Australian broadband volunteers ordered to discard government routers

Volunteers who participated in Australia’s broadband performance monitoring initiative received an unexpected directive last week: dispose of the routers they had been using for years. The order came from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the agency behind the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program, which concluded its operations after years of collecting data on fixed-line broadband speeds across the country.

The program and its purpose

Launched in 2020, the MBA initiative enlisted thousands of Australian households to host small whitebox routers supplied by SamKnows. These devices were not standard consumer routers; they were purpose-built test units designed to measure internet performance by running automated tests against servers maintained by SamKnows. The tests focused on fixed-line broadband services delivered over the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia’s government-owned wholesale network, as well as other access networks. The goal was to provide transparent, independent data on broadband speeds and reliability to inform consumers and regulators.

The unexpected shutdown

With the program’s conclusion, the ACCC informed participants that the routers must be discarded. According to the final report, the devices were no longer functional after the program’s servers were decommissioned. While the report did not explicitly state that the routers were "bricked," participants reported that their devices could no longer boot up or connect to any network, rendering them useless.

The ACCC’s decision has left many volunteers frustrated. Some had hosted the routers for years, dedicating space in their homes to the project. Others had grown accustomed to the small but consistent data collection effort, which provided them with insights into their own broadband performance. The abrupt end to the program—and the disposal requirement—has raised questions about the transparency of the process and the long-term value of such initiatives.

What happens next?

The ACCC has not yet announced a replacement or alternative method for measuring broadband performance in Australia. With the NBN continuing to evolve and new broadband technologies emerging, the need for accurate, independent data remains critical. However, the abrupt conclusion of the MBA program leaves a gap in Australia’s broadband monitoring landscape, at least temporarily.

For the volunteers, the immediate task is clear: dispose of the non-functional devices. For the broader Australian public, the question lingers: Will a new program emerge to take its place, or will the country lose a valuable tool for understanding broadband performance?

The incident also highlights the challenges of relying on volunteer-run hardware for long-term data collection. As technology advances, so too must the infrastructure supporting these initiatives—ensuring they remain reliable, functional, and beneficial to participants and the public alike.