None whatsoever.... It is a complete and total obsolete waste of space in dd-wrt. The service no longer exists, and it should have been removed from all builds years ago when the service was ended... I can't for the life of me figure out why is still being included in the builds.
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 0:10 Post subject: AnchorFree is working for me (partially)
I fired up AnchorFree on this setup, which is connected to a 20 Mbps cable modem.
Router Model
TP-Link TL-WR841ND v7
Firmware Version
DD-WRT v24-sp2 (07/20/12) std - build 19519
I never heard back from AnchorFree after registration (via the router), and their site is useless, with no references that I could find to the hotspot program, not even anything explaining that it is now dead. For me that's OK, as I never expected to get any meaningful revenue anyway.
What it does do is what I want, i.e. provide a free wifi hotspot to my neighbors and guests without having their nefarious content (e.g. kiddy porn, Al Queda nuke plans, pirated movies, whatever) going over my cable modem in the clear. Instead the point of egress is AnchorFree's server.
- It issues an IP address to the client machine. This address is in the 175.45.x.x (routable) domain, which is evidently back-hauled from my router to their servers via VPN. This IP address is registered to a company in Hong Kong. It is completely unrelated to my 10.20.30.x (unroutable) domain of my LAN, and to my cable modem's current IP of 75.71.x.x (USA).
- The hotspot uses its own SSID, separate from my wifi network (coexists simultaneously on the same router)
- The hotspot is not encrypted, while my wifi network runs WPA2.
This build includes a few other hotspot softwares, including "Hotspot System", "wifidog", and "Chillispot".
WHOIS info for the IP address issued to clients connecting to my Anchorfree hotspot:
inetnum: 175.45.0.0 - 175.45.63.255
netname: NEWTT-AS-AP
descr: Wharf T&T Limited
descr: 11/F, Telecom Tower,
descr: Wharf T&T Square, 123 Hoi Bun Road
descr: Kwun Tong, Kowloon
country: HK
admin-c: BW128-AP
tech-c: BW128-AP
notify: helpdesk@apnic.net
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
mnt-lower: MAINT-HK-NEWTT
mnt-routes: MAINT-HK-NEWTT
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
remarks: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
remarks: This object can only be updated by APNIC hostmasters.
remarks: To update this object, please contact APNIC
remarks: hostmasters and include your organisation's account
remarks: name in the subject line.
remarks: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20091216
changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20100917
source: APNIC
person: Benson Wong
nic-hdl: BW128-AP
e-mail: abuse@wharftt.com
address: 5/F, Harbour City, Kowloon,
address: Hong Kong
phone: +852-21122651
fax-no: +852-21127883
country: HK
changed: bensonwong@wharftt.com 20070420
mnt-by: MAINT-HK-NEWTT
source: APNIC
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:48 Post subject: No, you'remistaken
the 172.45.0.x subnet is served by a second dhcp server on your router... you are responsible for all traffic that goes through it... anchorfree is doing nothing, they're not. tunneling the content, if someone is downloading kiddie porn overyour free connection, you can expect a visit from the police eventually, likely at 3 am with a search warrant. if you want to have a free hotspot, I'd recommend you sign up for opendns. and block any other dns traffic, thereby preventing people fromusing alternate dns servers,, and enforcing the dns blocking you put in place on open dns.... I have this setup at a non profit I volunteer for, to stop the kiddies at the center from going to porn sites... it was as game of cat and mouse for as while as they kept figuring out ways around it, now is pretty locked down... they can still get around it using vpn, but at least then it's encrypted, and not likely to get an innocent person arrested.
I you think , you're safe using the non functional anchorfree, you'r not.... everything is through your router, unencrypted.
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:49 Post subject: No, you'remistaken
the 172.45.0.x subnet is served by a second dhcp server on your router... you are responsible for all traffic that goes through it... anchorfree is doing nothing, they're not. tunneling the content, if someone is downloading kiddie porn overyour free connection, you can expect a visit from the police eventually, likely at 3 am with a search warrant. if you want to have a free hotspot, I'd recommend you sign up for opendns. and block any other dns traffic, thereby preventing people fromusing alternate dns servers,, and enforcing the dns blocking you put in place on open dns.... I have this setup at a non profit I volunteer for, to stop the kiddies at the center from going to porn sites... it was as game of cat and mouse for as while as they kept figuring out ways around it, now is pretty locked down... they can still get around it using vpn, but at least then it's encrypted, and not likely to get an innocent person arrested.
I you think , you're safe using the non functional anchorfree, you'r not.... everything is through your router, unencrypted.
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:52 Post subject: Yikes! Thanks for the info!
I ran some trace routes and packet sniffing and indeed you are right! It's astonishing to me that it's giving out routable IP addresses owned by a Hong Kong company. And sure enough, it's all going right through my router. Why it doesn't use an unroutable IP network, who knows.
This package is beyond just a mere waste of resources. It's a menace.
Thanks so much for setting me straight on this! Hopefully others considering AnchorFree will find this thread.
