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My ISP has taken total control of my network

This is very troubling, and I'm not even sure where to start. I recently received an email message from my ISP which alerted me to an incoming update. I didn't worry too much since this is obviously not the first update they've ever pushed through.

However, after this update, I noticed that my guest connections and some other things had changed / disappeared. I logged on to my router, and I immediately noticed my custom password had been reset to the default. No problem, I entered it.

At this point, I saw that all of my options were greyed out. I could change the password, which I did, but nothing else. I immediately called my ISP.

I was told that I would have to use their app now, so as much as I dislike using proprietary phone apps, I conceded and installed the app through the Play store.

However, the agent was not entirely honest with me. I still can't bifurcate my 2.4g and 5g connections, nor can I add or remove any guest connections. I immediately enabled "privacy mode" via the app, which purportedly prevents information from being collected by something called "HomePass," and I "Delete[d] Guard events" whatever the hell that means, but this seems really troubling. I can no longer access my modem/router settings via the normal interface, but have to use an Android app?

There is only one other ISP in my area. They have much worse/slower service, but should I switch, or is this just the "new normal"? Does what I'm describing even make sense? I'm not a tech expert, but I feel like I've self-taught myself how to navigate these settings, and learned from others in online forums, but now ... an Android app?

I'd appreciate any advice. I'd even be willing to purchase my own modem/router instead of using the one from my ISP, if that fixes this mess.

Edit: So I need my own router, at least. I did some research, and these are the ones I can get locally that are within my budget:

  • TP-Link Archer AC1900 Dual-Band Mu-Mimo Wi-Fi Router with Gigabit Port

  • Linksys AC1200 Dual Band WiFi 5 Router

  • TP-Link Archer AX1500 WiFi 6 Dual-Band Wireless Router | up to 1.5 Gbps Speeds

  • TP-Link Archer C54 | AC1200 MU-MIMO Dual-Band WiFi Router

  • NETGEAR - Nighthawk AC1900 WiFi Router, 1.9Gbps (R6900) I’VE BEEN WARNED AGAINST NETGEAR THOUGH IN OTHER FORUMS

  • TP-Link | AX1800 4 Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wireless Router | up to 1.8 Gbps Speeds

  • TP-Link Archer AX3000 | 4 Stream Dual-Band WiFi 6 Wireless Router | up to 3 Gbps Speeds

  • Linksys E7350 AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Router

Am I right in thinking the TP-Link AX3000 is best?

Edit 2: At first, I bought the Netgear AC1900, which seemed like a great deal. Turns out it was unusable without creating a netgear account, so I returned it in exchange for the TP-Link Archer AX1500, and it appears to be working! I got everything set up pretty close to the way it was before, except even better.

Once I save money, I'll also invest in a different modem and return this one to my ISP.

This was a big wake-up call for me in terms of privacy. I never listened to people saying not to use your ISP's equipment because I always trusted my ISP (it's not one of the big name ones). Never trust a company. Lesson learned. I appreciate all the responses I got! This community is great!

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  • Are you talking about your Modem/router that came from the company?

    • Yes, that is correct. I've always wanted to buy my own, but they're like $200. However, at this point I could have owned my own already with the fees.

      • Yeah, Idk what you should do. There should be much cheaper ones available, but I don't know where you live or what aftermarket devices are compatible with your ISP.

        I bought a pretty nice Asus router new for like $120. Maybe you can find a used one on eBay?

        Just make sure that the aftermarket device is supported by your ISP. You could also check online to see if your current Modem is able to have its firmware flashed to something like OpenWRT. But if you're leasing the device, I wouldn't do that unless you are sure you're able to reflash the OG firmware back before returning it.

        Last option is to turn off the Wireless completely and use the Modem as a simple Demarc point for your network, and then get an old computer, install PFsense on it and use that as your actual router for all the special network configurations/firewall functions, etc.

        You can buy a cheap wireless access point and plug it into your PFsense box to get your wireless through there.

        Unfortunately, all options are either going to be a lot of work, or expensive.

        Best case would be if your ISP is compatible with a cheap aftermarket router/modem and you just swap it out.

      • we run our network directly from our modem into one of our computers that we've set up as a dedicated server and just install network cards on that so we get complete control over the network. if you have a box with spare pcie slots, this is a fairly cheap way to run things. vlans get configured by networkd and the network cards get bridged together based on vlan assignments.

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