How I SSH’d Into a Robot Vacuum to Solve a VPN Nightmare (No, Seriously)
If you think tech support is all about resetting passwords and asking if you’ve tried turning it off and on again, buckle up. Today’s adventure involves a home office, a robot vacuum cleaner, and a VPN issue so weird it’ll make you double-check your own network at home.
Picture this: It’s the early days of Covid remote work, and you’re troubleshooting yet another VPN that refuses to stay connected. But what you find lurking on the network isn’t malware or a rogue laptop—it’s a robotic vacuum cleaner, quietly messing with your client’s connectivity. Welcome to the world where IT meets Roomba… or, more accurately, its slightly less famous cousin.
Let’s sweep up the details (pun absolutely intended).
The VPN That Wouldn’t Stick (And the Subnet That Did)
Our tech hero, u/votekick, gets an escalated helpdesk case: the VPN connects, but immediately disconnects, no matter what credentials or client reinstallations are thrown at it. In tech support, “I already tried that” is code for “trust, but verify,” so our protagonist dives in.
The culprit? An all-too-relatable scenario for IT folks: the client’s office is a converted house, and their network is still chilling on the default 192.168.1.x subnet—exactly what most home routers use out of the box. When the VPN connects from the user’s home (also 192.168.1.x), Windows gets confused. Which 192.168.1.254 should it talk to? The one at home, or the one at the office, now supposedly reachable via VPN? The answer: chaos. Or, in this case, instant VPN disconnects.
The Unexpected Device on the Network
So, what’s sitting at 192.168.1.254 at the user’s home, colliding with the office’s firewall? It’s not a neighbor’s printer or a forgotten NAS. Instead, it’s a robot vacuum cleaner—one of those fancy, app-controlled models. No web interface, just some basic Telnet and SSH ports open for the brave (or foolhardy).
With some digital sleuthing (and, let’s be honest, a little luck), our tech hero finds default SSH credentials online, logs into the vacuum, and reassigns its IP. Suddenly, the VPN works! No more dropped connections, no more head-scratching, and no angry user stuck in remote-work limbo.
Lessons from the Dust Bunny Frontier
Beyond the hilarious visual of someone SSH’ing into a robot vacuum to rescue a VPN, there are some real, practical lessons here:
1. Default Subnets Are a Trap:
If you’re setting up any kind of business or remote network, don’t leave things on 192.168.1.x. Standardize and VLAN off your devices. Otherwise, you’re just one home IoT gadget away from a support ticket that makes you question your life choices.
2. Home Offices Are Wild:
Covid-era IT support meant blending business infrastructure with whatever Frankenstein’s monster of a network users had at home. Sometimes, that means a robot vacuum is your biggest adversary.
3. Always Check for Conflicting Devices:
If a VPN or network connection goes wonky, check for IP conflicts—especially with devices that stubbornly hang onto default addresses and don’t play nice with DHCP.
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Get Weird:
SSH’ing into a vacuum cleaner isn’t in any certification guide, but sometimes, IT means improvising. If you ever have to explain to a user why their floor-cleaning robot is sabotaging their work-from-home setup, you’ll have a story for the ages.
But Why Not Readdress the Firewall?
Some readers asked, “Why not just change the office’s firewall IP?” Sure, that’s the gold standard. But making a major network change midday, especially without warning, is a recipe for chaos—and a lot more downtime than simply tweaking a vacuum cleaner’s settings.
The Takeaway: Standardize, Standardize, Standardize
If you’re onboarding a new client, push to readdress their network and segment smartly. It might seem like extra work up front, but it’ll prevent you from chasing down rogue robot vacuums on some future Friday afternoon.
So next time you’re stuck on a mind-bending IT issue, just remember: somewhere out there, someone fixed a VPN by SSH’ing into a vacuum. If they can do that, you can handle whatever the network throws your way.
What’s the weirdest device you’ve ever found on a client’s network? Drop your stories in the comments—let’s see who can top the SSH Vacuum Saga!
Inspired by this Reddit classic from u/votekick on r/TalesFromTechSupport.
Original Reddit Post: That time I had to SSH into a Roomba to fix a VPN issue