[PLUG] Ubuntu 8.* and WPA with FiOS Actiontec router

[JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>]

Quick FYI, I was not able to get Ubuntu (8.04 or 8.10) to work using WPA 
with my circa 2006 [1] Verizon FiOS Actiontec MI424WR and the circa 
2008-01 v4.0.16.1.56.0.10.7 firmware I had [2].  I have "Automatic Check 
Disabled" for firmware upgrades and until recently was not using the 
router for anything except rare testing.

In the web interface, the [Check Now] button returned an "up-to-date" 
message.  But the [Force Upgrade] button installed 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6 
[3], which also includes WPA2 and which was only released Feb 11 2009. 
WPA now works, though I had to try a few times to get it to connect.  I 
suspect timing issues between the router and Ubuntu Network Manager's 
existing settings.  I have no notice any other changes or problems, but 
I don't use most of the features (I don't trust Verizon or "firewalls" 
it provides, I use my own).

It might be interesting to periodically download the firmware [3], 
md5sum it and compare them.  Here is what I have now:

$ for firmware in *MI424WR.rmt; do echo ''; md5sum $firmware; strings 
$firmware | egrep '^dist|^vendor|version:'; done

60b2b2414be2a8ea50166c1b0ae6bae1 
4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.3-UNOFFICIAL-MI424WR.rmt
dist: MI424WR
vendor: VERIZON
prod_version: 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.3
version: 40016

f46083ab5c8cd54104ba519e79139625  4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6-MI424WR.rmt
dist: MI424WR
vendor: VERIZON
prod_version: 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6
version: 40016

97881eb1e1875657763e2859ef15edd5  4.0.16.1.56.0.10.7-MI424WR.rmt
dist: MI424WR
prod_version: 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.7
version: 40016

I got the "UNOFFICIAL" from some random guy's web site noted in some 
random forum, and it is therefor suspect.  The other two came from [3] 
at different times.

Also maybe interesting:

http://www.actiontec.com/support/product_details.php?pid=100
Q:Is there a way to clear or reset the password on Actiontec Routers?
Q: How do I Reset the Actiontec to its default settings?
A: Begin with the power light solid Green. Then using a small tool, 
press and hold the Reset button in for 10 seconds, then release the 
button. It will take 30 to 40 seconds for the Actiontec to restart.

Hope this is useful,
JP

[1] ActionTec MI424WR
Hardware Version: 5A (Old style big, chunky, squared/angled corners)
http://groups.google.com/group/pantug/browse_thread/thread/c9632887ac01db0f/c3b8485fdbd2a604?lnk=gst&q=fios#c3b8485fdbd2a604
[2] The original 4.0.16.1.44.28 firmware didn't even include WPA.
[3] https://upgrade.actiontec.com/MI424WR/MI424WR.rmt
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|      http://bashcookbook.com/
My Account, My Opinions     |=========|      http://www.jpsdomain.org/
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