I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET option)

Question

I want to object in the strongest possible terms to NG updating my Orbi firmware overnight even though I had set the parameters for no auto-update.

Additionally, now that I have new firmware (v2.7.3.22), the "Enable TELNET" option has been removed!!!

I am sitting here with a new version that I didn't want and no way to control it via nvram parameters. WTF Netgear? The power of this equipment is the reason I bought it. I get that Telnet can be dangerous for people without exerience but it also is the power of quality equipment for trained professionals. Why remove a valuable feature?

I am heading back to older firmware and I don't want an auto-update if the new version doesn't have features I want. How to I ensure that?

Scott

mmz06 · Answer

Hi there,&nbsp;Facing the same issue, I could restore telnet access using the updated version of&nbsp;telnet-enable2.py, enabling back&nbsp;Telnet using V2.7.3.22:&nbsp;https://github.com/bkerler/netgear_telnetI could push all my existing custom configuration (upnpc, automation, etc.) from here.&nbsp;Hope this will help you as well...

CrimpOn · Answer

mmz06&nbsp;wrote:
Facing the same issue, I could restore telnet access using the updated version of&nbsp;telnet-enable2.py, enabling back&nbsp;Telnet using V2.7.3.22:&nbsp;https://github.com/bkerler/netgear_telnet
I could push all my existing custom configuration (upnpc, automation, etc.) from here.

My goodness gracious.&nbsp; This works on my RBR50 with firmware v2.7.3.22!
I have tried the python script on Linux.
Will try it on Windows and also the compiled versions.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

CrimpOn · Answer

Thanks for the link to nte. I will give it a try as well.&nbsp; In the past, I had tried several tools that were supposed to enable telnet on Netgear routers and could not get them to work.&nbsp; Might have been my own incompetence.&nbsp; Will be interesting to see if I can get nte to work.
&nbsp;
I downloaded the Python program (script? shows how little I know about Python) today and put in on a laptop running Mint Linux.
The documentation is not suitable "for Dummies" (me), but eventually this worked:
./telnet-enable2.py &lt;ip&gt; &lt;mac&gt; &lt;username&gt; &lt;password&gt;
where &lt;ip&gt; is the IP of my Orbi running v2.7.3.22 (10.0.0.1 because it is actually connected to the Orbi that provides WiFi to my house))
&lt;mac&gt; is the LAN port MAC
&lt;username&gt; is admin
&lt;password&gt; is the web password
No quotes on anything.
&nbsp;
Then, I opened a telnet session on the laptop to 10.0.0.1 and it worked!&nbsp; I had tried to use the compiled version, but made dumb mistakes like leaving out the IP address. (why does it need both IP and MAC? Seems redundant.)&nbsp; My next step is to restart the Orbi (wiping out telnet) and use the Python script on a Windows laptop.
&nbsp;
The appears to be the "Magic Bullet" I need for when my Orbi updates to v2.7.3.22 by itself.&nbsp; Every time my Orbi reboots (3-4 months), I telnet in and replace the stock Netgear Attached Devices web page with SLK-Purdue's version which sorts on every column.&nbsp; No telnet means no Attached Devices that I like.

CrimpOn · Answer

I have more to report:
&nbsp;

Was not able to get nte to work on Windows 10. The program appears to have executed, but produces zero output and definitely does not activate telnet on the Orbi RBR50.
The python based Windows exe file cannot be copied because Windows 10 throws an error saying the file contains a virus.When I seem to have unzipped the exe file and try to copy it, it disappears.&nbsp; Wanted to create a Firewall exception for it, but have been unable to even get it out of the zip file.
The Python script also failed&nbsp; on Windows 10.&nbsp; Not certain what I have done wrong.just get a string of error messages:Netgear LBR20 Telnet enabler V2 LBR20(c) B.Kerler 2021Traceback (most recent call last):File "C:\Users\Dick	elnet-enable2.py", line 496, in &lt;module&gt;main()File "C:\Users\Dick	elnet-enable2.py", line 487, in mainif sendtelnet(ip, hash):File "C:\Users\Dick	elnet-enable2.py", line 446, in sendtelnetfor result in socket.getaddrinfo(ip, port, socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM, socket.IPPROTO_IP):File "C:\Users\Dick\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\socket.py", line 953, in getaddrinfofor res in _socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, family, type, proto, flags):socket.gaierror: [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed

For me, the Linux success may be enough.&nbsp; And, maybe I'll figure out what's wrong with Windows tomorrow.

mmz06 · Answer

Hi,
&nbsp;
But i tried many other older implementations of enable_telnet, I could find over the past years that never worked for me, using MacOS/Python, but it was not really a big deal because I had the hidden debug.htm GUI option.
Now because of this major restriction introduced by firmware v2.7.3.22, which auto updates which is also a major concern to me, I chose to gave a try to new versions of this tool I could find in Github.
The tool I mentioned is definitelly not my work, but you can see it's been released quite recently, and it uses python3 which sounds to me like modernity as well, which is all the oposite of many other versions I could find which are anywhere between 3 to 10 years old.
I'm using it like mentioned in their readme page:&nbsp;
python3 ./telnet-enable2.py &lt;ip&gt; &lt;mac&gt; &lt;username&gt; [&lt;password&gt;]
And guess what: I've been lucky, and that saved my day!&nbsp;
Then I just couldn't keep this for me, and published my discover when I seen a few peoples where facing the same issue, with no solution...

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I object in the strongest possible terms (ref new firmware auto update and removing TELNET option)

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