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by kevinoconnor7 3640 days ago
I'm not sure I understand you. TP Link givens the domains an A record using the DNS server running on their routers by default. Publicly it probably either had a default record of 192.168.1.1 or it just didn't have one at all.

Either way, the domain only makes sense locally. This is also why the domains still work even though they no longer own them. Therefore, if there were a local TLD, this would be the proper use-case for it.
1 comments
jessaustin 3640 days ago
If that's how it would work, they wouldn't need to coordinate with anyone else. Just use "login.tplink". Since it's quite unlikely that anyone else would use that TLD, there wouldn't be a problem.
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basch 3640 days ago
people would type in login .tplink .com

people would type login tplink into google/bing

from a usability standpoint this solution wouldnt work.

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jessaustin 3639 days ago
If that's a problem, a simple 301 is the answer.
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basch 3638 days ago
how does a 301 fix a person not understanding how to type a url into the address bar? plenty of people dont understand the difference between searching and directly calling a website.
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jessaustin 3635 days ago
The goalposts, they are a-movin...

people would type in login .tplink .com

https://www.google.com/search?q=login+.tplink+.com then 301

people would type login tplink into google/bing

https://www.google.com/search?q=login+tplink then 301

This serious problem you describe, of cavemen and preschoolers who don't know about URLs, has been solved now for a long time. 301 is part of that solution. The tp-link.com site is perfectly capable of examining Referer and using that information to help tplink users.

However, since we've already established upthread that the router controls everything about the online experience, it would be no problem redirect the first navigation through an unconfigured router to a "wizard" page.

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basch 3632 days ago
only if you are the first result, and by first result i mean the first ad. people can pay to be the "result above you.

there is no reason to insult the people in their 20's 30's 40's 50's 60's 70's or 80's who are confused about the difference between a search bar and address bar (especially considering the major browsers merge them)

the unified bar has led to a sharp decline in people being able or caring to type correctly configured urls.

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