Thousands of volunteers who participated in an Australian government broadband testing program have been told to throw away the routers they were given, after the devices were remotely disabled at the end of June. The routers, known as “whiteboxes,” were used to measure the real-world performance of broadband plans across Australia. Despite being fully functional hardware, they were bricked when the program concluded, raising serious questions about electronic waste and corporate responsibility.
Program Background
In 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country’s chief competition regulator, launched the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program. The initiative was designed to provide consumers with accurate, independent information about the speeds and performance they could expect from broadband plans. Volunteers across Australia were sent whiteboxes supplied by SamKnows, a London-based network measurement company that later became part of Cisco.
The whiteboxes were connected to volunteers’ home networks and ran automated tests against servers maintained by SamKnows and hosted in Australia. The data collected was used to produce quarterly reports on broadband performance, with a focus on services delivered over the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia’s government-owned wholesale open-access broadband network. The program also covered services running over other access networks, such as HFC cable and fixed wireless.
At the outset, the ACCC expected to deploy about 4,000 whiteboxes over the program’s lifetime. By December 2020, more than 2,600 had already been distributed. The ACCC said it retained an “adequate pool” of devices to expand coverage to emerging retail service providers and new speed tiers. Over the following years, the program produced a wealth of data that helped Australians make informed choices about their internet providers.
Sudden Shutdown
Last month, the ACCC concluded the MBA program and released its final performance report. Shortly afterward, the whiteboxes were disabled. Volunteers received an email in mid-June notifying them that the program would end on June 30. 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 said that after June 30 the devices would stop collecting data and that measurement and registration data would be deleted in accordance with retention obligations under the end-user license agreement.
One volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted Ars Technica to point out that the routers were still working and could easily have been repurposed. According to this volunteer, the whiteboxes run a custom version of OpenWRT, an open-source Linux-based operating system for embedded devices. That means the hardware is not obsolete; it can be reflashed into a perfectly capable Wi-Fi router with strong performance.
The volunteer said they personally reflashed their own device, although doing so without company support requires a soldering iron because the firmware is not designed for user modification. Once reflashed, the device worked “great” as a Wi-Fi router running OpenWRT. The volunteer noted that all the tools and knowledge to do this already exist, so it would have been trivial for SamKnows or Cisco to release a final firmware update that unlocked the devices for end users.
E-Waste Concerns
In its email to volunteers, SamKnows encouraged environmentally responsible disposal. The email 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.”
But the volunteer argued that recycling is a last resort. “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.
This is not an isolated case. In a similar study in the United States, SamKnows distributed 9,000 routers to volunteers to test internet speeds for a report published in 2011. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and SamKnows never publicly stated what happened to those routers after the project concluded. That earlier lack of transparency foreshadowed the current situation, where the ACCC and Cisco have both declined to explain why the devices could not be repurposed.
No Answers From Cisco or ACCC
Attempts to get a clear explanation from the involved parties were unsuccessful. An email to SamKnows went unanswered beyond an automated response saying the message was “being reviewed.” ThousandEyes, the networking intelligence company that Cisco acquired in 2020 and whose website now redirects from SamKnows.com, also did not respond to inquiries.
When Cisco was contacted, a company representative said, “Per SamKnow’s agreement with the ACCC, all inquiries related to the Measurement Broadband Australia program should be directed to the ACCC.” Cisco did not clarify whether it had any role in the decision to disable the routers. Notably, Cisco acquired SamKnows in 2023, six years after the ACCC first announced it would use SamKnows for the MBA program. By that time, the whiteboxes had already been in the field for more than three years.
The ACCC’s spokesperson issued a statement that did not address why the routers were disabled instead of being unlocked via a final firmware update. The statement read: “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 reiterated that volunteers were encouraged to unplug their disabled whiteboxes and dispose of them responsibly via free e-waste recycling services. But for many observers, that response sidesteps the core issue: why destroy perfectly good hardware when a simple software update could have given it a second life?
Technical Potential
The whiteboxes are not obscure custom chipsets; they are standard commodity routers with custom firmware. OpenWRT is widely used by hobbyists and professionals to extend the life of networking equipment. The fact that the devices run OpenWRT means they are capable of running standard routing features, firewall management, VPN support, and even advanced traffic shaping. Reflashing a device with OpenWRT is a common procedure, and the volunteer’s success proves it is feasible with basic soldering skills.
Had the ACCC or SamKnows chosen to release a firmware update that simply unlocked the bootloader and removed proprietary restrictions, volunteers could have continued using the routers for years. Instead, the decision was made to brick the devices remotely. This approach has been criticized by technology advocates, who point out that planned obsolescence and firmware lockouts contribute to the growing global e-waste crisis. Each year, millions of tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide, and routers are among the most commonly discarded devices because they are often replaced rather than repaired or repurposed.
The environmental impact is not trivial. Manufacturing a single router requires significant raw materials, including plastics, copper, gold, and other metals. Disposing of thousands of routers, even through recycling programs, consumes energy and resources. Far better, many argue, would be to extend the useful life of the hardware by allowing owners to install alternative firmware.
Why the Bricking?
The relevant stakeholders appear reluctant to provide a clear explanation for why working routers were bricked when another solution was available. It is possible that SamKnows/Cisco and/or the ACCC do not want to be associated with future potential issues or concerns about the routers should the devices be updated for easy, continued use. There may also be liability concerns: if a reflashed router causes a network problem, a user might blame the original program. Additionally, the ACCC’s agreement with SamKnows might contain clauses that prohibit the transfer of hardware to end users after the program ends, though such terms are unlikely to be publicly known.
Another possibility is that the whiteboxes contain proprietary testing software that SamKnows does not want exposed. Even though the devices run OpenWRT, the custom firmware includes proprietary measurement components that the company may want to keep under wraps. Allowing users to reflash the devices could expose those components to reverse engineering, which might be why a simple unlock was deemed unacceptable.
However, none of these speculative reasons were offered by the ACCC or Cisco. When asked directly, both parties pointed to the program’s conclusion and the environmental disposal advice. For volunteers who spent years hosting these devices, the lack of transparency is frustrating. Many of them agreed to participate out of civic duty, hoping to improve broadband services in Australia. They received no financial compensation, only the opportunity to contribute to a public good. Being told to throw away a working piece of hardware feels like a betrayal of that goodwill.
A Path Forward
While the ACCC and Cisco have not changed their stance, the tinkering community has already stepped in. Detailed instructions for reflashing the whiteboxes have been shared online, allowing technically inclined owners to bypass the bricking. The volunteer who contacted Ars Technica is one example of someone who successfully repurposed their router. For those willing to open the case and use a soldering iron, the hardware can be revived. But for the average volunteer who lacks technical skills or tools, the device is now just another piece of e-waste destined for a recycling bin.
The situation highlights a broader issue with government-funded technology programs. When contracts end, hardware is often discarded rather than returned to the community. In this case, the whiteboxes were manufactured specifically for the MBA program, so there was no secondary market for them. The ACCC could have arranged to sell them, donate them to schools or community organizations, or given volunteers the option to keep them with an unlocked firmware. Instead, the devices were disabled without any consultation.
As the e-waste problem continues to grow, consumers and regulators are increasingly calling for a “right to repair” and for software to be designed with longevity in mind. The whitebox controversy is a clear example of how poorly designed end-of-life policies can undermine otherwise valuable public initiatives. The loss of thousands of functional routers is a small-scale environmental disaster, but it also represents a missed opportunity to demonstrate responsible stewardship of taxpayer-funded equipment.
For now, the volunteers have no recourse other than to follow the ACCC’s advice and recycle their whiteboxes. Those who are handy with soldering irons may choose to ignore the bricking and reflash the devices themselves, but that is not a solution for the majority. The ACCC and Cisco have moved on, and the program’s final report is published. Yet the question remains: why were thousands of functioning test routers deliberately rendered useless when a simple firmware update could have given them a second life?
Source: Ars Technica News