The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission concluded its Measuring Broadband Australia program last month, which had enlisted thousands of volunteers to test and report on broadband performance across the country. As part of the initiative launched in 2020, participants received SamKnows whitebox routers that collected data on internet speeds and performance using test servers maintained by the company and hosted within Australia.
Following the program’s conclusion on June 30, the routers were disabled through a remote update, preventing them from collecting further data. Volunteers received notifications in mid-June that their devices would be deactivated and their accounts closed. The ACCC has not disclosed the exact number of routers affected, though internal documents from December 2020 indicated the regulator had distributed over 2,600 devices by that point, with an initial expectation to deploy approximately 4,000 throughout the program’s duration.
Program participants and technology experts have raised concerns about the decision, noting that the routers remain physically functional and could be reconfigured for standard use. The devices run a customized version of OpenWRT, an open-source Linux-based operating system for embedded devices, which means they could theoretically be reflashed into standard Wi-Fi routers with minimal technical modification. At least one volunteer has already successfully reconfigured their device for continued operation as a functional router.
The ACCC and SamKnows, now owned by Cisco following an acquisition in 2023, have declined to provide detailed explanations for the disabling decision. Both organizations directed inquiries to their contractual agreement while encouraging volunteers to dispose of the devices through free e-waste recycling services available through local councils and retailers. Environmental advocates and tech enthusiasts have questioned whether the bricking of thousands of working devices represents an unnecessary contribution to electronic waste when alternative solutions existed.
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