Frequently asked questions

Why did you decide to realize this project?

Our company has a long record of research related to network security. In this project, we wanted to bring our efforts as close as possible to the end users and protection of their networks.

A second major source of motivation was our dissatisfaction with current home routers, especially in the area of security and implementation of new technologies, such as IPv6 or DNSSEC.

How is it possible that you “give the devices out” for 1 CZK?

The main goal of project Turris is to gather information and experience necessary to creating an effective security system. By allowing us to collect such data from their network traffic, the users helps us to realize this goal. In return, the user gets enhanced network security and out router for a symbolic price.

How does registration and selection of users work?

In order to meet the goals of our project, it is important to distribute the routers evenly in the network. We aim towards a distribution where the router placement matches the population, both in geographical point of view and with respect to size of different internet service providers. We have adjusted the registration process towards this goal.

Obtaining a router starts with a preregistration on the main page of the project (project.turris.cz). As part of this process, the user submits information about his/her internet connection. We then invite people to take part in the project, based on data from this survey.

Because we do not know in advance, how many of the invitations will be accepted, we send them in batches. Each round of invitations is then analyzed and the results are used when a new round of invitations is sent.

We try to honor the order of preregistration as much as possible in the selection process. However, because of the aim towards even distribution of routers in the network, each new round focuses less on time of preregistration and more on internet connection parameters.

After a user is invited, he/she can register on our website and continue to signing a contract and ordering a router.

How do you distribute your devices to the users?

As first step in obtaining our router, our company and the end-user have to enter into lease contract.

There are several possible ways in which to sign the contract. The most straightforward one is for users with validated mojeID account. For them a simple online confirmation suffices. Another electronic means is to sign the contract using a qualified certificate for electronic signature. Another possibility is to send the signed contract via post. In this case, the signature has to be validated by a notary or at the Czech point. The last option is to sign the contract personally at our premises.

As to the distribution itself, we ship the routers via a transport company in one batch each week. It is also possible to pick the router up personally at a predetermined time at our premises.

I have preregistered but cannot log in to my account at project.turris.cz

I have preregistered but cannot log in to my account at project.turris.cz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The login page at project.turris.cz is intended for registered users only. That is for those who were selected, received an invitation and created an account.

In case of a preregistration, no account is created and there is therefore no account to log into.

How to find out if I get a router?

Because of the iterative selection of participants, in which we select users based on the results of the previous round (some users decline our invitation, some do not react and the invitation has a limited validity period), we do not know, who will be selected in the next round.

We are also not capable of predicting what a chance of individual user receiving a router is.

How long do I have to use the router?

In order to obtain our router, you have to agree to use it as the main internet access point for three years. However, it is possible to cancel the contract at any time and return the device.

Is it possible to cancel the contract?

The user may cancel the contract at any time. The only condition of cancellation is to return the device.

Should I pay the 1 CZK lease? If yes, how?

In order to simplify the situation around payment of 1 CZK and associated bookkeeping, the lease fee was already paid for by the CZ.NIC CEO. This fact is also stated on the invoice which each user receives with his/her router. Thus it is not necessary to pay the 1 CZK.

Is there some documentation about installation and setup?

In the private part of these pages, you will find a tab with links to two information sources - periodically updated User documentation and very lively Discussion forum. The first source is managed directly by the Turris router developers, the forum is a more community oriented source and we cannot guarantee that all questions asked there will be answered by the Turris team.

Why does nobody answer me on the forum?

The forum was primarily created to allow users to exchange information amongst themselves. While the members of Turris development team monitor the forum and try to react where possible, the number of posts is so high that answering them all would grind any other development to a halt. It is also important to note that it is often technically impossible to answer specific questions when we lack the technical background, for example the hardware in case of ADSL modems.

It is also necessary to distinguish between different types of questions - if there is a serious problem, we give it a much higher priority than to inquiries about setup of specific hardware, services and other issues which fall into the "hobby" category. In such cases, help from other users works much better.

How do you count data transfers through IPv6 tunnels?

In case of tunnels, either IPv6 or VPN, the data are encountered by the system twice - in the layer which serves as transport for the encapsulated tunnel data and in the layer of the tunnel itself. The ucollect application which collects user statistics about transported data can recognize some types of tunneling a properly discard part of it from the calculation. However, this is not implemented in case of some tunnels, most notably Teredo, and the transfers are counted both in the IPv4 layer (transport) and in the IPv6 layer (tunneled data).

How do you count outages of data upload?

One of the conditions of the lease agreement is the necessity to use router Turris as the main access point to the internet without downtime. For the case of unforeseen circumstances, network outages, etc. there is an allowed amount of data upload outages amounting to 30 days (720 hours) in 6 months. In order to allow users to monitor such outages, we made this information available in the user profile, both in form of a summary number and detailed daily chart.

We use the following method to count outages. There are two distinct methods of uploading data to our servers - the ucollect probe which uses a permanent connection to the server, and the firewall and debugging logs upload which occurs in batches. Both of these methods send data several times an hour. If there is at least one upload in an hour, the corresponding method is considered active in the respective hour. In case there is no data upload in an hour, that method is considered to have an outage. An hour is considered as an overall outage if there was an outage for any of the methods.

From the method described above it is obvious that an outage of data upload does not necessarily mean a network outage or a complete unreachability of the router. It can also mean a problem with a specific probe.

How much power does the device consume?

Based on our measurements, the power consumption of the router is between 9-14 W depending on the load. More information is available on the hardware page.

The power consumption for particular users also significantly depends on connected external devices. For example USB powered disks consume several watts.

Can I connect the router directly to ADSL/VDSL or cable line?

Router Turris has only ethernet WAN port. Therefore it is necessary to use dedicated modem to connect to other types of network, such as cable or ADSL/VDSL. We will be releasing our own small DSL modem which serves as a simple transparent ethernet bridge, but until then, your current modem switched to bridge mode would have to be used.

What does the name SMRT mean?

Even though "smrt" means "death" in Czech, the name of our modem means nothing sinister. It is an abbreviation of "Small Modem for Router Turris".