Thousands of Australians who volunteered to help test the performance of the National Broadband Network (NBN) are now being told to throw away perfectly working routers. The devices, provided by network testing company SamKnows, were deliberately disabled after the government program they supported concluded at the end of June.

The Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program, run by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), aimed to provide transparent, independent data on the actual speeds and reliability of broadband plans across the country. Launched in 2020, the program recruited volunteers who agreed to install dedicated whitebox routers supplied by SamKnows. These routers continuously ran automated tests to measure metrics such as download and upload speeds, latency, and packet loss.

According to the ACCC, approximately 4,000 such devices were distributed over the course of the program. In a December 2020 report, the regulator noted that over 2,600 whiteboxes had already been deployed, with plans to expand coverage to include emerging retail service providers and new speed tiers.

Program Termination and Device Bricking

The MBA program officially ended on June 30, 2024. Shortly before that date, volunteers received an email from the SamKnows Team (now part of Cisco) informing them that service would be terminated. The email stated: “Your whitebox will be disabled, and your SamKnows One account will be closed.” It added that all collected data and registration information would be deleted in accordance with a retention policy.

Following the cutoff, the routers were remotely bricked, meaning they could no longer connect to SamKnows servers or perform any monitoring functions. However, the hardware itself remains operational. The devices run a custom version of OpenWRT, an open-source Linux-based operating system for embedded devices. This means, with a bit of technical know-how, the routers can be reflashed with standard OpenWRT firmware and used as ordinary home Wi-Fi routers.

One volunteer, who spoke to Ars Technica on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns, confirmed that they had successfully reflashed their own device. “It requires a soldering iron when you do it without company support, but it is now working great as a Wi-Fi router running OpenWRT. So everything already exists to do this,” they said.

E-Waste Concerns Ignored

Despite the relatively simple alternative, the ACCC and SamKnows have not provided a firmware update to unlock the devices for general use. Instead, volunteers were told to unplug the whitebox and dispose of it “in an environmentally responsible manner” through free e-waste recycling services at local councils, Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, or Harvey Norman stores.

Electronic waste is a growing global problem. In Australia alone, millions of tonnes of e-waste end up in landfills each year, containing toxic materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium. Recycling is preferable to dumping, but reuse—particularly of functional, repairable devices—is far more environmentally friendly. Environmental groups argue that the decision to brick thousands of usable routers contradicts Australia’s efforts to reduce e-waste and promote a circular economy.

The volunteer expressed frustration that the company “can’t be bothered to send out a final firmware update that opens the devices up to end users.” They emphasized that the routers are high-quality units, suitable for typical home networking. “It seems a shame to me that these perfectly good devices should all be disabled simply because the company can’t be bothered,” they added.

Lack of Transparency from Stakeholders

Efforts to obtain an explanation from involved parties have been largely unsuccessful. SamKnows did not respond to questions about why the routers were disabled or whether a simple firmware unlock was considered. Messages sent to the SamKnows support email generated an automated reply saying the inquiry was “being reviewed,” but no further response followed. The company’s website now redirects to ThousandEyes, a networking intelligence firm acquired by Cisco in 2020. Cisco purchased SamKnows itself in 2023, well after the MBA program began. A Cisco representative directed all inquiries back to the ACCC, stating: “Per SamKnows’ agreement with the ACCC, all questions related to the Measuring Broadband Australia program should be directed to the ACCC.”

When asked directly why the routers were not opened up via a final firmware update and how the agency responds to e-waste concerns, the ACCC provided a statement that did not address those questions. It merely reiterated that the program had concluded and that whiteboxes were disabled, encouraging volunteers to use e-waste recycling services. The statement read: “The ACCC delivered the MBA program with SamKnows, its testing provider. … With the conclusion of the Measuring Broadband Australia program, the whiteboxes deployed during the MBA program have been disabled and are no longer operational.”

Historical Precedent: FCC’s Similar Program

This is not the first time such a program has ended with mass disposal of test equipment. In 2011, SamKnows distributed 9,000 routers to volunteers for a similar broadband speed testing initiative commissioned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The fate of those devices remains unclear; neither agency has publicly shared whether they were repurposed, recycled, or simply discarded. The lack of transparency in both cases suggests a systemic issue in how government-funded measurement programs handle their end-of-life hardware.

The SamKnows whitebox is based on standard hardware that could easily be repurposed. OpenWRT is a mature platform with strong community support, and many enthusiasts have documented how to flash custom firmware onto such routers. However, the typical volunteer may lack the technical skills to perform the soldering required to access the device’s serial console and reflash it. Without official support or a provided firmware update, most volunteers will likely follow the ACCC’s advice and dispose of their routers.

Possible Reasons for the Decision

Industry observers have speculated that Cisco/SamKnows and the ACCC may be avoiding offering a firmware unlock due to liability concerns. If a user reflashes the device and then experiences issues such as poor performance, security vulnerabilities, or interference with broadband service, they might hold the program accountable. Additionally, commercial routers require ongoing software updates to patch security flaws; the whitebox hardware may not be supported long-term. By bricking the devices and recommending destruction, the program washes its hands of future responsibility.

However, critics argue that a simple firmware update removing proprietary software and restoring the device to a standard OpenWRT configuration—with appropriate warnings—would be a reasonable middle ground. The hardware itself is no different from many consumer routers on the market, and open-source firmware is often more secure than vendor-provided builds because vulnerabilities are fixed quickly by the community.

Community Efforts to Save the Routers

Online forums have already begun sharing instructions for reflashing the disabled SamKnows whiteboxes. Tech-savvy volunteers who want to avoid e-waste can follow steps to connect to the router’s serial port using a USB-to-UART adapter, install a stock OpenWRT image, and configure it as a standard access point or router. The process requires some electronics skills but is well-documented. One forum post noted that the whitebox uses a Qualcomm Atheros chipset, which is widely supported by OpenWRT.

For those less inclined to tinker, some have suggested that the ACCC or SamKnows could have partnered with a local e-waste recycler to refurbish the devices for donation to schools, community centers, or low-income households. Instead, the approach has been to push the burden onto individual volunteers and municipal recycling systems.

The decision to disable thousands of fully functional routers highlights a tension between government program lifecycle management and environmental sustainability. As nations worldwide grapple with mounting electronic waste, such actions appear increasingly anachronistic. The MBA program successfully provided valuable data to consumers and regulators, but its conclusion leaves a regrettable legacy of unnecessary waste.

Source: Ars Technica News