[Freedombox-discuss] Without software collusion

[Rick Hodgin]

As I understand it, while the data still comes over ethernet or WiFi, it is not further routed up the layer stack beyond the hardware medium layer itself.

For example, the vPro-enabled sender will inject ethernet or WiFi traffic into the conveyance medium (copper or air) just like normal.  However, the vPro-enabled receiver will see the packet marked as vPro-out-of-band, and not send it further up the chain, but instead will intercept it and handle it internally.

So ... my question is ... will a $25 consumer router route all data sent to it without regards to this vPro out-of-band tagging?  I assume it will, be it in the form of ethernet or WiFi.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

--- On Thu, 6/28/12, Tim Schmidt <timschmidt at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Tim Schmidt <timschmidt at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Freedombox-discuss] Without software collusion
> To: "Rick Hodgin" <foxmuldrster at yahoo.com>
> Cc: freedombox-discuss at lists.alioth.debian.org, freebirds at hushmail.com
> Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012, 4:00 PM
> On Thu, Jun 28, 2012 at 3:56 PM, Rick
> Hodgin <foxmuldrster at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> > Centrino chipsets now support vPro.  The technology
> exists to wield out-of-band communication through WiFi ...
> though I honestly have no idea on the mechanics of how they
> do it.
> >
> > Do general purpose (consumer) WiFi routers honor
> out-of-band communication requests out of the box (without
> an explicit setup to the contrary)?  I would suggest that
> if this technology exists to utilize something like vPro,
> that the manufacturers of those devices are "playing nice"
> with the reasons why they exist in the first place.  Only a
> guess though.  I could be completely wrong.
> 
> "Out of band" means other than the communications medium
> being
> discussed.  If it travels over the ethernet wire, it's
> ethernet, and
> explicitly NOT out of band.  Ditto Wifi.
> 
> Most consumer equipment bridges wifi to the local LAN,
> meaning any
> computer on the local LAN can talk to any other computer on
> the local
> LAN, including Wifi, no restrictions.  All of these
> computers are
> firewalled from the 'net in such a way that computers on the
> 'net
> cannot talk to ANY computer on the local LAN (the wireless
> router
> literally just discards any attempt) without a computer on
> the local
> LAN having asked the computer on the 'net to talk first.
> 
> --tim
>