It’s not certain whether this activity falls within the US legal definition of “fair use”—an issue that’s currently being litigated in several lawsuits from other types of content creators—but Casper argues that even if it does, it’s ethically murky for porn created by consenting adults 10 years ago to wind up in those training data sets. When people “have their stuff used in a way that doesn’t respect or reflect reasonable expectations that they had at that time about what they were creating and how it would be used,” he says, there’s “a legitimate sense in which it’s kind of … nonconsensual.”
Adult performers who started working years ago couldn’t possibly have consented to AI anything; Jennifer calls AI-related risks “retroactively placed.” Contracts that porn actors signed before AI, adds Silverstein, might provide that “the publisher could do anything with the content using technology that now exists or here and after will be discovered.” That felt more innocuous when producers were talking about the shift from VHS to DVD, because that didn’t change the content itself, just the way it was conveyed. It’s a far different prospect for someone to use your content to train a program to create new content … content that could replace your work altogether.
Of course, this all affects creators’ bottom line—not unlike the way Google’s AI overviews affect revenue for online publishers who’ve stopped getting clicks when people are content with just reading AI-generated summaries. Performers’ “concern is … it’s another way to pirate [their] content,” says Rocket.
After all, independent creators aren’t just “having sex on camera,” as the adult content creator Allie Eve Knox says. They’re paying for filming equipment and location rentals, and then spending hours editing and marketing. For someone to then rip off and distort that content “for their own entertainment or financial gain,” she says, “fucking sucks.”
KIM HOECKELE
Tanya Tate, a longtime adult content creator, tells me about another highly unsettling AI-created situation: She was recently chatting with a fan on Mynx, a sexting app, when he asked her if she knew him. She told him no, and “his eyes just started watering,” Tate says. He was upset because he thought she did know him. Turns out he’d sent $20,000 to a scammer who’d used an AI-generated deepfake of Tate to seduce him.
Several men, Tate subsequently learned, had been scammed by an AI version of her, and some of them began blaming her for their losses and posting false statements about her online. When she reported one particularly aggressive harasser to the police, they told her he was exercising his “freedom of speech,” she says. Rocket, too, is familiar with situations where AI is used to take advantage of fans. “The actual content creator will get nasty emails from these people who’ve been scammed,” she says.
Other porn actors say they fear that their likenesses have been used without consent to do other things they wouldn’t do. One, Octavia Red, tells me she doesn’t do anal scenes, “but I’m sure there’s tons of deepfake anal videos of me that I didn’t consent to.” That could cost her, she fears, if viewers choose to watch those videos instead of subscribing to her websites. And it could cause fans to develop false expectations about what kind of porn she’ll create.
“I saw one AI creator saying, ‘Well, AI girls will do whatever you want. They don’t say no,’” says Rocket. “That horrifies me … especially if they’re training those AI models on real people. I don’t think they understand the damage to mental health or reputation that that can create. And once it’s on the internet, it’s there forever.”
The first time I encountered mesh Wi-Fi was when I went to university. One Wi-Fi password, but no matter where you roamed on campus you’ll stay connected. I’ve always thought of mesh networks as enterprise technology that you need an IT department to handle, but then router makers figured out how to make mesh easy enough for mere mortals.
Now I consider a mesh network the default for everyone, and if you’re still using a single non-mesh router you might want to know why. So let me explain.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Home Networking & Wi-Fi
Think you know your routers from your repeaters — put your home networking know-how to the ultimate test.
Wi-FiRoutersSecurityHardwareProtocols
What does the ‘5 GHz’ band in Wi-Fi offer compared to the ‘2.4 GHz’ band?
That’s right! The 5 GHz band delivers faster data rates but loses signal strength more quickly over distance and through walls. It’s ideal for devices close to the router that need maximum throughput, like streaming 4K video.
Not quite — the 5 GHz band actually offers faster speeds at the cost of range. The 2.4 GHz band travels farther and penetrates obstacles better, which is why smart home devices and older gadgets often prefer it.
Which Wi-Fi standard, introduced in 2021, is also known as Wi-Fi 6E and extends into a new frequency band?
Correct! 802.11ax is the technical name for Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. The ‘E’ variant extends the standard into the 6 GHz band, offering a massive swath of new, less-congested spectrum for faster and more reliable connections.
The answer is 802.11ax — that’s Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. Wi-Fi 6E adds support for the 6 GHz band, giving it far less congestion than the crowded 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. 802.11be is actually the upcoming Wi-Fi 7 standard.
What is the default IP address most commonly used to access a home router’s admin interface?
Spot on! The vast majority of consumer routers use either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 as the default gateway address. Typing either into your browser’s address bar will bring up the router’s login page — just make sure you’ve changed the default password!
The correct answer is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. These are the most common default gateway addresses for home routers. The 255.x.x.x addresses are subnet masks, and 127.0.0.1 is your own machine’s loopback address, not a router.
Which Wi-Fi security protocol is considered most secure for home networks as of 2024?
Excellent! WPA3 is the latest and most robust Wi-Fi security protocol, introduced in 2018. It uses Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to replace the older Pre-Shared Key handshake, making it far more resistant to brute-force attacks.
The answer is WPA3. WEP is completely broken and should never be used, WPA is outdated, and WPA2 with TKIP has known vulnerabilities. WPA3 offers the strongest protection, and if your router supports it, you should enable it right away.
What is the primary difference between a mesh Wi-Fi system and a traditional Wi-Fi range extender?
Exactly right! Mesh systems use multiple nodes that talk to each other intelligently, handing off your device seamlessly as you move around your home under one SSID. Traditional range extenders typically broadcast a separate network and can cut bandwidth in half as they relay the signal.
The correct answer is that mesh nodes form one intelligent, seamless network. Range extenders are actually the ones that often create separate SSIDs (like ‘MyNetwork_EXT’) and can significantly reduce speeds. Mesh systems are far superior for large homes with many devices.
What does DHCP stand for, and what is its main function on a home network?
Perfect! DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the unsung hero of home networking. Every time a device joins your network, your router’s DHCP server automatically hands it a unique IP address, subnet mask, and gateway info so it can communicate without manual configuration.
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and its job is to automatically assign IP addresses to devices on your network. Without it, you’d have to manually configure a unique IP address on every single phone, laptop, and smart device — a tedious nightmare!
What is ‘QoS’ (Quality of Service) used for in a home router?
That’s correct! QoS lets you tell your router which traffic gets priority. For example, you can prioritize video calls or gaming over a family member’s file download, ensuring your Zoom meeting doesn’t freeze just because someone is downloading a large update.
QoS — Quality of Service — is actually about traffic prioritization. By tagging certain data types (like VoIP calls or gaming packets) as high priority, your router ensures latency-sensitive applications get bandwidth first, even when the network is congested.
What does the ‘WAN’ port on a home router connect to?
Correct! WAN stands for Wide Area Network, and the WAN port is where your router connects to the outside world — typically to your cable modem, DSL modem, or ISP gateway. The LAN ports on the other side connect to devices inside your home network.
The WAN (Wide Area Network) port connects your router to your ISP’s modem or gateway — essentially your entry point to the internet. The LAN (Local Area Network) ports are for connecting devices inside your home. Mixing them up can cause your network to not function at all!
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Mesh Wi-Fi solves a problem most homes already have
The internet is no longer confined to one spot in your home
In the early days of home internet, there was no real reason to have Wi-Fi coverage all over your home. You installed the router in your home office, or near the living room, and that was enough. People didn’t have smartphones, tablets, or smart home devices that all needed access to the LAN.
As Wi-Fi devices proliferated, that central router became a problem. There’s only so much power you can push into the antennas, and the inverse square law drains that signal of power in very short order.
It was a problem that had many suboptimal solutions. Wi-Fi repeaters destroy performance, access points need long Ethernet runs, and Powerline Ethernet only works well in ideal conditions. Most older homes can’t provide that with their aging wiring. In short, trying to expand a central router’s reach has usually involved some janky mishmash of solutions.
A modern mesh router kit just solved that problem without any fuss. The biggest problem you’ll have is how to position them. Everything else is usually just handled automatically.
Brand
eero
Range
1,500 sq. ft.
Mesh Network Compatible
Yes
The eero 6 mesh Wi-Fi router allows you to upgrade your home network without breaking the bank. Compatible with the wider eero ecosystem, you’ll find that this node can either start or expand your wireless network with ease.
Mesh systems prioritize consistency over peak speed
Good enough internet everywhere
Credit: Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek
I think it’s important to point out that with Wi-Fi it’s much more important to get consistent and reliable performance wherever you are in your home than to hit crazy peak speeds. Sure, if you buy an expensive router, you can blast data when you’ve got line of sight and are a few feet away, but then you might as well just connect to it with an Ethernet cable.
For the price of one very fast centralized router, you can buy an entry-level mesh router kit and have fast enough internet everywhere, and never have to think about it again. I’m still running a Wi-Fi 5 mesh system in my two-storey rental home and I get 200+ Mbps minimum anywhere. If I need more speed than that on a single device, it’s going on Ethernet.
As prices come down on Wi-Fi 6 and 7 mesh systems, we’ll all eventually get access to that gigabit or better wireless tier, but I’d rather have a few hundred Mbps everywhere rather than a few Gbps in just one place and zero internet elsewhere.
It’s hard to overstate just how easy modern mesh routers are to set up. After you’ve got the first unit up, usually by using a mobile app, adding more is generally just a matter of turning them on close to any previously activated router and waiting a few seconds.
As for the actual management of the network, on my TP-Link system you can see the topology of your network, how the pods are doing in terms of bandwidth, and you can automatically optimize for network interference and signal strength. The days of cryptic and largely manual router configuration are over. Even port forwarding, which has always tripped me up on old routers, now just works with a few taps on my phone screen.
The price argument doesn’t hold up anymore
There’s something for every budget
The biggest reason I think people have avoided mesh systems is cost. That’s perfectly fair, because mesh systems are more expensive than a single router. The thing is, prices have come down significantly, especially for mesh on older Wi-Fi standards.
But, even if you want newer Wi-Fi like 6E or 7, you don’t have to start your mesh journey with a full kit. You can buy a single mesh router, use that as your primary, and then add more as you can afford it. Even better, if you’ve bought a new router recently, there’s a chance it already supports mesh technology. It doesn’t even have to be that recent, since some older routers have gained mesh capability thanks to firmware updates.
If you already have a router that’s mesh-capable, then extending your home network any other way would be silly. Also, keep in mind that all the routers in your mesh network don’t have to be identical. That’s a common misconception, but the only thing they need to have in common is support for the same mesh technology. Just keep in mind that your performance will only be as good as the slowest device in the chain.
Mesh is for everyone
The bottom line is that mesh network technology is now cheap enough, mature enough, and easy enough that I honestly think everyone should have a good reason not to use it rather than looking for reason to use it. Wi-Fi should be like water or electricity. You want everyone in your home to have easy access to it no matter where they are. Mesh will do that for you.
9/10
Brand
Unifi
Range
1,750 square feet
The Unifi Dream Router 7 is a full-fledged network appliance offering NVR capabilities, fully managed switching,a built-in firewall, VLANs, and more. With four 2.5G Ethernet ports (one with PoE+) and a 10G SFP+ port, the Unifi Dream Router 7 also features dual WAN capabilities should you have two ISP connections. It includes a 64GB microSD card for IP camera storage, but can be upgraded for more storage if needed. With Wi-Fi 7, you’ll be able to reach up to a theoretical 5.7 Gbps network speed when using the 10G SFP+ port, or 2.5 Gbps when using Ethernet.
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