Heard a guy at the hardware store say he never updates his router firmware

Honestly, I was grabbing some packing tape and overheard this conversation. One guy was telling his friend that updating router firmware is a waste of time and just breaks things. His friend argued back that it's the main way to patch security holes. It got me thinking, because my own router from the cable company hasn't had an update in maybe two years. Tbh, I'm not sure which side is right. Is skipping firmware updates a legit risk, or is it mostly fear mongering from tech companies? What's your take on this?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek8685d ago

How often do you even check for updates on your own gear? I feel you, my ISP router is probably ancient too. That guy at the store is playing with fire, security patches are no joke these days. I'd be way more scared of getting hacked than a random update breaking something.

saraho482d ago

Calendar reminder for router updates, that's smart. You ever actually find one?

jake_dixon5d ago

Exactly, @derek868. I set a calendar reminder every three months to check my router's admin page, it takes two minutes and saves a ton of worry.