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Basically, I just need to know approx the percentage of people that have UPnP enabled at current times (2010) so that I can make a business desicion on a free, open source software product (built for Windows only) that I'm building (mainly SOHO users).

I understand this would mainly be influenced by the number of routers that have this enabled by default, i heard that manufactorers were required to have UPnP enabled by default in order to be able to have the "Windows Vista/7 Ready/Compatible" sticker on their routers. Is this true?

Alternatively, you could just let me know your routers brand, which year you purchased it, and weather UPnP was enabled on it by default or not. That would be a very useful answer for me also.

user55887
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    This isn't going to work out well for you. Your question just got closed http://serverfault.com/questions/211772/deleted-closed Don't try asking the same question again. That behavior is only going to get you banned. – Jason Berg Dec 12 '10 at 18:49
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    Flagged for moderators. – Paul Tomblin Dec 12 '10 at 18:54
  • @Jason Berg - there is nothing wrong with the question that i've asked, feel free to ban me, i'll just create another account & re-ask my question for the benefit of others and myself, as there is a need to have this question answered & ur just being unnecesarily difficult abusing your new found points fame/rep - get over it. Once again, the reasons for closing my thread is 100% incorrect, the things stated (in next comment) are not true, the question is a clear and simple question easy to answer, yet you closed my thread claiming it is not as per your reasoning that follows... – user55887 Dec 12 '10 at 22:24
  • You're better off spending your time finding an appropriate forum for this question. I don't think it's a bad discussion to have. I'm just saying that it doesn't belong here. The community has spoken. Twice. All you're going to do is enrage people by posting this over and over again. If you think your question has so much merit, find an appropriate place to ask it. – Jason Berg Dec 12 '10 at 22:43
  • @jason berg - when i looked for an appropriate place to ask it, i _found_ serverfault (hint: router ~= server) admin config stuff. if SF doesn't allow this question, how am i to know which forum would? i still fail to understand why its not allowed here, it seemed to me like a legit serverfault question. perhaps a better reason could be provided next time. – user55887 Dec 20 '10 at 16:56

2 Answers2

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UPnP is insecure and should be disabled by default. Making software depend on it is a bad business decision.

Hubert Kario
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  • that doesn't answer any of the above questions, but thats for your opinion. however, some business desicions are dependant on it and you need to realize that its based on the software and there is nothing illegitimate about that (such as a user frienldy router settings surfer and editor) – user55887 Dec 12 '10 at 22:27
  • I said that depending on it is bad, using it: not so much. – Hubert Kario Dec 12 '10 at 23:52
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My guess, and it's only a guess, is that:

Hardware:
Most consumer routers ship w/ UPnP enabled.
Most SOHO firewalls ship w/ UPnP disabled.
All enterprise routers & firewalls ship w/ UPnP disabled.

In Practice:
Most org's w/ more than 15 users have some type of professional admin and the majority would disable UPnP. The % disabled will increase the larger the org.
Org's with less than 15 users will be varied as to how their network is managed. Since most consumer routers ship w/ UPnP enabled then some large (?) percentage will leave it enabled. The % enabled will most likely increase the smaller the org.
The vast majority of home users leave UPnP enabled as they don't know what it is or does.

If the firewall on the computer blocks UPnP then it doesn't matter if it's enabled on the device or not. Since the firewall status could change for many reasons it may be difficult to tell how useful or available UPnP actually is.

Ed Fries
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  • @ed fries - thank you for yoru detailed and lovely description, this certainly adds to my understanding of the influences around the question on UPnP proportions. I noticed that you said consumer routers ship probably 'enabled' and SOHO firewalls ship with upnp disabled, by "SOHO firewalls" did you mean SOHO firewall routers or just SOHO firewalls (if they even exist)? What would your guess be on the enabled/disabled status of a typical SOHO firewalled router that shares internet connectivity? – user55887 Dec 12 '10 at 22:33
  • SOHO firewalls would include Watchguard, Sonicwall, Fortinet, etc. Your phrase "SOHO firewall router" isn't one I have heard of so I don't know what products would fall into that category and can't comment on their configuration. You may be able to make a guess based on their price vs the above products, less expensive = fewer features = targeted at smaller org's/home users = more likely to have UPnP enabled. Possibly too broad a generalization though. – Ed Fries Dec 14 '10 at 01:17
  • @ed fries, once again, thanks for your input, what you say does make a lot of sense. just in case you were wondering, i once had a personal SOHO router typically named a "netgear firewall router" which is just a router that shares internet with software-based firewall sitting on the actual router configurable via settings (i understand the word 'firewall' here is probably more a marketing bang-word than anything else). – user55887 Dec 20 '10 at 17:02