Longtime TechCrunch Disrupt NY hackathon participants, Kay Anar and Gilad Shai showed off their hardware hack today called the “oRouter” – a Linux-powered, Raspberry Pi-like computer offering secure Wi-Fi access via the Tor network. The idea is to offer an affordable alternative to downloading the Tor software to your computer, as well as a way to more easily connect to Tor over mobile devices like an iPhone.

Kay says the idea for the project actually came to him via a non-technical friend, who had asked him if there was something she could just plug into the back of her computer in order to secure her connection from snooping. An answer wasn’t readily available.

The oRouter uses off-the-shelf components purchased at Radio Shack, including a low-power single board computer from Texas Instruments, and low-power USB Wi-Fi dongles. The device only requires 5 volts of power to run, which allows it to pull juice from something as simple as a portable charger, for example. The version of the oRouter demoed at the Hackathon today supports up to 32 simultaneous connections.