Why I Don't Like Windows 10 and MS

In quite a few articles on this blog I have referred to, quoted from or linked to one of the web sites I regularly draw information from; I am talking about Tech Support Alert aka Gizmo's Freeware.

Two days ago they published an article titled "Windows 10 connects to these websites after a clean installation". Since many of my customers are not very technically minded let me quote some points that I consider to be the important details. 

IMHO it is, to say the least, misleading to use Microsoft's wording "telemetry" when our Windows 10 systems talk to Microsoft [MS] all the time without ever having asked our permission. They even don't ever tell us about the simple fact that they do that; you have to be a technology geek and read lots of very technical stuff to even become aware of what is going on.

The article lists 20 web sites that Windows 10 connect to when you start a brand new Windows 10 system. All these sites collect technical information about our computers and about us. As a simple example: Why does MS want or need to know where I am? That is information I personally would only disclose to the police if they ever wanted or needed to know that.

Here is list from above mentioned article. I have added the bold typeface in Line 1.

Windows 10 connects to one or more websites in these categories:

• Cortana and Search
• Certificates
• Device authentication
• Device metadata
• Diagnostic data
• Font streaming
• Licensing
• Location
• Maps
• Microsoft account
• Microsoft store
• Network connection status indicator (NCSI)
• Office
• OneDrive
• Settings
• Skype
• Windows Defender
• Windows Spotlight
• Windows Update
• Microsoft forward link redirection service (FWLink)

All this can on slower Internet connections add significantly to the time it takes for the system to start up. I have experienced that quite often when a sluggish or outright slow system all of a sudden works with normal reaction times after all that got turned off.

And to top it off, the program I use to turn off this talking back to MS is from a well reputed company and totally free.

Any questions or comments? Pleas use the Comment feature of this blog.

Please stay safe.

FINALLY - Microsoft comes to (their?) senses

FINALLY something IMHO long overdue is going to happen:

Microsoft will start to remove the worst of the bad ones!

Please read the details here.

You don't need to call me if after March 1st. your "Optimizer program" has gone missing. I will wait and see what else they (Micro$oft) will declare "coercive" and then remove.

Stay safe!

Why NOT TO USE Internet Explorer

About one to two times every month I encounter customers who react clearly with doubt or outright disbelief when I tell them NOT TO USE Internet Explorer. IE is Microsoft's web browser with roots in the mid 1990s. That is in computer terms ancient!

Finally I found an article on maketecheasier.com that explains the "why" in easily understandable terms. You find it here. Enjoy the read and please, please pass the word to your relatives and friends.

And if you are only a little bit like me you want to turn off  IE totally. You find instructions on how to do that here.

Stay safe.

About Scams - Beware!

It saddens mw but it has to be said again and again:

Microsoft WILL NOT CALL you because your computer "has been reported" or anything similar.

Please take the few minutes to read this article from the How-To-Geek on common scamming tricks and what to do about them. This article talks about some other commonly encountered scams as well, not only the Microsoft or Tech Support based scams.

It always is good to be well informed. The time to read the HTG article is time well spent; it can help you to avoid the most common traps.

Stay safe.

The newest Scam - Beware

The newest telephone scam I heard of is the Microsoft Licensing Scam. You may get a phone call or a voice mail saying something like this (phone numbers deliberately obscured):

“This is to notify you that your Microsoft Windows license key has been expired in your computer so Microsoft Corporation has stopped the services in your computer. To renew the Windows license key, please call 866 XXX XXXX. Let me repeat. This is to notify you that your Microsoft Windows license key has been expired in your computer so Microsoft Corporation has stopped the services in your computer. To renew the Windows license key, please call 866 XXX XXXX. I will repeat 866 XXX XXXX.”

The message obviously was from a computer generated, sort of "mechanical" voice and the stilted English suggest a non-native English speaker behind the whole thing.

Any messages about licensing issues truly from Microsoft would pop up on your computer's screen only during installation or activation. And we all know, if only from experience, that a Microsoft license for the Operating System comes with the computer when you buy it and it is good for the lifetime of the machine.

In Windows services are programs running in the background; they are required for even basic functions of the computer. A computer would not work at all without the required services running in the background.

In the case I read about the recipient happened to be a very, very experienced Windows user; the gentleman called back the 866 number from the message; he said about that call:

"Because the number was toll free, I called it just to see what would happen. An answering machine invited me to leave a message and my number for a callback — I declined.

Please remember: Any and all phone calls claiming to come from Microsoft or any company associated with Microsoft are scams. Don't even talk to these people! Do not give them your phone number or ANY OTHER information.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Stay safe.

What browser?

I got an email from a customer and believe my reply might be of interest to many people. The customer quoted an article from another blog(?) that recommended to search directly out of the URL field. Here is my reply verbatim as I sent it:

The crux with all these "easy" tips is that they all play right into the industry's game.

The more searches any given search engine gets to perform the more money they can ask for their aggregated info on what we search for. The search engine companies may not directly advertise to us but the companies that buy this aggregated search information can then advertise better and more directly to us.

• It's a fact that Bing and Yahoo (they use Bing) do NOT show us what in the search results are paid advertisements.
• It's a fact that way too many advertisements get abused to get malicious programs on our computers.
• It's a fact that some web browsers (like IE and Edge, both from Microsoft!) make it very difficult or don't allow us at all to suppress advertisements.
• It's a fact that Google does not allow us to suppress certain advertisements in Google's own Chrome browser.

All the before said and more is behind my STRONG recommendation to use only Firefox as I set it up for my customers.

And I urge my customers to search ONLY out of the little browser specific Search window:

because when you search from there you get a Google search result

MINUS any advertisement(s),
PLUS the red, yellow and green Web of Trust ratings right by every search result.
AND your search with Google has happened anonymously!

Update Jan. 10th 2017:
Sadly around November 5th 2016 Mozilla, the organization that supplies Firefox and Google have removed that piece of code from their download pages; some details are here.
If you remove the WOT extension or add-on from your Firefox browser it currently can not be re-installed!
Google recently made the WOT extension available again.

If that is not reason enough for any of my customers it's their decision and their money if I have to clean up their machine again.

 Stay safe!

"Force Feeding" Windows 10

"Force Feeding" are the only words adequate to describe what Microsoft is doing right now! My email inbox is overflowing with complaints and cries for help. Microsoft seems to be really desperate, it must not be going as well as they had hoped.

After the upgrade to Windows 10 (not update) you have 4 weeks to revert to your previous system. This process has so far worked without a hitch for those of my customers who reverted.

1. Click the Start button
2. Click on Settings (on a few systems it is PC Settings)
3. Click on Update & security
4. In the left side bar click on Recovery
5. Find the entry Go back to Windows x (x is 7 or 8 depending on what your previous system was) and click on it

Depending on the speed of your computer it will work for anything between 30 and 90 minutes. After you have reverted to your previous version of Windows Microsoft will again begin to permanently nag you to upgrade to Win 10. This nagging can be reliably turned off!

Microsoft has since about November 2015 been busy to put some of the telemetry of Windows 10 into Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems; this happens in addition to forcing upgrades to Windows 10. That means that Win 7 and 8 systems now contain some of what I call Windows 10 spying on me/us and IMHO that should to be turned off!!

My recommendation is to turn all this junk off and luckily since about February 2016 I know of a dependable piece of free software that allows everybody to do just that on their systems whether it is a Windows 7, 8 or 10 computer!. See this article for more details.


If after the upgrade any icons or programs are missing or if you rather have me install SD Anti Beacon I can do all that via remote support. For remote support please call one of the coming Monday through Thursday evenings between 6PM and 8PM. If I am already at home I want to connect remotely to your computer. If I can not answer on your first attempt please assume that I am already helping somebody else and keep trying every 10 or 15 minutes.

If I have set up or worked on your computer during the last three years you should be set for remote support; if you have an icon labeled either "Teamviewer ..."  or "EJH Remote Support" then all is prepared. If you do not find either of these icons please call anyway, I can walk you on the phone thru the steps to get the remote support program going. Alternatively you can prepare for remote support as described here.

Please have your computer up and running; if your computer is a notebook (or laptop) computer then please have the power supply connected and plugged into a working power outlet.

Stay safe!

Windows 10 and Microsoft's Attitude to Security and Prvacy

On Slate I found this very revealing article about Windows 10 and it's implications for privacy and security. I highly recommend you read it BEFORE you jump on the Windows 10 band wagon.

No, I take back my "... highly recommend you read ...". If you are seriously thinking about Windows 10 and/or want to be fully informed before you take the plunge (or not) THE ARTICLE IS A MUST READ!

As I said in an earlier article by now we can do something about all that, reliably and free of charge. Well, maybe not totally free if you want me to set it up and demonstrate it's correct usage to you.

Stay safe!

Windows 10 and why I change my recommendation

On 1/17/2014 I wrote on this blog a rant titled: Microsoft Accounts and Windows 8 – A Rant

For Windows 10 this article is just as valid today. I want to quote the main point (emphasis added):

Apple has made an incredible fortune "having access" to all this information about their customers and as I see it Microsoft wants to bake themselves a similar pie, not only get a slice [of this pie of advertisement money]. Once I realized this my reaction was "Big Brother. . . ".

IMHO Windows 10 is a masterpiece of a copy of that pie, even with some improvements; it's main objective is to gather information about and from the user; why else would Microsoft assign a unique "advertising ID" to  every email address that unsuspecting users give them?

As often in this life where there is light there is shadow and vice versa. And besides the "shadow" that I call outright spying there is light:

Technically Windows 10 is a really good operating system.

The main complaints can by now be alleviated with third party programs.

• The data reporting can reliably be turned off (no more spying!) while the helpful reporting about the inner workings of the system (or failures to do so) remains active.
   
• The main menu can look and feel just like your old version of Windows; it can look and
  work just like you were used to from Windows Vista or Windows 7.  

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10, go ahead!
 
But be warned: When you upgrade to Windows 10 IMHO you have to install and correctly configure the program that turns Windows 10's reporting features OFF! And do NOT give Microsoft your email address, it will be treated as a Microsoft account!

Again, if privacy is of any concern to you then DO NOT give Microsoft your email address! That includes that you should NOT use Skype! We have a free alternatives to Skype that does not require to give your email address to Microsoft.

Remember what I wrote in Windows 10 Settings - What I Recommend (August 8th. 2015):

If you gave the system on first start your email address Microsoft has created on their servers the storage for an immense wealth of information about you that Win10 and it's programs will collect from and about you; and that besides the fact that every email address will have it's unique "advertisement ID" assigned. Guess what that will be used for!

Should you feel asked a bit too much with all this please contact me by email, I can help. An email address to contact me is in non-computer readable format at the end of the Welcome paragraph in the left side bar of my blog.

And if you upgraded and don't like what you see you have four weeks to 30 days (conflicting info from MS!) to revert back to what you had before.

Stay safe.

Windows 10 Now FORCED On Your Computer

You have good reasons to stay with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? If the world were like Microsoft wants it to be you are out of luck, plain and simple.

Since this month Microsoft, true to what they announced in November last year, will only give you a choice to "Upgrade Now" or to "Upgrade later".

There is NO WAY to decline the upgrade, neither only for now or for the future as well. Now, I admit, the latter was wishful thinking anyway.

Since most of my customers call themselves computer illiterate I recommend to stay away from registry editing or similar DIY solutions.

The only comprehensive, user friendly and dependable solution I know of is GWX Control Panel.
Warning: Do NOT click on the title "GWX Control Panel", the name of this program; this would start the download immediately!

Instead I recommend you read through the description and then read the detailed description of how to use the program and of what the program does. Read this even if you don't fully understand all technical details; it will give you a comprehensive overview and make using the program far easier.

After reading these descriptions you should go back to the first page I linked you to above. To the right of the description of GWX Control Panel are two download links, one for an Installer version and one for the Stand-alone version. I prefer the Stand-alone version because installer programs IMHO introduce an unnecessary additional layer of complexity.

I leave it up to you to decide which version you want to download and use.

Stay safe.

2016-01-28 WBKV Talking Points

Through 20 years of effort, we have successfully trained every computer user
to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember,
but easy for computers to guess.

10 most used passwords in 2015 (truly a list of shame!):

123456
password
12345678
qwerty
12345
123456789
football
1234
1234567
baseball

Please, in the interest of privacy and safety, use a password manager and let it create long passwords.

Wifatch virus actively protects its victims from other forms of malware;
It infects routers, not computers;

It is written in the Perl programming language
It targets so far only ARM (83%), MIPS (10%), and SH4 (7%) processors
It connects infected devices to a peer-to-peer network

Basically it only infects devices that are not protected at all in the first place!

A Symantec (Norton) partner company in India uncovered as major player in the all too common technical support scam. 

Security Suites from AVG and Avast install dangerous browser add-ons!

McAfee and Norton tell Windows 10 users that they better use Internet Explorer, a browser so bad that Microsoft gave up on it!

For years I advise against ALL of the well known “security suites”, free or paid versions, no difference.

"Free" Security programs - For A Price

I stumbled over this article on How-To-Geek.

I wan to save you the hassle and time to read this lengthy article your self and will quote a few selected and IMHO most relevant snippets.

My stance toward the remaining "free" security programs as well as the well known commercial offerings is known; I have expressed this here repeatedly. So let's begin:

1. Free antivirus applications aren’t what they used to be. Free antivirus companies are now bundling adware, spyware, toolbars, and other junk to make a quick buck.... At one point, free antivirus was just advertising, pushing users to upgrade to the paid products. Now, free antivirus companies are making money through advertising, tracking, and junkware installations.
    
2. Comodo ... change[s] your web browser’s search engine to Yahoo! and bundles the GeekBuddy paid tech support software. It also bundles other Comodo products you might not want, including changing your DNS server settings to Comodo’s servers and installing “Chromodo,” a Chromium-based browser made by Comodo. ... As the Comodo-affiliated PrivDog software contained a massive security hole similar to the one Superfish had, there’s a good chance you don’t want a bunch of other Comodo-developed software and services thrown onto your computer.
    
3. Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware pushes “Web Protection” that will “secure your online search” by setting SecureSearch as your web browser’s homepage and default search engine. Despite the name, this isn’t actually a security feature. Instead, it just switches your web browser to use a branded search engine that actually uses Yahoo! in the background — this means it’s powered by Bing.
   If you prefer Bing, that’s fine — just use the full Bing website. You’ll have a better experience than using Lavasoft’s rebranded, stripped-down search engine.
    
4. Avira encourages you to install “Avira SafeSearch Plus.” This is just a rebranded version of the Ask Toolbar, redirecting your search results through a rebranded version of Ask.com’s search engine. If you wouldn’t want the Ask Toolbar installed, you wouldn’t want this rebranded version of it installed either.
    
5. ZoneAlarm also wants you to enable “ZoneAlarm Search” as your browser’s default homepage and search engine, along with installing a ZoneAlarm toolbar that is - once again - a rebranded version of the Ask Toolbar.
    
6.  Panda {Free Antivirus] attempts to install their own browser security toolbar as well as change your browser’s search engine to Yahoo, and its home page to “MyStart,” which is powered by Yahoo. To Panda’s credit, they at least don’t attempt to trick you by offering you a renamed Yahoo search engine or home page.
    
7. avast!’s installer also tries to install additional software you might not want. We’ve seen Dropbox offered here in the past, but avast! attempted to install the Google Toolbar when we tried installing it.
   Programs like the Google Toolbar and Dropbox are high-quality software you might actually want, so avast! comes out looking very good compared to the other options here. But even avast! has done done some questionable things in the past — witness the avast! browser extension inserting itself into your online shopping.
    
8. AVG has its own suite of obnoxious utilities, including the AVG Security Toolbar, AVG Rewards, AVG Web TuneUp, and SecureSearch.
    
9. BitDefender offers a stripped-down free antivirus. ... BitDefender is still pursuing the strategy of attempting to upsell you to the paid product.
    
10. MalwareBytes doesn’t attempt to install any extra junk on your computer, although the free version doesn’t offer real-time protection. To their credit, MalwareBytes is offering a free tool that’s useful for manual scans - it even picks up and detects [and removes!] much of the adware other programs install - and encouraging you to pay for a more full-featured product.
    This tool could be quite useful in combination with another antivirus, like Microsoft’s free Windows Defender or Microsoft Security Essentials solution. But it’s not a standalone free antivirus you can depend on, as it lacks the real-time scanning.

 Not too nice a situation out there, right? You either pay up or you have to live mostly with junk you did not want in the first place.


Don't despair, a good, time proven free solution is available since about 2009.

For now over 13 years I "fix" my customer's home computers by removing all sorts of viruses and other malicious or obnoxious software. Most of my customers call themselves "computer illiterate". All of them have lived safely with mostly little or no manual effort.

The only malware infections happen now when someone "falls" for a social engineering trick; that is in effect when the customer for a moment was inattentive. And hat is just a human weakness, I know from my very own experience.

If you want to know details about this solution plese drop me a personal email; thank you.

2016-01-14 WBKV Talking Points

For the normal home user: Upgrade to Windows 10 will be enforced by January!
Only two ways around:
1. Change Windows Update Settings. Not recommended because permanent user involvement required.
2. Use GWX Control Panel. See my blog Jan. 3^rd. 2016

AVG installs an extension in Google Chrome that opens computers to malware. DO NOT use Google Chrome and/or AVG “security products! See my blog Jan. 3^rd. 2016

First ransomware written in Java discovered. Please uninstall all Java. To my knowledge only Pogo.com still offers games written in Java.

Using Internet Explorer version 10 or older? Update it now! Support runs out NOW!
Better: Finally make the switch to Mozilla Firefox browser.

And a very recent true horror story about Dell's technical support and their willingness to handle a warranty case.

How to avoid Windows 10

Are you tired of Microsoft's permanent nagging to upgrade to Windows 10?

Do you want to avoid the computer world's biggest and most openly staged attempt to get the greatest data collection system world-wide set up?

Then here is THE solution - as far as I know and as of January 3rd 2016.

Download GWX Control Panel from this web page. I recommend to use the portable version called "Stand-alone" and please read the program author's user guide.

You best start GWX Control Panel [GWXcpl] in administrator mode, that means you right click on the program file and the click on "Run as administrator".

The GWXcpl windows looks like similar to this:

I can not show you an EXACT picture because I have no computer that is still unprotected from Windows 10 upgrades.

 On your computer the upper part will have different contents; I believe it is very self explanatory.

In the lower part you will probably see instead of *n these text entries:

*1  Disable 'Get Windows 10 App' ...
*2  Delete Windows 10 Download Folders
*3  Prevent Automatic Windows 10 Upgrades
*4  Delete Windows 10 Programs

  I recommend to at least click on Disable "Get Windows 10 App' ..." and on "Prevent Automatic Windows 10 Upgrades". Whether you want to delete Windows 10 files and/or folders is up to you; on older computers with less than 320GB large disk drives it seems to be a good idea to free up the space. And don't forget to reboot when you are asked to even if it means that you may have to run GWXcpl more than once.

Feel free to ask any uestions you might have, preferably by email.

Stay safe.

Early End to Windows 7/8?

According to this Neowin article Microsoft is telling manufacturers to stop producing computers with Windows 7 and/or Windows 8 much earlier than usually.

Another heavy handed Microsoft tactic. Draw your own conclusions.

2015-11-05 WBKV Talking Points

Microsoft admits Windows 10 spying can not be stopped!
Reference here.

Microsoft will push Windows 10 onto computers with Windows 7 and 8.1.
The fun begins in January 2016 (or earlier if MS thinks it feasible).
Reference here.


We need to begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows! Yes, there are alternatives.
I promise an article about the alternative(s) in the near future.
And yes, in future this blog will talk about other computer operating systems but Windows.

What is the one, big major difference between Windows and the alternatives?
     Technically: Repositories are centrally managed.
     Economically: The alternatives are free; free as in no money.

Is Microsoft Pushing Windows 10?

Let me, at least by name, introduce Susan Bradley to you. The lady is a very experienced and knowledgeable system administrator in the world of Microsoft networks and she is a Microsoft MVP. She is very active on widely read internet forums and generally well respected.

Ms. Bradley started a petition on Change.org asking Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella to reconsider the Windows 10 policy of forcing updates of the Windows operating system on user's machines.

Today Ms. Bradley posted  an update to her petition that you can find here.

I have little doubt that Microsoft could and will attempt something like that. I would consider this to be an intrusion into my personal and private sphere.
MS seems to think they own my computer! Have they gone nuts?

It is time that we begin to talk publicly about alternatives to MS Windows!

And before you ask, yes, there are alternatives. I do not want to discuss these here because this blog is named "Computer Trouble..." and that means trouble with MS Windows computers and I will keep it that way.

10 Reasons Against Win 10 - 10 Reasons For Win 10 (plus comments)

Besides my massive reservations towards Windows 10, voiced here and here, I want to give my readers the pro and con disregarding that personal opinion.
 

The following are excerpts from an Infoworld paper published under the title “Everything you need to know about Windows 10”.

Iinfoworld has these 10 reservations against Windows 10:

1. Substantial privacy concerns regarding Windows 10. The trade-offs between privacy and what the system “needs to know” can not be simply decided as a black and white decision.
   The same is true for Windows 10's automatically attached Advertising ID.
    
2. OneDrive works different from Windows 7 and Windows 8. VERY confusing!
    
3. Media Center and DVD player missing.
    
4. No useful “universal apps”. The Windows Store is a wasteland.
    
5. Mail program and Edge browser are test versions at best. Maturing is badly needed.
    
6. Tablet Mode partially useless (MS Office is better on an iPad than on a Win 10 tablet).
    
7. The installer may determine that they (MS) are ot quite ready for your machine yet.
   Beg your pardon? Microsoft themselves seem to know that the upgrade isn't as easy peasy
   as they want us to believe!
    
8. Forced updates have already caused quite a few problems.
    
9. “If it ain't broke don't fix it”. If you are using Windows 7 properly updated and have switched away from Internet Explorer than there is hardly a reason to risk the upgrade.
    
10. WAY TOO MANY open questions!

And Infoworld has 10 reasons for an upgrade; I have taken the liberty to comment in the second line:

1. Windows 10 is the way into the future (of Windows!)
   … the way into the Brave New World of Big Brother Microsoft.
    
2. The new Start Menu is a big plus for keyboard and mouse users of Windows 8/8.1
   if they had never heard of Classic Shell (and here) which creates a menu identical to Win 7.
    
3. DirectX 12 is a BIG plus for hard core gamers
   hard core gamers know what they want and where to get it.
    
4. Some security improvements already in Win 10 and some announced
   the old game of a sparrow in the hand and a dove on the tree.
    
5. Notification Center similar to smart phones.
   those who ignore notifications now have a central place where they can do their ignoring.
    
6. Actually usable on touch screen units like tablets
   partially usable that is; MS Office still is better on the iPad!
    
7. Multiple desktops built-in
   power users always knew how to get that, even free as in no money.
    
8. Cortana may some day actually help you
   but when? And what does it in the meantime? Listening, recording and building a case?
    
9. Edge browser is getting better
   meaning now it is not (yet) good enough for prime time.
    
10. Navigation is easier for mouse users
    than in Win 8/8.1; only for those who could not help themselves so far.

I can only repeat what I have said many times before:

Get ALL the information, combine that with  your individual situation and then make an educated decision.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.  

 For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a comment. Thank you.
 

 

2015-09-24 WBKV Talking Points

Microsoft “tricks” unsuspecting home users into installing Windows 10 (GWX program).

Since July 29^th. (release of Windows 10) MS has “invented” two levels of trickery to get users to upgrade to Win 10. None is documented.

Windows 10 “talks” to Microsoft even when all feedback options are turned off.
This IMHO is

• sleazy,
• secretive,
• dishonest,
• disrespectful,
• and two faced.

Even well known 'download web sites” use trickery to get unsuspecting users to allow installation of definitely unwanted programs. Stay away from – for example – cnet.com, download.com, softpedia.com and many others.
Download programs from the developer only.

2015-09-10 WBKV Talking Points

Malvertising “explodes”
2013 saw a more than 200 percent increase over 2012 according to the Online Trust Alliance; they logged some 12.4 billion malvertisement impressions.
2014 saw a 300 percent increase in malvertising over 2013 (ca. 37 billion).
2015 it increased by more than 260 % over 2014, in the first six months alone (over 100 billion/year)
Estimated damages 2015 alone about $1bn!

That is why I say: If you see advertisements your computer is NOT SAFE!

Belkin routers NOT SAFE!
No details about what models; all I can recommend is: Buy another brand router (I prefer Netgear)

Many top level domains on the internet are dangerous!
More than 95 percent of the hundreds of thousands websites in each of ten top level domains (TLDs) including .country, cricket, .science, .review, .zip and .party are flogging spam, malware, or adware.
Stay away!
Here are names of TLDs and percentage of infectuous sites:

1	.zip	100.00%
2	.review	100.00%
3	.country	99.97%
4	.kim	99.74%
5	.cricket	99.57%
6	.science	99.35%
7	.work	98.20%
8	.party	98.07%
9	.gq	97.68%	(Equatorial Guinea)
10	.link	96.98%

.

Parents need to wake up!
Of 1,494 apps and websites for children 67% collect children’s personal information;
half of these share personal information with third parties.
22% gather children's phone number and 23% allowed them to provide photos or video.

Don't buy Seagate wireless disk drives; they are not safe! (Secret hard-coded login!)