What can I do with a RYF router?

I have this router and it is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time!

I currently have AT&T as my internet provider and was also given a modem/router combo. Setting this router up was as easy as logging in to the provided AT&T router and disabling wifi, then plugging this router in to the provided modem and turning it on. The only additional setup involved changing the name of the network and setting a new password.

Besides the increased feeling of freedom and control, I felt that surfing the web got much snappier. Latency is really low on this router.

On the modem. Probably you will prefer to do everything with your LibreCMC, NAT included, so maybe you want to check if you can disable NAT in your current modem-router. Double NAT might be problematic. You may want to buy a cheap one-port modem and get rid of your current modem-router.

Or you may not, tdlnx is happy.

You can usually set your combo ADSL/cable router/modems to a 'modem only' mode or just switch on bridging. The router will then get a public IP address and you won't be having to trust your ISP. Your ISP might be spying on your local area traffic even though they have no legitimate business need to do so or ethical reason to do so.

One of the problems with combo router/modems is that there are no free software friendly ADSL or cable modem chipsets for the modem part. That means there is some proprietary piece for which you don't know what it is doing and that piece may be doing malicious stuff such as capturing print jobs you send over your local area network. You thought that sensitive document you printed for your lawyer's eyes only was safe? Maybe not. The modern ISP is in a position to capture that if you utilize a cable/ADSL modem combo router.

ISPs these days have the ability to remotely flash your modem/router combo as well so even if it isn't actually doing any of the above right now and doesn't include such malicious features (even though it is possible) your ISP might do so down the road and you'd have no way of knowing or stopping it- short of separating your modem and router and then running 100% free software on the router part.

Ultimately the big thing about this router in my humble opinion is:

1. You can run the latest and greatest software thanks to the fact it isn't dependent on any proprietary pieces
2. You get the improvements/security fixes/etc from upstream such as bufferbloat that fixes latency issues (ie pages load faster)
3. Your freedom / your in control
4. Your privacy
5. Your security (ie you know or can know what your router is doing- and even if you aren't in a position to figure it out others who are in a position to figure it out by reading the sources can point out the malicious features)

Now the router can't really prevent your ISP from spying on any traffic you send out onto the internet (ie anything that goes over the WAN port to the modem). At least not in its current form. You would need to have a VPN configured on the router or maybe Tor setup to thwart that and it's not really powerful enough for that. The main issue is it doesn't have enough flash to contain both the openvpn software and the graphical web interface. Technically you can do it if you remove the graphical web interface and manually configure openvpn via the terminal- but... the better/easier/etc answer is to get another product we're working on right now when it comes out.

It's not yet available, but basically it'll have support for openvpn on a router/router-like device. Assuming we get all the bugs worked out we'll probably have two different models. One will be a more powerful router (ie more flash/ram) and the other will basically be mainly adding VPN support to a router that isn't capable of it (ie it's a cheaper option basically to getting a more powerful router from us if you already own one of the routers we're currently selling).

...

There will be other features although these are the main ones I'm personally interested in and we're focusing on. There is a need to give users the practical tools to improve there privacy/security/etc and this should bring VPN support to the masses by making it idiot-proof.

Keep in mind this won't replace the Tor Browser Bundle for those who need anonymity or are being targeted by powerful adversaries (though even a VPN can potentially make mass spying more difficult for a large adversary like the government).

What these types of solutions do is prevent the more casual corporate entities / lawyer from spying on your torrenting activities / video browsing habits / or identifying your location for malicious purposes (I wouldn't call all such activities malicious, but some certainly are) / etc. A VPN won't stop a court order / law enforcement agent / lawyer from identifying you necessarily although it can still inhibit the legal processes for particularly less serious legal issues.

^ ay, ay, ay. Viejito! I'm really very disappointed with your style lately. Where is the boldness, where the improbable yet realistic "trolliness" of language and semantics?
I can't recognize you anymore..

x_x

ciao viejitooo!!