Danie van der Merwe

Banana Pi and OpenWrt’s One/AP-24.XY Router Board Hits the Market

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 06:48:08 -0300

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Banana Pi and OpenWrt’s One/AP-24.XY Router Board Hits the Market

The MediaTek MT7981B (Filogic 820) SoC is at the heart of the OpenWrt One, paired with the MediaTek MT7976C dual-band WiFi 6 chipset. The device supports WiFi 6 with dual-band capabilities, offering 3×3 and 2×2 MIMO configurations for enhanced wireless connectivity.

In terms of hardware specifications, the OpenWrt One is impressive. It boasts:
* 1 x 2.5 Gbit WAN port and 1 x 1G bit LAN port for high-speed wired connections.
* 1 GB DDR4 RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking and efficient data handling.
* 256 MiB NAND and 16 MiB NOR storage, providing ample space for firmware and user data.
* An M.2 SSD slot allows users to expand storage further.
* A USB 2.0 Type-A port for peripheral connectivity.
* A mikroBUS expansion port opens up many possibilities for adding sensors, transceivers, and other modules.

It is a router but does not contain the usual switch array of 5 or 7 Ethernet LAN ports. So it will likely need to be supplemented with a network switch device for many.

Open source OpenWRT is already quite powerful router software, and along with all this hardware capability, this device looks really interesting. Because of OpenWRT's involvement, it likely also means that there will be excellend support for features, and that it will receive ongoing support for quite a while (likely much better than Asus and other OEMs provide).

See Banana Pi and OpenWrt's One/AP-24.XY Router Board Hits the Market

The first official OpenWrt One/AP-24.XY router board goes on sale, featuring MediaTek's latest SoC with WiFi 6 for enhanced connectivity, priced at $111.

#technology #opensource #OpenWRT #router #BananaPi

technology router opensource OpenWRT BananaPi

show all 4 comentários

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:11:26 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@TinDrum supposedly yes

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:36:11 -0300

TinDrum

oscarjiminy@aus.social

@gadgeteer what's your assessment, do you think it good value?

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:16:35 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@TinDrum it all depends on what you actually need - I like the WiFi, and the 2.5 Gbps port, as well as the extra onboard storage and tons of RAM. Many routers skimp on that and then you suffer when wanting to put something liker OpenWRT on. The drawback for me is no LAN switch built in but I suppose if you got a managed switch it is perfectly usable for VLANs. When my time comes to get another router I'll certainly include this in my detailed specs comparison.

A Cheap Xiaomi Mi Router can become a Powerhouse using Free Open-Source OpenWRT

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 09:10:07 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

A Cheap Xiaomi Mi Router can become a Powerhouse using Free Open-Source OpenWRT

I should just state at the outset that configuring OpenWRT can be a bit daunting. It is very powerful and customisable, but it may take a few hours to figure out how to get everything done if you're bridging networks, and setting up upstream DHCP, etc. What didn't help me was also realising that when I wanted to bridge my networks, this router was clashing with my Asus router using the same network addresses. So a good idea is to set it to use a different network segment, e.g. 192.168.0.1/24 or 192.168.2.1/24. After that, things came to life.

Flashing the firmware was quite easy after I had verified my Xiaomi Mi router was a Generation 1 version, and I just followed the instructions from the OpenWRT site which included running three Windows .bat files which did everything.

The basics do work fine, remembering you need to enable wireless networking and just bind them to the LAN zone. But imagine your cheapy router now being able to do VLANs, have powerful options for firewalling, DNS, DHCP, routing, SSH login, and much more. I do like that for potentially breaking changes, it offers an option to do auto rollback. I also managed to lock myself out of the router after I enabled upstream DHCP which somehow did not work like I expected it to (solution being to just set a static IP on your laptop and connect to the LAN port to get back in — except Windows 10 also has a broken static IP address so you need to use Control Panel to set that).

This router is actually just used a sort of hotspot so it does sit behind my main firewalled router, and I can experiment a bit with it. My Asus will stop receiving updates in the coming few months, so I'm thinking of ref lashing it to OpenWRT instead then.

It is certainly worth trying though, but if you really don't come right with OpenWRT, then Tomato OS is almost as configurable, and a bit more user-friendly. I'd liken the OpenWRT a bit to the MikroTik type software. The other big advantages though, as I previously mentioned, were getting updates after the OEM no longer provides then, and of course, unlocking masses of features for pretty cheap routers. And of course it also has a dark theme!

More photos at A Cheap Xiaomi Mi Router can become a Powerhouse using Free Open-Source OpenWRT

I should just state at the outset that configuring OpenWRT can be a bit daunting. It is very powerful and customisable, but it may take a few hours to figure out how to get everything done if you're bridging networks, and setting up upstream DHCP, etc. What didn't help me was also realising that when...

#technology #opensource #routers #OpenWRT

technology opensource routers OpenWRT

DD-WRT vs. OpenWrt: Which open-source router firmware should you pick? Custom firmware on your router gives you more control and longer support than the stock firmware

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 06:24:08 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Most of the best Wi-Fi routers give the average customer all the controls they could ever want with simplified access to wireless settings, QoS, and firewall settings making home networking tech more accessible to all. For those looking for a more open experience, more advanced and in-depth settings can be made available with an open firmware like OpenWrt or DD-WRT. If you want access to these extra features, however, you’re looking at a more complicated setup procedure and a lot more research.

Both OpenWrt and DD-WRT are completely free to download and use with access to stable and beta builds. OpenWrt is completely FOSS (free and open-source software) meaning that no company owns any part of it, so you can use it without any permission and if you have the know-how, you can even dig into the code yourself. DD-WRT makes a few concessions when it comes to being open-source to allow support for a wider range of devices, such as those running Broadcom chips.

Availability comes down to not only a specific brand of router, but the model and even hardware revision. Many routers will have multiple versions with slight hardware tweaks that don’t matter much, if at all, to the end-user with standard software, but can lead to issues when installing a custom Linux-based operating system (OS) like OpenWrt or DD-WRT. When you’re looking for router software for your hardware, make sure to note any version information. This can typically be found next to the model number on the bottom of the router.

It's true that these options don't necessarily support the very latest routers, but they do add masses of features to older routers. Also with ASUS routers they do already have lots packed in, and I actually opted to install the ASUSWRT-Merlin firmware which retains close compatibility with the ASUS firmware.

See DD-WRT vs. OpenWrt: Which open-source router firmware should you pick?

#technology #routers #DDWRT #OpenWRT

Installing a custom firmware on your router gives you more control and longer support than the stock firmware.

technology routers OpenWRT DDWRT

If your router no longer gets OEM updates, consider OpenWRT with 180 more devices supported to a total of 1,580 devices

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 17:39:43 -0300 última edição: Tue, 06 Sep 2022 17:40:25 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Your home router is usually your main gateway and firewall between your house full of connected devices, and the Wild West of the Internet. If you have a router that is no longer receiving updates every month or so, then you're likely not getting the security patches that you need to protect your home network.

Or you may have an older, or cheaper, router that lacks many more advanced features.

OpenWRT is regularly updated and patched and is crammed with all sorts of management and security features. It can turn many "dumb" routers into more advanced devices (yes, it's mostly all in the software). It is free to install and use, but will require you to reflash your router and start again with default settings.

See OpenWrt 22.03 Released With Updated Firewall, Support For 180+ New Devices

#technology #OpenWRT #routers #security #opensource

[url=https://www.phoronix.com/news/OpenWrt-22.03-Released]

OpenWrt as the embedded Linux distribution designed to run on wireless routers and other networking devices is out with its 22.03 stable release.

technology routers opensource openwrt

OpenWrt, an open source alternative to firmware for home routers, because your existing router could be out of date

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 16:11:34 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

If you're reading this article from home, you are probably connected with a LTE/5G/DSL/WIFI router. Such devices are usually responsible to route packets between your local devices (smartphone, PC, TV, and so on) and provide access to the World Wide Web through a built-in modem. Your router at home has most likely a web-based interface for configuration purposes. Such interfaces are often oversimplified, as they are made for casual users.

If you want more configuration options, but don't want to spend for a professional device, you should take a look at an alternative firmware such as OpenWrt.

Not only are many lower end consumer devices crippled as far as functionality goes, but many manufacturers just stop providing software updates after two or three years. If your router is in either of these categories, you may want to consider OpenWrt instead. The linked article below has a link to see what devices are supported.

See OpenWrt, an open source alternative to firmware for home routers

#technology #routers #OpenWrt #opensource

If you're reading this article from home, you are probably connected with a LTE/5G/DSL/WIFI router.

technology opensource openwrt routers

Turris Omnia is an open source network router that has plugins for NAS, Nextcloud server, SSH honeypot, Tor node, and more

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 09:48:08 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

This is a router from the Czech Republic using open source firmware built on top of OpenWrt. It has everything you'd expect from hardware running open source, and quite a lot more, including installable packages, so you can add exactly what your home or business network needs the most while ignoring the parts you won't use.

It'll change your perception of what a router is, what a router can do for your network, and even how you interact with your entire network.

In addition to the flexibility of its interface, the Turris Omnia also features a package manager. You can install plugins, including Network Attached Storage (NAS) configuration, a Nextcloud server, an SSH honeypot, speed test, OpenVPN, print server, a Tor node, LXC for running containers, and much more.

It is available on Amazon for $395, but consider it more than "just a router". The CPU is a Marvell Armada 385, Dual Core 1.6 GHz with 2 GB RAM and 8 GB eMMC. It is possible to operate Wifi at 5 GHz (802.11 AC) and 2.4 GHz (802.11 b / g / n) at the same time.

Distributed adaptive firewall – The Turris headquarters compares data received from thousands of connected routers and if it identifies an attack, updates are sent right away to all Turris devices.

See Try Turris Omnia, the open source router

#technology #opensource #router #openwrt #hardware

Whether you're a network engineer or a curious hobbyist, you ought to take a look at the open source Turris Omnia router the next time you're in the market for network gear.

technology hardware opensource router openwrt

OpenWrt is often ideal for older or cheaper modems to provide lots of extra, and up to date, features and security patches - Check when you buy, that a modem is OpenWrt compatible

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 07:22:18 -0300

Danie van der Merwe

gadgeteer@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

It's a fact of life that most proprietary vendors only support their hardware for a few years with updates. Another practice is selling their cheaper modems with a lot of functionality missing, to encourage buyers to pay up for a more expensive model to for example get mesh networking, load balancing, real-time network monitoring stats, etc.

So it's worth always checking, when buying a new modem, if it is OpenWrt compatible, as this will allow you to reflash the modem with OpenWrt. It could also mean buying a cheaper modem now, and gaining some extra functionality at no extra cost. But most important is that you can continue to get software updates and security patches.

See OpenWrt - Wikipedia

#technology #opensource #modems #OpenWrt #LEDE

OpenWrt (from open wireless router) is an open-source project for embedded operating systems based on Linux, primarily used on embedded devices to route network traffic. The main components are Linux, util-linux, musl,[4] and BusyBox. All components have been optimized to be small enough to fit into the limited storage and memory available in home...

technology opensource modems openwrt