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# Carsten Agger agger@modspil.dk [ 16. Jan 2014 @ 15:00 +0100]:
I have a fiber box, a socalled residential gateway or Home Access Gateway which supplies phone, Internet and TV.
Should that be considered as a compulsory router?
It depends on if you're able to replace the box given by the ISP completely without losing any functionality or being disciminated in the usage of your services.
Maybe I was to unprecise in both my mail and the blog post, so here's some examples: Some ISPs in Germany are suspected to throttle certain services of competitors, or they disable the possibility to replace the (telephony) box to use other phones. Some of them cannot be replaced but are unable to give full IPv6 support. Some ISPs do not even give internet access data (i.e. PPPoE user and password) to replace just the internet modem, or they disallow flashing another firmware.
To be short: You have a Compulsory Routers, if you're not able to replace parts or everything of your infrastructure needed for internet access and related services like VoIP/TV. If the ISPs does not give you full privileges or information (or uses closed standards) for using completely different hardware, you have a Compulsory Router in your rooms.
Hope this explained a little bit. I know, the topic is quite complex and you can go deep into depth (I wrote around 14 pages to our national network agency...), but I consider it as very important.
Best, Max
- -- Max Mehl - Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) - fsfe.org Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119, Berlin | Phone: +49-30-27595290 About me: http://fsfe.org/about/mehl | Blog: blog.max-mehl.com Support us: http://fsfe.org/support | Homepage: max-mehl.com