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<title>Router Freedom</title>
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<h1 class="p-name">Router Freedom</h1>
<div class="e-content">
<div id="introduction">
<p>It should go without saying that in our society we should be able to
freely choose technical devices for use in our homes like we are free
to choose what mobile phone we buy. But some Internet service providers
in Europe dishonor this principle by dictating which device their
customers have to use in order to connect to the internet, or they
discriminate against the owners of alternative devices. This
undermining of our basic freedom of choice is strongly opposed by the
Free Software Foundation Europe and many other organisations, projects,
and individuals. Router Freedom is not merely a topic for experts. It
affects all of us.</p>
</div>
<h2>What are routers and modems?</h2>
<p>Routers and modems are equipment (or terminals, according to
European regulations) that our devices (like computers, smartphones,
TV, etc) use to connect with the Internet Service Provider (ISP). While
the modem brings the information in, the router distributes (or
“routes”) it to different devices. Routers share information between
computers, and connect to the internet through a modem. Sometimes a
router and modem are offered by ISP in a same device. However, a router
has no access to the internet without a modem. Routers can handle other
functions too, for instance WiFi, Voice over IP (VoIP), and TV
streaming, and also technical details such as port forwarding, dynamic
DNS, or VPN tunneling. Normally, all internet-based communication
passes through routers.</p>
<figure class="max-width-75 no-border">
<img
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/6c235f839777a7bc0f663d6b528225dd.jpg"
alt="Routers"/>
<figcaption>
Copyright and license notice: Tmthetom - CC-BY-SA 4.0
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most ISPs in Europe offer a recommended router with the contract for
their clients. In principle that is not bad because then users do not
need to search for a suitable device themselves. However, if consumers
are forced to use this device, this practice can make them totally
dependent and vulnerable to technical and contract changes, which can
result in unfair treatment by the ISPs.</p>
<h2>Router Freedom and Net Neutrality</h2>
<p>Network neutrality, or net neutrality for short, is the principle
that ISPs have to treat all internet communications equally, and not
discriminate or charge differently, for instance based on user,
content, website, service, type of equipment, or method of
communication. Router Freedom is a fundamental corollary of this idea.
In fact, the freedom of choice of our own equipment is already
guaranteed on the European regulatory framework. The <a
href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.310.01.0001.01.ENG">EU's
Open Internet Regulation (Net Neutrality Regulation)</a> grants end
users right to access and distribute the lawful content and services of
their choice via their ISP. The basic rule is: internet traffic shall
be treated without discrimination.</p>
<figure class="max-width-100 no-border">
<a href="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/d77d9c6c1dd67bde4691263433e0448a.png">
<img
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/d77d9c6c1dd67bde4691263433e0448a.png"
alt="Four benefits of Router Freedom. #1. Choose your own router. The device given by your internet service provider should not be the only possibility. #2 Secure your internet connection. Routers transmit personal data. Some terminal equipment offers greater privacy than others. Determine for yourself the level of security you want. #3. Upgrade your router. Increase the speed and coverage of your router. Make it compatible with your devices. Configure, improve, and repair your router. Its performance should be up to you. #4. Avoid a router monopoly If you can only use the equipment provided by a single company, your possibilities might be less secure or user-friendly. And you will have no alternative. Get the most out of the innovations in the router market."/>
</a>
</figure>
<p>In order to protect this freedom, the <a
href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.310.01.0001.01.ENG">article
5(1) of the Net Neutrality Regulation</a> establishes that the
enforcement of the respective open internet rules is task for the
National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of each European country. They
must check the application of the Regulations rules accordingly to the
technical guidelines of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic
Communications (BEREC).</p>
<p>However, many ISP across Europe do not comply with the regulation
yet, imposing their own routers to consumers in a clearly contradiction
with the Net Neutrality principle. Their argumentation concerns the
location of the network termination point (NTP), an arbitrary
definition between the limits of the users private and ISPs network
equipment. They introduced a debate to determine whether the NTP would
be located inside the end-user domain, so they can use their own modem
and router, or the NTP would be part of the domain of the network
operator, so end-users cannot use their own router with a private
modem. In this case, the users should use the ISP's router.</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/6d6922a13499024cacf5c0872f0a65df.png"
alt="Network Termination Point"/>
<figcaption>
Representation of the Network Termination Point
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Router Freedom in Europe</h2>
<p>During the years 2013 and 2016, the FSFE and 9 other civil
organisations conducted a successful <a
href="/activities/routers/timeline.html">campaign</a> for Router
Freedom in Germany that resulted in the adoption of a law obliging all
German ISPs to enable new clients to use alternative modems and routers
to connect to the internet. The FSFE is still <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters/Implementation/Germany">monitoring</a>
the implementation, has sent out testing devices to volunteers for them
to check whether their ISPs obey the law, and collected the
results.</p>
<p>However, the awareness for such fundamental topic is still <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters/#Router_Freedom_in_Europe">very
low</a> across Europe. Users are not being consciously informed about
the risks of not having the freedom to choose their own equipment. It
is unacceptable to limit Router Freedom on the basis of a arbitrary
definition that only benefits ISPs and subjugates users to a very
unfair and submissive situation.</p>
<p>The map below tracks the implementation of the Network Termination
Point (NTP) of all the EU member states. The location of the NTP
determines the limits of ISP's and users' networks which has a huge
impact on Router Freedom. This map is constantly updated.</p>
<figure>
<a href="https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/router-freedom-tracker_581123#4/53.12/18.37">
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/07dc0f987728eae33777eebd53e6cc0e.png" alt="Router Freedom Monitoring Map"/>
</a>
<figcaption>Check here the status of Router Freedom in your country</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is Router Freedom important?</h2>
<p>Let's put it this way: your whole internet traffic, encryption,
backups, communication, shopping, writings, business interaction, and
so on are transferred through your router. If your router is not free,
your digital freedom is likely to be compromised.</p>
<p>The infringement of the Router Freedom may happen by different
restrictions, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>The ISP does not allow the client to use another router, i.e. by
contract.</li>
<li>The ISP does not give the client the connection data like username
and password for the PPPoE/VoIP connection (might differ in some
countries but the problem remains the same).</li>
<li>The ISP uses non-standard techniques to connect its clients to the
internet/its infrastructure, i.e. special plugs or proprietary
protocols.</li>
<li>The ISP requires any router to be registered at their own
infrastructure, i.e. by MAC address or other identification. So the
client is not able to use her own devices because they won't get an IP
address or other necessary data.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="max-width-100 no-border">
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/big/e15021d00f32dc067d894525d6213354.png"
alt="Infographic explaining the importance of Free Software for Router Freedom"/>
</figure>
<p>These situations show the bad consequences of the lack on Router
Freedom. The reasons to defend and promote Router Freedom concern
ethical and technical elements to our basic needs to internet access,
such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Freedom of choice</strong>: We have the right to choose our
own electronic devices. If customers do not want to use the
ISP-recommended device for any reason, the ISP must respect this
without repercussions for the user.</li>
<li><strong>Privacy and Data Protection</strong>: The lack of Router
Freedom compromises our privacy and the security of our most sensitive
personal data.</li>
<li><strong>Compatibility</strong>: Some ISPs impose to users specific
models, forcing them to acquire only compatible hardware. From the
consumers and the environments point of view this is unfavorable due
to the build up of electronic waste even though the devices would still
work.</li>
<li><strong>Free Competition and Technological Progress</strong>: Users
profit from the free competition that guarantees free choice and steady
improvement of products. The lack of competition would, eventually,
come at the cost of the user because (security) features would be
continually reduced and the user-friendliness would drop. This goes
even further: If a user is forced to use a router, the ISP is only one
step apart from supporting only one SIP provider, one cloud storage,
one DynamicDNS provider, or one media streaming platform. The user
cannot use their phones, their trusted online storage or their
hardware, because it is not supported.</li>
<li><strong>Security</strong>: The lack of Router Freedom increases the
probability that large parts of the router market is dominated by only
one or a few product families or manufacturers. Then, if major problems
or security holes appear, an enormous number of users will affected at
once. Most ISPs only use a few router models and thus endanger the
security of their customers. That is particularly problematic when
manufacturers and providers are very slow in the delivery of critical
updates and users are not allowed to perform updates themselves.</li>
</ul>
<p> You can read more in depth in the <a
href="https://download.fsfe.org/routers/fsfe-router-freedom-activity-summary.pdf">Activity
Summary</a> that we have prepared to offer everyone the necessary
information to raise awareness on the importance of protecting Router
Freedom. </p>
<figure>
<a href="https://download.fsfe.org/routers/fsfe-router-freedom-activity-summary.pdf">
<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/small/e5653ba6fd84d2db16ce6b81fda774e0.jpg"
alt="Cover of the Router Freedom Activity Summary"/>
</a>
<figcaption>Get your Activity Summary right now!</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Get active</h2>
<p>ISPs across Europe are imposing their own routers to consumers,
threatening our freedom of choice towards the equipment we use for
Internet connection. ISPs are leveraging the debate on the European
level using questionable definitions about the Network Termination
Point. You can take part in this fundamental campaign to defend our
freedom.</p>
<p>We already won in Germany and other countries are following the
path. We have learned valuable lessons in the process and compiled them
in a <a href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Activities/CompulsoryRouters/">wiki
page</a>, where you can find all necessary information to fight against
the disruption of Router Freedom, and raise the problem within your
community and to your political representatives.</p>
<figure class="max-width-100 no-border">
<a href="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/original/5b/7a/189ea590625a1e8280cbe44058a6.png">
<img
src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/5b/7a/189ea590625a1e8280cbe44058a6.png"
alt="Router Freedom decision tree. #1. Check ISP connection details. #2. Contact ISP. #3. Check Router Freedom for your country and connection type. #4. Try different connection type or ISP. #5. Try it regardless (risks invovled). #6. Configure and use modem or router. #7. Tell your story,provide feedback."/>
</a>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.fsfe.org/en/teams/router-freedom-tech-wiki">Router Freedom tech wiki</a> supports the Router Freedom campaign by collecting information on how to use a different modem or router
for your internet provider. Having the ability to choose your own router will give you the possibility of more control over the device that is relaying all your internet traffic.</p>
<p>In order to understand the end-users' experience with their Internet
Service Provider regarding Router Freedom, we have create this <a
href="https://survey.fsfe.org/index.php/628449?lang=en">survey</a> that
will help us follow the status of this right in the European Union.
Your opinion is very important for us, it will take only few
minutes!</p>
</div><!--/e-content-->
<related-feed tag="routers"/>
</body>
<sidebar promo="our-work">
<h2>How to use your own router</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://docs.fsfe.org/en/teams/router-freedom-tech-wiki">Router Freedom tech wiki</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>External pages about Router Freedom</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/open-internet">European Commission Open Internet webpage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.mehl.mx/2014/why-free-choice-of-routers-is-an-unnegotiable-must/">Why free choice of routers is an unnegotiable must</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Spread the word</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/contribute/spreadtheword.html#device-neutrality">Get your Router Freedom sticker for free</a></li>
</ul>
</sidebar>
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