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Ars Technica has an article about Linksys committing to maintaining open source firmware usage for the WRT series of routers. This is a follow up to a previous story that ran when the original announcement regarding FCC (Federal Communications Commission) enforcement of 5.8 Ghz part 15 device requirements came out. At least there remains one well known product that decided to implement the requirement in a way that is consumer modification friendly. From the article:
Any 5GHz routers sold on or after June 2 must include security measures that prevent these types of changes. But router makers can still allow loading of open source firmware as long as they also deploy controls that prevent devices from operating outside their allowed frequencies, types of modulation, power levels, and so on.
This takes more work than simply locking out third-party firmware entirely, but Linksys, a division of Belkin, made the extra effort. On and after June 2, newly sold Linksys WRT routers will store RF parameter data in a separate memory location in order to secure it from the firmware, the company says. That will allow users to keep loading open source firmware the same way they do now.
[Continues...]
Though I disagree with this notion
Although Linksys has proven that open source firmware can still be used under the new FCC rules, it's clear that options for open source users will be more limited than they are today. Kaloz wishes the FCC had taken a different approach, one focused on punishing people who cause interference without preventing legitimate uses of network hardware.
Is the suggestion that the Doppler weather radar in use at airports is less important than getting cat pictures from the comfort of your couch and not having to run an extra Ethernet cable? Because Delta Flight 191 is why these airport Doppler weather radar systems exist at all. Do we punish before or after the crash? As well I don't think there is an appreciation for just how hard it is to find malfunctioning transmitters: it can be done but with significant amounts of work. The FCC is not funded for this level of enforcement right now. Everyone must share the very finite electromagnetic spectrum. I don't have a problem giving life and safety critical systems priority over cat videos.
As a quick experiment locate your WiFi router and check the verbiage. I'm sure everyone has seen the part 15 text but probably never paid attention to it. You will find This device may not cause harmful interference as well as this device must accept any interference received. That's because the weather radar, by design, gets to break you but you don't get to break it.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday May 14 2016, @07:23PM
What kind of limitations will these new FCC protections cause in devices that still allow user loaded firmware? And if RF parameters are located in a separate block. What prevents the firmware or other means to point the machine loading to another section or simple "poke" (outb) the RF unit directly? There's some essentials missing in the summary.
Any thanks Linksys. Good work *thumbs up*
Let's hope the free market will enlighten the other manufacturers (TP-Link etc).
Imre Kaloz, a key OpenWrt developer says, "have been made by lawyers who had not too much technical knowledge." (arstechnica.com). Guess radio amateurs that have permission for altered RF parameters just lost a cheap way to accomplish their mission.
Btw, what kind of unit is "Ghz"? The only unit science uses is GHz for frequencies.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 14 2016, @08:57PM
There's some essentials missing in the summary.
Hmm ... maybe the details are in TFA? It's called a summary for a reason: it answers sum questions.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday May 14 2016, @09:48PM
Not in the articles either.