diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
index 0bb70b3ffc..e6080ea96d 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/routing/RoutingSpec.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
 package akka.routing
 
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
index b364fd5247..399011fd7a 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ object ActorPath {
  * is sorted by path elements FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, where RootActorPath >
  * ChildActorPath in case the number of elements is different.
  */
-sealed trait ActorPath extends Comparable[ActorPath] {
+sealed trait ActorPath extends Comparable[ActorPath] with Serializable {
   /**
    * The Address under which this path can be reached; walks up the tree to
    * the RootActorPath.
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
index 949f9e05a3..6c1ced9cdb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ trait ActorRefProvider {
    * in case of remote supervision). If systemService is true, deployment is
    * bypassed (local-only).
    */
-  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean): InternalActorRef
+  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean, deploy: Option[Deploy] = None): InternalActorRef
 
   /**
    * Create actor reference for a specified local or remote path. If no such
@@ -518,18 +518,18 @@ class LocalActorRefProvider(
       case x      ⇒ x
     }
 
-  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean): InternalActorRef = {
+  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean, deploy: Option[Deploy] = None): InternalActorRef = {
     props.routerConfig match {
       case NoRouter ⇒ new LocalActorRef(system, props, supervisor, path, systemService) // create a local actor
-      case router   ⇒ new RoutedActorRef(system, props.withRouting(adaptFromDeploy(router, path)), supervisor, path)
+      case router ⇒
+        val depl = deploy orElse {
+          val lookupPath = path.elements.drop(1).mkString("/", "/", "")
+          deployer.lookup(lookupPath)
+        }
+        new RoutedActorRef(system, props.withRouting(router.adaptFromDeploy(depl)), supervisor, path)
     }
   }
 
-  private def adaptFromDeploy(r: RouterConfig, p: ActorPath): RouterConfig = {
-    val lookupPath = p.elements.drop(1).mkString("/", "/", "")
-    r.adaptFromDeploy(deployer.lookup(lookupPath))
-  }
-
   def ask(within: Timeout): Option[AskActorRef] = {
     (if (within == null) settings.ActorTimeout else within) match {
       case t if t.duration.length <= 0 ⇒
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
index 75c17a361d..8fdfb8d9eb 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/routing/Routing.scala
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ private[akka] class RoutedActorRef(_system: ActorSystemImpl, _props: Props, _sup
  */
 trait RouterConfig {
 
+  def nrOfInstances: Int
+
+  def targets: Iterable[String]
+
+  def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, actorContext: ActorContext): Route
+
   def createActor(): Router = new Router {}
 
   def adaptFromDeploy(deploy: Option[Deploy]): RouterConfig = {
@@ -72,8 +78,6 @@ trait RouterConfig {
     }
   }
 
-  def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, actorContext: ActorContext): Route
-
   protected def createRoutees(props: Props, context: ActorContext, nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String]): Vector[ActorRef] = (nrOfInstances, targets) match {
     case (0, Nil) ⇒ throw new IllegalArgumentException("Insufficient information - missing configuration.")
     case (x, Nil) ⇒ (1 to x).map(_ ⇒ context.actorOf(props))(scala.collection.breakOut)
@@ -106,7 +110,9 @@ case class Broadcast(message: Any)
  * Oxymoron style.
  */
 case object NoRouter extends RouterConfig {
-  def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, actorContext: ActorContext) = null
+  def nrOfInstances: Int = 0
+  def targets: Iterable[String] = Nil
+  def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, actorContext: ActorContext): Route = null
 }
 
 object RoundRobinRouter {
@@ -123,7 +129,7 @@ object RoundRobinRouter {
  * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
  * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
  */
-case class RoundRobinRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig {
+case class RoundRobinRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig with RoundRobinLike {
 
   /**
    * Constructor that sets nrOfInstances to be created.
@@ -140,7 +146,9 @@ case class RoundRobinRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] =
   def this(t: java.util.Collection[String]) = {
     this(targets = collectionAsScalaIterable(t))
   }
+}
 
+trait RoundRobinLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
   def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, context: ActorContext): Route = {
     val routees: Vector[ActorRef] =
       createRoutees(context.props.copy(creator = creator, routerConfig = NoRouter), context, nrOfInstances, targets)
@@ -175,7 +183,7 @@ object RandomRouter {
  * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
  * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
  */
-case class RandomRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig {
+case class RandomRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig with RandomLike {
 
   /**
    * Constructor that sets nrOfInstances to be created.
@@ -192,6 +200,9 @@ case class RandomRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil)
   def this(t: java.util.Collection[String]) = {
     this(targets = collectionAsScalaIterable(t))
   }
+}
+
+trait RandomLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
 
   import java.security.SecureRandom
 
@@ -231,7 +242,7 @@ object BroadcastRouter {
  * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
  * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
  */
-case class BroadcastRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig {
+case class BroadcastRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig with BroadcastLike {
 
   /**
    * Constructor that sets nrOfInstances to be created.
@@ -248,7 +259,9 @@ case class BroadcastRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = N
   def this(t: java.util.Collection[String]) = {
     this(targets = collectionAsScalaIterable(t))
   }
+}
 
+trait BroadcastLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
   def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, context: ActorContext): Route = {
     val routees: Vector[ActorRef] =
       createRoutees(context.props.copy(creator = creator, routerConfig = NoRouter), context, nrOfInstances, targets)
@@ -277,7 +290,8 @@ object ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter {
  * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
  * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
  */
-case class ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil) extends RouterConfig {
+case class ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: Iterable[String] = Nil)
+  extends RouterConfig with ScatterGatherFirstCompletedLike {
 
   /**
    * Constructor that sets nrOfInstances to be created.
@@ -294,7 +308,9 @@ case class ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(nrOfInstances: Int = 0, targets: It
   def this(t: java.util.Collection[String]) = {
     this(targets = collectionAsScalaIterable(t))
   }
+}
 
+trait ScatterGatherFirstCompletedLike { this: RouterConfig ⇒
   def createRoute(creator: () ⇒ Actor, context: ActorContext): Route = {
     val routees: Vector[ActorRef] =
       createRoutees(context.props.copy(creator = creator, routerConfig = NoRouter), context, nrOfInstances, targets)
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
index d316a50cea..22886901b3 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteActorRefProvider.scala
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class RemoteActorRefProvider(
     terminationFuture.onComplete(_ ⇒ remote.server.shutdown())
   }
 
-  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean): InternalActorRef =
+  def actorOf(system: ActorSystemImpl, props: Props, supervisor: InternalActorRef, path: ActorPath, systemService: Boolean, deploy: Option[Deploy] = None): InternalActorRef =
     if (systemService) local.actorOf(system, props, supervisor, path, systemService)
     else {
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class RemoteActorRefProvider(
       }
 
       val elems = path.elements
-      val deployment = (elems.head match {
+      val deployment = deploy orElse (elems.head match {
         case "user"   ⇒ deployer.lookup(elems.drop(1).mkString("/", "/", ""))
         case "remote" ⇒ lookupRemotes(elems)
         case _        ⇒ None
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDeployer.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDeployer.scala
index cd2abce344..0819d34019 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDeployer.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/remote/RemoteDeployer.scala
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 package akka.remote
 
 import akka.actor._
-import akka.event.EventStream
+import akka.routing._
 import com.typesafe.config._
 import akka.config.ConfigurationException
 
@@ -16,16 +16,26 @@ class RemoteDeployer(_settings: ActorSystem.Settings) extends Deployer(_settings
     import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
     import akka.util.ReflectiveAccess._
 
-    val deployment = config.withFallback(default)
-
-    val transform: Deploy ⇒ Deploy =
-      if (deployment.hasPath("remote")) deployment.getString("remote") match {
-        case RemoteAddressExtractor(r) ⇒ (d ⇒ d.copy(scope = RemoteScope(r)))
-        case x                         ⇒ identity
-      }
-      else identity
-
-    super.parseConfig(path, config) map transform
+    super.parseConfig(path, config) match {
+      case d @ Some(deploy) ⇒
+        deploy.config.getString("remote") match {
+          case RemoteAddressExtractor(r) ⇒ Some(deploy.copy(scope = RemoteScope(r)))
+          case str ⇒
+            if (!str.isEmpty) throw new ConfigurationException("unparseable remote node name " + str)
+            val nodes = deploy.config.getStringList("target.nodes").asScala
+            if (nodes.isEmpty || deploy.routing == NoRouter) d
+            else {
+              val r = deploy.routing match {
+                case RoundRobinRouter(x, _)                  ⇒ RemoteRoundRobinRouter(x, nodes)
+                case RandomRouter(x, _)                      ⇒ RemoteRandomRouter(x, nodes)
+                case BroadcastRouter(x, _)                   ⇒ RemoteBroadcastRouter(x, nodes)
+                case ScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(x, _) ⇒ RemoteScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(x, nodes)
+              }
+              Some(deploy.copy(routing = r))
+            }
+        }
+      case None ⇒ None
+    }
   }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/routing/RemoteRouters.scala b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/routing/RemoteRouters.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2539b3939d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-remote/src/main/scala/akka/routing/RemoteRouters.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.routing
+
+import akka.actor._
+import akka.remote._
+import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
+import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
+import akka.config.ConfigurationException
+
+trait RemoteRouterConfig extends RouterConfig {
+  override protected def createRoutees(props: Props, context: ActorContext, nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String]): Vector[ActorRef] = (nrOfInstances, targets) match {
+    case (_, Nil) ⇒ throw new ConfigurationException("must specify list of remote nodes")
+    case (n, xs) ⇒
+      val nodes = targets map {
+        case RemoteAddressExtractor(a) ⇒ a
+        case x                         ⇒ throw new ConfigurationException("unparseable remote node " + x)
+      }
+      val node = Stream.continually(nodes).flatten.iterator
+      val impl = context.system.asInstanceOf[ActorSystemImpl]
+      Vector.empty[ActorRef] ++ (for (i ← 1 to nrOfInstances) yield {
+        val name = "c" + i
+        val deploy = Deploy("", ConfigFactory.empty(), None, props.routerConfig, RemoteScope(node.next))
+        impl.provider.actorOf(impl, props, context.self.asInstanceOf[InternalActorRef], context.self.path / name, false, Some(deploy))
+      })
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * A Router that uses round-robin to select a connection. For concurrent calls, round robin is just a best effort.
+ * <br>
+ * Please note that providing both 'nrOfInstances' and 'targets' does not make logical sense as this means
+ * that the round robin should both create new actors and use the 'targets' actor(s).
+ * In this case the 'nrOfInstances' will be ignored and the 'targets' will be used.
+ * <br>
+ * <b>The</b> configuration parameter trumps the constructor arguments. This means that
+ * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
+ * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
+ */
+case class RemoteRoundRobinRouter(nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String]) extends RemoteRouterConfig with RoundRobinLike {
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor that sets the targets to be used.
+   * Java API
+   */
+  def this(n: Int, t: java.util.Collection[String]) = this(n, t.asScala)
+}
+
+/**
+ * A Router that randomly selects one of the target connections to send a message to.
+ * <br>
+ * Please note that providing both 'nrOfInstances' and 'targets' does not make logical sense as this means
+ * that the random router should both create new actors and use the 'targets' actor(s).
+ * In this case the 'nrOfInstances' will be ignored and the 'targets' will be used.
+ * <br>
+ * <b>The</b> configuration parameter trumps the constructor arguments. This means that
+ * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
+ * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
+ */
+case class RemoteRandomRouter(nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String]) extends RemoteRouterConfig with RandomLike {
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor that sets the targets to be used.
+   * Java API
+   */
+  def this(n: Int, t: java.util.Collection[String]) = this(n, t.asScala)
+}
+
+/**
+ * A Router that uses broadcasts a message to all its connections.
+ * <br>
+ * Please note that providing both 'nrOfInstances' and 'targets' does not make logical sense as this means
+ * that the random router should both create new actors and use the 'targets' actor(s).
+ * In this case the 'nrOfInstances' will be ignored and the 'targets' will be used.
+ * <br>
+ * <b>The</b> configuration parameter trumps the constructor arguments. This means that
+ * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
+ * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
+ */
+case class RemoteBroadcastRouter(nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String]) extends RemoteRouterConfig with BroadcastLike {
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor that sets the targets to be used.
+   * Java API
+   */
+  def this(n: Int, t: java.util.Collection[String]) = this(n, t.asScala)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Simple router that broadcasts the message to all routees, and replies with the first response.
+ * <br>
+ * Please note that providing both 'nrOfInstances' and 'targets' does not make logical sense as this means
+ * that the random router should both create new actors and use the 'targets' actor(s).
+ * In this case the 'nrOfInstances' will be ignored and the 'targets' will be used.
+ * <br>
+ * <b>The</b> configuration parameter trumps the constructor arguments. This means that
+ * if you provide either 'nrOfInstances' or 'targets' to during instantiation they will
+ * be ignored if the 'nrOfInstances' is defined in the configuration file for the actor being used.
+ */
+case class RemoteScatterGatherFirstCompletedRouter(nrOfInstances: Int, targets: Iterable[String])
+  extends RemoteRouterConfig with ScatterGatherFirstCompletedLike {
+
+  /**
+   * Constructor that sets the targets to be used.
+   * Java API
+   */
+  def this(n: Int, t: java.util.Collection[String]) = this(n, t.asScala)
+}
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c9d34a3feb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.remote
+
+import akka.testkit._
+import akka.routing._
+import akka.actor._
+import com.typesafe.config._
+
+object RemoteRouterSpec {
+  class Echo extends Actor {
+    def receive = {
+      case _ ⇒ sender ! self.path
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+class RemoteRouterSpec extends AkkaSpec("""
+akka {
+  actor.provider = "akka.remote.RemoteActorRefProvider"
+  cluster.nodename = Nonsense
+  remote.server {
+    hostname = localhost
+    port = 12345
+  }
+  actor.deployment {
+    /blub {
+      router = "round-robin"
+      nr-of-instances = 2
+      target.nodes = ["akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346"]
+    }
+  }
+}
+""") with ImplicitSender {
+
+  import RemoteRouterSpec._
+
+  val conf = ConfigFactory.parseString("akka.remote.server.port=12346").withFallback(system.settings.config)
+  val other = ActorSystem("remote_sys", conf)
+
+  override def atTermination() {
+    other.stop()
+  }
+
+  "A Remote Router" must {
+
+    "deploy its children on remote host driven by configuration" in {
+      val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouting(RoundRobinRouter(2)), "blub")
+      router ! ""
+      expectMsgType[ActorPath].toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346/remote/RemoteRouterSpec@localhost:12345/user/blub/c1"
+      router ! ""
+      expectMsgType[ActorPath].toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346/remote/RemoteRouterSpec@localhost:12345/user/blub/c2"
+    }
+
+  }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file