After crawling out of controversy in 2014, and then dealing with an acquisition and security flaws in 2015, Anonabox is kicking off the New Year by debuting three new products during the Consumer Electronics Show. The company known for creating a dead simple Wi-Fi router that pushes all your web traffic over the privacy-protecting Tor network first announced the new routers in the fall, but CES will be the first real chance for people to see the devices.
First up is the Fawkes—presumably named after the infamous Guy Fawkes. The company says Fawkes is an upgraded version of the original Anonabox. The $90 router adds an administrator interface allowing users more control over their router. One of the biggest complaints about the original Anonabox was that it didn’t allow users any real control over the device. All you could do was power up the device, log in, and start surfing the web. That changes with the Fawkes.
The Fawkes also adds the Tor Bridge so you can act as a relay or an exit node for the Tor Network. Anonabox’s new hardware works as a Wi-Fi uplink and range extender.
One step up from the Fawkes is the $120 Anonabox Pro, which includes all the features of Fawkes plus virtual private network (VPN) integration. By default, it has a customized Hide My Ass Pro interface allowing you to connect to HMA Pro using your account details. If you use another VPN there is also an option for connecting using a generic connection interface. Finally, the Pro also adds a USB port for filesharing over a local network.
Finally, Anonabox is introducing the $100 Tunneler. This more basic box doesn’t have Tor integration and is exclusively for connecting to your VPN service provider. Like the Pro, the Tunneler has customized HMA Pro integration as well as a generic interface for other VPNs.
Anonabox doesn’t have an official release date for these products. However, the company’s website is currently accepting preorders and says the devices will ship in 2-3 weeks.
The story behind the story: Anonabox has come a long way from its not-so-humble beginnings as a failed Kickstarter project. The group behind the original Anonabox was removed from the crowdfunding site for violating Kickstarter’s prohibition against publishing misleading and inaccurate information. Following that failure, Anonabox enjoyed a successful Indiegogo campaign—one that we took the company to task for because of its revisionist approach to history—and began shipping the original Anonabox in late 2014.