Australia’s broadband test routers raise e-waste questions after shutdown

Australia’s competition regulator has disabled SamKnows whitebox routers used by volunteers in a national broadband-measurement program after the project ended on June 30. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has not disclosed how many devices were shut off, but earlier program documents said more than 2,600 had been distributed by December 2020 and about 4,000 were expected over the program’s life.

The devices were part of the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia program, which tracked fixed-line broadband performance on the National Broadband Network and other access networks. SamKnows supplied the hardware and maintained the test infrastructure, according to ACCC program materials. Cisco acquired SamKnows in 2023, after the ACCC had selected the company for the project.

Ars Technica reported that it reviewed an email sent to a volunteer in mid-June by “The SamKnows Team (part of Cisco),” saying the program would end on June 30. The email said the volunteer’s whitebox would be disabled, the associated SamKnows One account would be closed, and the device would stop collecting data after the deadline. It also said measurement and registration data would be deleted in line with retention obligations under the end-user license agreement.

Reusable hardware, closed-off exit

The e-waste concern is straightforward: the routers were dedicated measurement devices for the program, but the hardware appears salvageable. A volunteer told Ars Technica that the whiteboxes run a custom version of OpenWRT, the Linux-based open-source operating system used on embedded networking gear. The volunteer said the devices can be reflashed into ordinary Wi-Fi routers, although doing so without vendor support may require hardware work, including a soldering iron.

SamKnows’ email did not offer a firmware release or supported conversion path. Instead, it told volunteers they could unplug the whitebox and dispose of it through free e-waste recycling programs at local council and recovery centers or at retailers including Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, according to Ars Technica.

The ACCC did not answer Ars Technica’s questions about why the devices were disabled rather than opened up through a final firmware update. In a statement, the regulator said the whitebox was a dedicated hardware device manufactured and supplied by SamKnows for broadband measurement, and that, with the program’s conclusion, the deployed whiteboxes “have been disabled and are no longer operational.” The ACCC also said volunteers were encouraged to use free e-waste recycling services.

Cisco did not provide a substantive explanation either. A company representative told Ars Technica that, under SamKnows’ agreement with the ACCC, questions about Measuring Broadband Australia should be directed to the regulator. Ars Technica also reported that it did not receive answers from SamKnows or ThousandEyes, the Cisco-owned networking intelligence company whose website SamKnows.com now redirects to.

The decision is a small but pointed example of a recurring hardware problem in managed device programs: equipment bought for a public-interest technology project can retain practical value after the service contract ends, but support, liability and ownership boundaries often determine whether it gets reused. The ACCC and Cisco have not said whether legal, security or support concerns drove the shutdown. They also have not said whether any supported reuse option was considered.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.