Key facts
- Thousands of SamKnows routers were bricked after a government program in Australia concluded.
- The routers were part of the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program, run by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
- The program concluded on June 30, 2026, leading to the disabling of the devices.
- The routers are based on OpenWRT and could potentially be reflashed into functional Wi-Fi routers.
- The ACCC and SamKnows/Cisco have not provided a clear explanation for disabling the working devices.
Thousands of routers supplied by SamKnows for Australia's Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program have been bricked following the initiative's conclusion on June 30, 2026. The program, conducted by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), involved distributing routers to volunteers to monitor broadband performance across the country.
According to the ACCC's final report, the SamKnows whiteboxes were designed to measure internet performance. However, a volunteer pointed out that these devices run a custom version of OpenWRT, an open-source Linux-based operating system, meaning they could easily be reflashed into standard Wi-Fi routers. This volunteer successfully reflashed their own device, demonstrating the potential for continued use.
Despite the potential for repurposing, the routers were disabled after the program's end. The ACCC stated that the devices were "dedicated hardware-based" and are "no longer operational." Volunteers were encouraged to dispose of the devices responsibly through e-waste recycling. Neither the ACCC nor SamKnows/Cisco provided a specific reason for disabling the functional routers rather than offering a firmware update to allow end-user access.