[sf-lug] Monday meeting and Bobbie Sellers' news

[Michael Paoli]

Ya know, I think I would've been inclined to ask:
"Required specifications?", since it seemed exact replacement
probably wasn't the objective (and especially given the apparent
vulnerabilities and problems of the original).  And I think a
reasonably accurate response to "Required specifications?" would
have made clear the original was much more than just an ADSL modem,
and/or would've made clear that a very limited subset of the
specifications of the original were required, e.g.:
ADSL <such-and-such specific ADSL protocol(s)/standards)>
power input ~120VAC 60Hz (and the common US/Canada type plug, power
supply may be separate or integrated into device), <<15A
data connections: ye olde POTS phone line ("dry" ADSL and/or that atop POTS),
standard modular connector
Ethernet 10BASE-T (standard modular jack, optionally but not required
to also support 100BASE-TX and/or 1000BASE-T)
... or may have raised further questions that would likely (at least
eventually) lead to reasonable clarification and effective set of
required specifications.

And yes, "What is the objective/problem needing to be addressed?" is also
a reasonable starting point in disambiguation.
"Required specifications?" just skips a (sometimes important,
sometimes not) step or two.

> From: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] Monday meeting and Bobbie Sellers' news
> Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2018 21:08:21 -0700

> Quoting Daniel Gimpelevich (daniel at gimpelevich.san-francisco.ca.us):
>
>> On Sun, 2018-04-15 at 14:15 -0700, John wrote:
>> > Dg834G is a wireless router, not a dsl modem.
>>
>> Incorrect. It's a DSL modem/wifi router combo.
>
> As some including Daniel have noted, the actual Netgear model
> designation appears to be DG834G, not DG34G.  IMO, these are absurdly
> overfeatured devices, especially given that few users will even _think_
> of reflashing them to eliminate security problems:  My brief Internet
> reading suggests that they could be characterised as 'ADSL modem /
> router / firewall / switches' (often called a 'residential gateway')..