Thousands of internet test routers deployed by the Australian government have been deliberately disabled, even though the devices are still perfectly functional. The action, which took effect after June 30, marks the end of a multi-year broadband monitoring program. But critics argue the decision to brick the hardware is wasteful and avoidable.

The Measuring Broadband Australia Program

In 2020, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country's chief competition regulator, launched a large-scale effort to measure the real-world performance of broadband plans. The program, called Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA), aimed to give consumers accurate information about the speeds they could expect from internet service providers. Thousands of volunteers were recruited to host special router-like devices in their homes. These devices, known as whiteboxes, were supplied by SamKnows, a network measurement firm now owned by Cisco.

The whiteboxes connected to the volunteers' home networks and ran automated tests against servers maintained by SamKnows. The tests measured metrics such as download speed, upload speed, latency, and streaming performance. The data was then compiled into periodic reports published by the ACCC. These reports were intended to help Australian consumers understand whether they were getting the internet speeds they were paying for, and to encourage competition among retail service providers.

The program primarily targeted fixed-line broadband services delivered over the NBN, Australia's government-owned wholesale open-access broadband network. It also covered services delivered over other access networks, such as hybrid fibre-coaxial cable and fibre-to-the-node connections.

Program End and Disabled Devices

Last month, the ACCC announced that the MBA program had concluded and released its final performance report. Shortly afterward, the whiteboxes deployed across the country were remotely disabled. Volunteers were informed via email in mid-June that the program would end on June 30 and that their whiteboxes would cease operating.

The email, signed by “The SamKnows Team (part of Cisco),” stated: “Your whitebox will be disabled, and your SamKnows One account will be closed.” It also noted that after June 30, the devices would stop collecting data and that users’ measurement and registration data would be deleted in accordance with retention obligations under the end-user license agreement.

According to the ACCC's final report, the whiteboxes were “supplied by SamKnows” and “perform tests to measure internet performance using test servers maintained by SamKnows and hosted in Australia.” The ACCC had originally expected to distribute about 4,000 whiteboxes over the program's duration. By December 2020, it had already distributed over 2,600 devices, and it kept an additional pool to expand its reporting to cover emerging retail service providers and new speed tier plans.

Still-Working Hardware

One MBA volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, pointed out that the disabled whiteboxes are still perfectly capable of functioning as normal Wi-Fi routers. The devices run a custom version of OpenWRT, an open-source, Linux-based operating system for embedded devices. That means the hardware can be reflashed with standard OpenWRT firmware and repurposed as a regular home router.

The volunteer said: “I personally reflashed my own device (an operation that requires a soldering iron when you do it without company support), and it is now working great as a Wi-Fi router running OpenWRT. So everything already exists to do this.” The volunteer believes the company could have released a final firmware update that would unlock the devices for general use, preventing thousands of functional routers from becoming electronic waste.

“It seems a shame to me that these perfectly good devices should all be disabled simply because the company can’t be bothered to send out a final firmware update that opens the devices up to end users,” they said.

E-Waste Concerns

The ACCC has encouraged volunteers to dispose of the disabled whiteboxes in an environmentally responsible manner. The email from SamKnows read: “You may unplug your whitebox and we encourage you to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible manner. Free e-waste recycling services can be found at your Local Council & Resource Recovery Centre or your nearest Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, or Harvey Norman store.”

However, pushing thousands of still-functioning devices into recycling or landfill is widely seen as a missed opportunity. Electronic waste, or e-waste, is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world. It contains valuable materials but also hazardous substances. Reducing e-waste ideally involves extending the life of devices, repairing them, or repurposing them, not simply disposing of them.

In this case, the whitebox routers are based on standard consumer hardware. With the proper firmware, they could be used in homes, schools, community centres, or donated to people who lack internet access. A central barrier to reuse, however, is corporate policy rather than technical feasibility.

Unanswered Questions About the Disabling

Why were the routers disabled instead of opened up? The ACCC and SamKnows have not provided a clear explanation. When asked about the decision, an ACCC spokesperson issued a statement that did not address the specific reasons for disabling the devices. The statement said:

“The ACCC delivered the MBA program with SamKnows, its testing provider. The SamKnows ‘Whitebox’ is a dedicated hardware-based device that was provided to a few thousand volunteers accepted into the program. The device was manufactured and supplied by SamKnows and used to measure broadband performance as part of the program. With the conclusion of the Measuring Broadband Australia program, the whiteboxes deployed during the MBA program have been disabled and are no longer operational.”

The statement also repeated the encouragement for volunteers to unplug the disabled whiteboxes and dispose of them through free e-waste recycling services.

SamKnows itself did not respond directly to questions from Ars Technica. A message sent to the same email address used to contact volunteers received an automated response saying the message was “being reviewed,” but no further answer was provided. Meanwhile, the SamKnows website now redirects to ThousandEyes, a networking intelligence company acquired by Cisco in 2020. When contacted, a Cisco representative said that “per SamKnow’s agreement with the ACCC, all inquiries related to the Measurement Broadband Australia program should be directed to the ACCC.”

It remains unclear whether Cisco had any involvement in the decision to disable the routers. Notably, Cisco acquired SamKnows in 2023, six years after the ACCC first announced that it would use SamKnows for the MBA program. Even if Cisco was not involved in the decision, the company likely had the technical capability to issue a final firmware update that would have allowed the devices to be used freely after the program ended.

Previous Broadband Measurement Programs

This is not the first time SamKnows has supplied routers for a large-scale broadband measurement study. In 2011, SamKnows distributed 9,000 routers to volunteers in the United States to help test internet speeds for a federal report. Neither the Federal Communications Commission nor SamKnows has publicly stated what happened to those routers.

That earlier program was part of the United States government's effort to understand broadband availability and performance. Like the Australian program, it relied on volunteers installing whitebox devices in their homes. The U.S. effort generated valuable data about broadband speeds across the country, but the fate of the hardware after the study ended was not publicised. The lack of transparency in both cases suggests a broader pattern: officials often treat testing hardware as disposable, even when it could be reused.

Technical Background: OpenWRT and Repurposing Potential

OpenWRT is a mature open-source operating system for routers and embedded devices. It gives users complete control over their hardware, allowing them to configure advanced networking features, monitor traffic, set up virtual private networks, and improve performance. Because OpenWRT is widely supported, many popular routers have custom firmware builds available, making it possible to revive aging or discarded hardware.

In the case of the SamKnows whiteboxes, the devices already run a custom version of OpenWRT. This means they are not proprietary black boxes with closed hardware. They are essentially ordinary routers with additional measurement software. With the proper tools, a hobbyist can flash a standard OpenWRT image and turn the whitebox into a fully functional home router. The volunteer who reflashed their device noted that doing so without company support requires a soldering iron, likely because the flash memory chip needs to be accessed directly to bypass software locks. However, a vendor-provided firmware update would have made the process much simpler for the average user.

The volunteer's experience demonstrates that the hardware has significant resale or reuse value. In a time of supply chain shortages and rising costs for consumer electronics, intentionally disabling thousands of usable routers is difficult to justify. It also contradicts broader environmental goals and the principle of reducing electronic waste.

Regulatory and Environmental Implications

The decision also raises questions about how government programs handle surplus hardware at the end of their lives. In many jurisdictions, public agencies are expected to follow principles of sustainability and circular economy. That means considering whether equipment can be refurbished, reused, or donated before it is recycled or discarded.

The Australian government has signed onto international agreements aimed at reducing e-waste and has implemented national e-waste recycling initiatives. The voluntary recycling programs mentioned in the SamKnows email, such as those offered by Officeworks and JB Hi-Fi, are part of a broader effort to keep electronic waste out of landfill. But recycling is meant to be a last resort, not the first option for functional devices.

One possible reason for the disabling is legal liability. If a whitebox were reflashed and later caused problems with someone's home network, the manufacturer or the government might be held responsible. Similarly, if the firmware used by SamKnows were left in place, the routers would continue trying to communicate with SamKnows servers, raising privacy or security concerns. A clean final firmware update could have addressed both issues by removing proprietary software and providing a neutral, open-source system. But that would require time, money, and a willingness to support the devices after the program's conclusion.

Another possibility is that the accc and SamKnows simply did not prioritise the fate of the hardware. The program's mission was to collect broadband performance data, not to manage the afterlives of the test devices. With hundreds of volunteers and thousands of routers, the easiest and cheapest option would have been to disable the devices remotely and move on.

Reactions from the Community and Tinkerers

Despite the lack of official support, some tech enthusiasts are already working to save the whiteboxes. Their efforts have been shared in online forums and social media, where users exchange tips on how to open the cases, access the serial ports, and flash new firmware. These community-driven rescue efforts are a common response when companies abandon functional hardware.

The volunteer who contacted Ars Technica noted that “everything already exists to do this,” referring to the necessary software and knowledge. In practice, however, reflashing a router without manufacturer support is not for everyone. It may void warranties, require disassembly, and involve some risk of bricking the device permanently. A simple over-the-air update could have avoided all of that.

The broader lesson from the MBA program is that government and corporate contracts should include clauses about the disposition of hardware at the end of a research project. If sustainability is a stated goal, then the devices should be designed and managed with reuse in mind. In this case, the ACCC's decision to disable thousands of working routers during a period of intense housing shortages and rising cost-of-living pressures appears short-sighted.

What Happens Next

The disabled whiteboxes are no longer operational, and the ACCC has moved on. Volunteers have been told to dispose of the devices responsibly, and many will likely do so. Some will keep their whiteboxes in a drawer, hoping that someone eventually releases an unlock tool. Others may attempt the soldering-iron reflash themselves. But the majority of the routers will probably end up as e-waste, a destination that could have been avoided with a relatively simple software update.

There has been no indication from the ACCC or Cisco that such a firmware update will be provided. The ACCC's final report on the MBA program is complete, and the regulator appears ready to close the book on this initiative. Yet the controversy over the disabled routers may outlast the program itself, serving as a case study in how poor lifecycle management can lead to needless electronic waste.

In the end, the story is not just about a few thousand routers. It is about a broader mindset that treats technology as disposable and ignores the environmental cost of premature obsolescence. As more government programs and companies deploy smart devices, they would do well to consider what happens to those devices when the project ends. A single firmware update, prepared before the shut-off date, is all it would have taken to give these routers a second life.

Source: Ars Technica News