SamKnows Still Sending Out FCC Testing Routers

If the FCC isn't going to actually do ANYTHING, then these Router taps amount to nothing more than more spying by Uncle Sam!

What's the point of collecting data, when you are not going to use it for anything useful?

i applyd, did the speed test, and havent heard JACK from them. tryd to reapply since my speed upgrade and the stupid thing wont let me.

It is ironic that the FCC partnered with a firm called SamKnows...

Screw the FCC just another way to SPY on everyone.

FFC and Uncle Sam knows what you be lurking at on the interwebs! :P

I signed up. Gona hook it up to my clear modem that I dont even use anymore. My clear internet is crap anyways.

If they were going to inject spying software into the firmware, then they wouldn't do it this way. They'd inject it into the stock firmware at the manufacturer. Or, better yet, they'd monitor the backbones. Oh yeah, they already are.

My guess is that they're going to get the data back from these things and then report that, although bandwidth isn't always up to what's promised, it's close enough. Then they'll ask the ISP's to do better, the ISP's will say they'll try, and not a damn thing will change.

My Samknows black box has been running for about a month. Frontier needs all the testing it can get. Whether this box will do it is an open question.

It consistently gets higher uploads and downloads results that other tests don't.

And you think they need these modded routers to do that??? If so, you haven't been reading the news for the past few years. Besides, as I said above, mailing out a relatively small number of routers isn't a very efficient way to do spying. You either inject your sniffer into the stock firmware at the manufacturer level, and/or you monitor the backbone (as they've been doing for at least a few years now).

I'm fairly sure that a government that has compliance of all major phone companies to deliver data/voice wholesale to the NSA don't need to inject crapware into a piddly 20k routers being tracked by a UK monitoring firm.

Why can't this SamKnows group work with existing consumer router vendors (Linksys/Cisco, Netgear, D-Link, Buffalo, etc.) and provide the analysis data collection/distribution capability in all products?

It seems a lot easier to tell a customer "if you want to participate in this analysis, please upgrade your router firmware. Below is a list of models and what firmwares offer the option / what to adjust in the router".

I'm not going to ask "why are they being so secretive?", but it just seems like they're going about this incorrectly. Just like how I don't use routers given to me by ISPs, I sure as heck won't replace my router with one given to me by the FCC. But I *would* like to participate in the programme regardless.

No they do not need these routers to do this, their incrementally garnering the publics support for their treason. You see to make treason work the average SHEEPLE must comply with it. It's just test after test after test.

I am using Frontier DSL in Northeastern California as well and I did the speedtest\application at least 6 months before I heard they were even considering me.

I did just notice that 3 weeks after I setup the netgear box my dsl modem is now negotiating at a faster download and slower upload speed than it was before I setup the box. Hmm....

For one, the incentive is the free router for many.

This is about broadband for all, not just techno geeks. J6P isn't going to know how to upgrade router firmware.

Gotta love AT&T.

I did sign up when I heard of the program initially (seems like it might have been last year). Then earlier this year I got the message that the information I provided meant that I was qualified to participate in the program and gave me a link to do a performance test on my DSL line. At the successful conclusion of the test it stated something to the effect that a router would be sent to me. This was more than 6 month ago and I have yet to see a box. I have the feeling that SamKnows gets all the ISP performance data they need from the prequalification tests they ask users to perform. That is certainly cheaper for them then to actually send users a router.

If they send one now they are out of luck. I just switched to a different (cheaper, faster) provider this week and the new one is not on their list of ISPs.

I received an email today that I was accepted but I was reading the requirements and this one pretty much killed it for me

"You are not a heavy downloader. We'd classify anything above 30GB per month as being too heavy for us to gather useful results."

Otherwise I was going to give it a try and be a tester for them.

My box has been in for 6-8 weeks now, I have access to my stats and the router has operated as expected.

Nothing more then a wire tap.

......and NSA too.

I test wireless equipment for a living...there's no big scary Big Brother built into the firmware of the router...the conspirists can move back to the JFK issue or something...

Router working great, sending test data daily. I kind of wish it had been a D-Link .11n router instead of a Netgear, but oh well.

How to hook up a router on dial-up

I got mine about 2 months ago.. had it running about 3 weeks.. then Verizon (FIOS) suddenly kept disconnecting me. router could not get an IP Addy unless I called the FSC and they had to do whatever it is they do in order for the router to once again obtain an ip addy. (actiontec bridged)

One of the FSC techs elevated the issue and I got a call back by level 3 engineer, seems they've had this issue with these blackbox routers before.. Vz reverse engineered one.. since the software is open sourced. just they way that the router sends data out in random bursts causes the backend to think it's a spam relay. the gentleman took my mac address, and did whatever it is he needed to do and I have had no more problems.
While I had him on the phone I asked if they had found any nefarious code that would violate privacy, send to the govt... etc..etc... he said no, just raw bandwidth data and usage.. but no signs of anything
that would indicate what, where and how often I visit websites, torrents.. or whatever. (not that I believed him).

I have FIOS 25/25 triple play..

Have had the same exact service and setup (Actiontec bridged) for 2 months now with no issues...so far (crossing fingers).

They state in requirements you cannot use more than 30GB per month because it is "too heavy" for their measurements. I use at minimum around 50 GB per month. Sometimes I go closer to 200 GB. No thanks!

Just got an e-mail today from them. Sent it to the spam folder!!

Edit:
Upon reading these posts, I went back and moved it back to inbox and went through with it. All I got at end was it saying your application has been submitted.

Same here, I signed up, heard back that I qualified and they gave me another link. I was successful and they stated they were going to send a router out to me. I've heard nothing since. I get 1.5 Mbps on a good day, I'd love for them to include me in the testing.

if they want to spy on my boring habits then have fun with it. I could careless that they know I Netflix, go to DSLreports, XDA and ESPN daily.

Everything we do is traced.

My point is; AT&T and Verizon own the FCC. Any benefit from this data collection will be theirs not the public's. So why is tax payer money being spent on these gadgets?

And, if all this data can be had from the ISPs, and is already available, then what's the point?

I clicked on the link they sent via an email only to find out my Road Runner Turbo connection with powerboost was acting like ISDN. I tried to resubmit the test once things were somewaht back to normal, but it wouldn't let me. I didn't hear anything after that.