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Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by shiroiushi on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @03:12AM (#41498021)
>Why on earth can't I just send the command directly to my garage door opener over my LAN?

Because of NAT. Your door opener isn't connected to the internet, it's connected to your router, which uses network address translation to make all your devices share a single internet connection. So your door opener can send outgoing messages no problem, and the NAT router will route those outside, and then route responses to those messages back to the opener, but there's no (easy) way for a device outside your home network to access your opener. Of course, your phone or PC is on your home network, but only when you're at home. Presumably, you also want to be able to control your door opener when you're not at home, and at those times, you have to get through the NAT. Doing that requires the company's server, or something like Tailscale which sets up a virtual private network (VPN) between your opener and selected devices. But even Tailscale requires some type of server on the internet to work, even though the main traffic goes direct.

Basically, what you're asking for could have been a reality if 1) we had IPv6 (or just not IPv4 with its very limited number of unique addresses), and 2) we didn't have to worry about security so we could feel safe putting random crappy IoT devices directly on the internet and not worrying about hackers opening our garage doors or houses so thieves could enter and take stuff.

Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by fragmede on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @03:16AM (#41498043)
Over LAN. The thing about my home garage is that it's at my home where my wifi is. NAT and ipv6 doesn't enter the discussion if I'm already on my home wifi.
Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by shiroiushi on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @03:23AM (#41498082)
Right, I addressed that in my prior post.
Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by Nullabillity on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @09:52AM (#41500757)
Because you start with the absurd assumption that remote access is the primary function of a door.
Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by pimlottc on Tuesday September 10, 2024 @10:22AM (#41501084)
It does not seem unreasonable that a users might want to open the door while they are coming down the street or turning into the driveway, before they are within wifi range. Maybe their home wifi just barely reaches the inside of the garage and doesn't extend past the garage door. Most folks are not exactly wireless network experts.

I agree it would be ideal to use a local network path if possible, but given that remote access is a requirement, I can understand why they just made it the default.

Re:FTC Pushed to Crack Down on Companies That Ruin Hardware ... by ruszki on Thursday September 12, 2024 @05:18AM (#41519005)
This was solved even before internet or wifi existed.