Imagination Solution to FCC Rules for WiFi Routers: Run OpenWrt / DD-WRT and the WiFi Driver in Separate Virtual Machines

About a year ago, discussions started about new rules from the FCC that could prevent routers from installing open source third party operating systems such as OpenWrt or DDWRT. Despite the FCC assurance that the rules were meant to prevent some users from illegally tweaking the RF settings, and that it would not have to impact installing of open source alternatives, the reality is that companies such as TP-Link ended up locking their routers up due to the new rules, while Linksys would only ensure OpenWrt/ DD-WRT compatibility on some of their routers, but not all. Companies are probably doing that due to the extra work that would be required to separate the RF settings which need to be locked, and the rest of the firmware. But Imagination Technology’s prpl security group has a solution for their MIPS Warrior P-Class processors using hardware virtualization. In order to show the concept […]

“OpenWRT vs. FCC – Forced Firmware Lockdown?” Video and Presentation Slides

The article about the new FCC rules that may prevent installing OpenWRT, DD-WRT or other third party firmware on Wi-Fi routers and access-point generated quite a buzz at the end of the last month. The “OpenWRT vs. FCC – Forced firmware lockdown?” presentation that started that discussion took place yesterday during BattleMesh V8 event, and the video has now been uploaded to YouTube. Sound quality could be better, and the slides are not shown on the video, but you can download the PDF slides to have an easier time following the presentation. Some keys points include: The requirement to lock firmware are likely to affect all users, not only those living in countries following the FCC regulations. Not only WiFI access points would be affected, but also phones, tablets with CyanogenMod, and more. Vendors will have to “describe in detail how the device is protected from “flashing” and the installation […]

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