We are losing more and more control of our data every passing day. Data is the new oil and majority of the devices, software and services want to capture as much information about us as possible.

The flurry of proprietary smart (spy) devices are taking away our freedom and privacy. An innocent looking Router or a WiFi Access Point could be snooping on us and sending our data to the manufacturer. There are many reported cases of privacy breaches by various IoT and smart devices.

We have liberated and taken control of computing devices like Desktop, Workstations, Laptops and Mobile Phones etc, but are we taking enough care of our networking gear? Do we care what kind of Router or Access Point is powering our network and if they're snooping on us? Do we know for sure if the latest smart device in our network is phoning home? How can we get more control on these devices with off-the-shelf hardware and Free Software?

This talk tries to demystify the blackboxes being sold as Routers, Firewalls, Access Points,Network Attached Storages, IoT devices, Media Players etc. and de-couple the software from hardware.

Further, we try to identify the hardware and software components in order to be able to build the Network Equipment ourselves and self-host services (Instant Messaging, Media Storage / Streaming, Social Networks, Home Automation, Git, NextCloud etc.) within the network which is in our control and empower ourselves to decide what data leaves the network and what doesn't.

We also do a live demonstration of a working network set-up thus created with the Hardware and Software identified.