The wifi routers, we use at homes, need to evolve from being highly specific computers that just forwards/filters/NATs/firewalls the traffic to something that can be more programmable and hence flexible. Instead of the dumb router, what the world needs now, is a device that can run network applications for home environment. With the advancement of IoT, the need such wifi routers is amplified now more than ever. The development of platforms like Android, IoS, etc with cell phone, made dump piece of hardware smarter, and I envision, if there exists a similar platform for wifi routers, there is a whole bunch of application that can be developed on it. Here are the design issues that needs to be considered when developing the same.

The Need

There are many applications that are best run on a home wifi router, than on the devices connected. Some of them are enlisted below:

• Networking monitoring tools
• Parental control tools
• Bandwidth control
• Network data analysis
• File sharing
• Download/Upload Managers

Current Situation

Some of the applications in the list besides are already available(built into) the current home wifi routers. The problem with them is they are closed source. For instance, a user cannot choose between a version of Netgear's parental control and tp-link's. They will have to buy an entire piece of new hardware to get applications.

Some of the applications that are mentioned in the list are either run on the devices in the LAN network, or in the cloud. A more appropriate place for them would be in the routers.

The current wifi routers, neither have enough hardware capabilities nor have appropriate software platform for hosting such applications. Hence there is a need to develop a platform that provides such capabilities. I am convinced, once the platform is developed, many users will find innovative applications of their own.