Upgrading Your Firmware ...

The topic of keeping firmware and/or software that keeps your network equipment running current is not as straight forward as you might think.

Let me start from a different perspective. When researching equipment and vendors, I like to see if they have a support community and how often they update their firmware/software as well at the products’ technical specifications. I have found some real gems with this kind of background work. A few years ago I discovered a vendor that provided free management software that also performed firmware uprades for free. And it works great!! Another key point is if the vendor charges for firmware/software and what the requirements are to register on the support forum. Along with this point, I try to determine the firmware upgrade process and if customers have had issues performing this procedure in the past. I personally find that if support forums are easy to join, members tend to share and collaborate tips, tricks and experiences more.

Back to the original topic, when I receive new equipment, one of the first things I do is check what the current version of software is loaded on the device versus what the current version is. One might argue that having the latest version might address specific exploits or vulnerabilities but newer versions of software might bring new problems or bugs. I always like to keep the current and previous version of software to be safe.

I was asked to acquire, test and configure a router made by Ubiquiti Networks. I have used their wireless equipment for years, so I’m familiar with their equipment and generally had good experiences. The only criticism I would provide is that some of their equipment isn’t quite plug and play. They have a manual online but since their routers haven’t been around as long as the big players you have to scour the net to figure things out. They do have a support community but like most support forums don’t expect to get a prompt and accurate response every time.

As an example, In this video I run through the firmware upgrade process for an Ubiquiti Edgerouter.