I’m a big fan of the D-Link DIR 615 router, I think Telekom Malaysia made a pretty good choice selecting it as the default router for Unifi accounts. To be fair, TM have made some bad choices as well, but we won’t go into that here, overall the router isn’t top notch, but it gets the job done.

Unfortunately, D-Link as a company has come under the spotlight for some rather funky security practices. First, there was a rather questionable backdoor that D-Link installed on a couple of older versions of their routers, the router basically granted anyone access to D-Link routers by just changing the user agent string of their browser–worse still the back door carried the name of the author….it was Joel.

Dear Tun,

First and foremost, let me start by telling you that I truly admire and respect your contribution to Malaysia. I remember shaking your hand when you attended my Convocation quite some many years ago. It was quite odd to see that while you were present, you didn’t give a speech, simply because you attended the function not as former Prime Minister of Malaysia, but rather as the spouse of the Chancellor–your wife Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah.

So  it saddens me deeply, that at another convocation–this time where you were giving a speech, you suggested that it is time to censor the internet to counter “distribution of pornography, questionable news and slanders”.

If I may be so bold Tun–censoring the internet is the single most destructive thing that can happen to modern day Malaysia, and something that must be opposed at every turn, even if it involves publicly correcting a senior leader such as yourself. As a citizen of Malaysia, I find it not just my right, but my duty to inform the Emperor when he has no clothes on.

Petaling Jaya, (September 19, 2013) - To celebrate its 5^th Anniversary, Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (P1) invites all Malaysians to keep playing without limits by launching a special unlimited quota promotion for two of its award-winning wireless home broadband plans.

The ForHome^TM 99 and 149 offers a speed up to 1Mbps and 2Mbps with unlimited quota for the affordable prices of just RM99 and RM149 respectively for a limited time only.

As you’ve probably gauged from my recent bout of paranoia, I’m a bit of a security-freak. My PC at home, not only runs an original version of Windows (something rare in Malaysia), but also multiple anti-virus and anti-malware suites, not to mention using EMET for even more security and a software firewall to boot.

So it sort of makes sense, that after taking all those pre-cautions I would also use a Virtual Private Network or VPN.

Now security isn’t the only reason to use a VPN, they also come in handy for accessing location based services like Netflix and Hulu. All in all they’re at least 4 good reasons to subscribe to a Virtual Private Network.

Reason 1: A VPN encrypts and secures all your outbound connections. This makes it difficult for anyone trying to ‘sniff’ your connection to see which websites you’re visiting. If you’re looking for a VPN provider to secure your connection, then look for one that implements OpenVPN, that provides the best security for this purpose.

Reason 2: A VPN allows you to access US based services like Netflix and Hulu. Here in Malaysia these providers block access from Malaysian IPs to their services–so if you want to watch Netflix, or even subscribe to Amazon, you need a US IP. If you’re looking for a VPN provider to give you this, then make sure they have a US gateway.

Reason 3: A VPN connection allows you to access blocked/censored content. In Malaysia, the government has been known to censor the internet, every once in a while. So if the government suddenly decides to block youtube, or if you wish to access those file sharing sites local ISPs have blocked, then a VPN is a great way to circumvent censorship. Remember that in 2008, the Government blocked a pro-opposition website, Malaysia Today, so this isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. *Not to mention that innocence of Muslims is censored on Malaysian youtube.

Reason 4: A VPN connection ‘anonymizes’ your IP connection. When you use a VPN to post a comment on a website online, the website won’t be able to trace your IP address, since only the IP address of the VPN provider would be visible to them. Beware though, that a VPN will only help anonymize the IP and not the content, you can leave online bread-crumbs in a multi-tude of ways, but a VPN connection helps mitigate that–somewhat. If you wish for a truly anonymous internet (like me), then look for a VPN that doesn’t log any data of it’s users.

Reason 5: A VPN connection allows you bit-torrent without restrictions and anonymously. I’ve previously showed you how bit-torrent downloads could be traced to your IP address quite easily, but a VPN helps prevent that. Without a VPN, someone could do a quick search on your IP and determine what you’ve been downloading on bittorrent. Also VPN connections allow you to bypass certain restrictions and filters that your ISP may have in place to throttle bit-torrent downloads (note that Unifi doesn’t throttle torrent downloads). If you plan to use your VPN for this purpose make sure they don’t block torrent traffic. Just check out the advert below from the people at BTGuard.

So in short a VPN provides you extra security, extra anonymity, the ability to access location based services and the ability to bypass censored content online. So it’s really a no brainer at this point–if you want to truly get the most of your internet experience–you need a VPN.

About a year back, I wrote about how excited I was that Lazada was finally coming to Malaysian shores, however I never really got around to buying anything from Lazada until recently. As you know, I was in the market for a new Unifi router and after some online shopping I decided to settle for a Asus router from Lazada, not only was the price cheaper, Lazada promised free delivery and even an RM10 discount if I subscribed to the newsletter.

So I created and account, subscribed to the newsletter and purchase an Asus router from the website–thinking all I had to do was sit and wait, and the router would be at my doorstep within 3 days.

WRONG!

Payment under Review

What I suspect happened was that my payment was successful BUT Lazada ran out of stock, hence placing the order under review. The wording of the email was poor, and the whole experience left me unimpressed.

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Those maroons and stupid who complaining customer service should work before as customer service first you bastard!!! if you in thier postion than only u know thier pain… they can give you promise u asshole but who want to fullfill it???? if u want complaint complaint to higher management . dont try your bullshit by spoke with supervsior can resolve your problem. they cannot do anything there coz they have barriers asshole. pls go work as customer service before talk regarding them

Update: 20-July-2014

I can’t recommend this router because the after sales service from Asus is terrible. The router cost just Rm199, but for me to claim my warranty would require a 1-hour car ride to KL, the cost of petrol, toll and parking would easily exceed RM40/trip, and I’d have to make 2 trips (might as well buy a new router at that point)/ I emailed Asus hoping they’d at least provide some other way of claiming warranty–postage for example, but they’ve re-iterated that I’d still need to go to Imbi to claim the warranty.

Bad service–and the quality of a router that fails after just a year is suspect as well, the D-Link Dir-615 router I have still works, but this more expensive router failed after just a year?!!

Wouldn’t touch Asus routers ever again! I’ve left the initial post below for you to view, but I would recommend TP-Link routers instead.

Screenshot of the 3 Asus service centers in Klang–none of which are service centers anymore (their contracts have expired), and Asus should remove them from the website.

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None of these are service centers anymore[/caption]

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My rather un-professional grainy picture of the Asus router. Look at how Tall it is.[/caption]

The first thing you notice about the Asus N12HP is that it’s TALL, and I mean like if Yao Ming married Kareem Abdul Jaabar and had kids it would like this router. Those long antennas really make the router look like a child who’d undergone a growth spurt in the all the wrong awkward places.

Now don’t get me wrong, the standard D-Link router that TM provides you FOC with every Unifi connection is actually a pretty good router, but if you want something with a bit more oomph! then you may have to look to Asus to provide that. Is it really worth changing your Dlink, and is the Asus N12HP really the best replacement router out there?

Well…for one thing, this router Looks Good.

There’s a lot of documentation online on how to hack your neighbours Wi-Fi, but sometimes you need to hack your own system. Usually its because you’ve change your router password and forgot it completely, leaving you in the cold desolate place we like to call “No router land”.

Don’t fear though, its actually pretty darn easy to hack your standard Dlink Dir-615 router (pictured above) that came stock with your Unifi subscription. Make no mistake, the router actually has some pretty sleek features, but Telekom Malaysia has a lackadaisical approach to security that makes hacking this router merely google searches away.

The default Unifi access credentials are:

Username : admin
Password :

Where the password field is literally left blank, (as it is).

However, if you’re locked out of your Unifi router, here’s a couple of things you could do to get your connection back:

Last week I wrote about the ‘rigged’ EDGE poll, that the EDGE had to eventually take down because they suspected someone was trying to bias the results. It was later revealed that a handful of IP addresses were responsible fro the bulk of the votes–presumably the fake ones. An IP address defines a unique internet connection, but not necessarily a unique device. You can try this yourself at home, and connect your PC, Laptop, Tablet and phone to your Wi-Fi router and then go online to check your IP from each–all of your devices will have the same ’external’ IP address.

The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and it’s new amendment. that wonderful piece of legislation meant to repeal the archaic and ‘draconian’ ISA may turn out to be even more archaic and draconian than the ISA it was meant to replace.

While much of the legal fanfare has been focusing on the detention without trial sections of the bill, as a tech blogger, I wanted to focus on the technical aspects of it. Specifically let’s focus on how the new law would allow the government to eavesdrop onto your internet communication without the authorization of any Judge or Judicial oversight. Now while, the public prosecutor, or Attorney General in this country isn’t specifically part of the government–he (or she) is appointed by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong on the ‘advice’ of the Prime Minister.

The sections of the bill that focus on the interception of communication is both all-encompassing and far-reaching, giving far too much power to the Public Prosecutor to intercept your private conversations and web surfing habits, which is a gross invasion of privacy.

Power to intercept Communications

On top of this, the Public Prosecutor has the legal authority to compel an ISP to intercept and retain any communication you performed for an unspecified amount of time. Which could be forever.

Basically he can begin to ask Maxis or Unifi for the list of websites you visit, and your detailed online communications,  access to your emails, your friend list on facebook, your tweets and even your online files. Not even your online porn stash will be free from the prying eyes of the Public Prosecutor (not that I have one though…just saying, I know a friend who does).

All this without ever having to go to a Judge for judicial oversight. More importantly, anything collected in this way is deemed admissible as evidence in court, and no one will have to explain how the evidence was obtained. For all you know they could have placed webcams in your home, but they would would never have to explain this in court.

What’s worse is that a Police Superintendent is granted similar powers when “immediate action is required leaving no moment of deliberation”.

We all understand the need for the Police and Public Prosecutors to do their job well, and they require tools to catch the bad guys. However, this grants them way too much power with regards to their ability to invade the privacy of personal citizens. I don’t want the Public Prosecutor or a curious Police Superintendent snooping on my internet conversations, and yet the new Special offences act allows them to do that–legally!