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.
