including IoT devices? Vacuums, doorbells, lightbulbs, street cameras, refrigerators, TV's are all internet connected and none of these devices gives 2 shakes about building in security to their device.

Is bad press our only real defense against non-existent security?

One step at a time :) We are planning to look into more routers and IoT devices. And I think awareness is a better defense.

Another question - Where do you stand on hacktivism, legally and ethically?
If you have found these exploits, you can potentially build protections against them. For example, you find a series of routers that have a backdoor. You prepare a new firmware version that resolves the problem (maybe it also 'worms' to protect future devices that come online later). You've definitely hacked the device, but your intentions were good. You have prevented malicious behavior, through questionable means.

I think hacktivism can bring positive impact to society, but there is a very thin line between hacktivism and legality.

Is the Nighthawk router a good buy? Does it help protect more than a standard router? And also this thread is amazing!

I didn't test this router.

Are the Comcast routers apart of this?

Not that I'm aware of.