OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
There are currently three major active branches of the OpenWRT platform: OpenWRT, FreeWRT, and DD-WRT. OpenWRT is the original code base, which focuses on a minimal embedded Linux platform with a number of modules to add various functionalities. FreeWRT is a direct outgrowth of OpenWRT and focuses on providing an advanced platform for experienced developers. DD-WRT started with Sveasoft Alchemy but switched over to a WRT kernel to make use of commodity access points from companies like Linksys and Netgear as opposed to high-end APs."
Posted Jun 8, 2007 1:48 UTC (Fri)
by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
[Link] (11 responses)
16MB of ram and 4MB of flash may not sound like much.(!) But between the efficiency of the ulibc-based software and the amazing compression of the LZMA compressed squashfs filesystem, 4MB of flash seems more like a gigabyte of flash. And 16MB of ram seems more like 128mb.
I sometimes catch myself just staring at my router in awe-struck admiration. And I've had it since March! If you love a good blend of efficiency and functionality as I do, you'll love these little boxes.
Another nice piece of hardware is the Linksys WRTSL54GS. It, like the WRT54GL, comes with its own Linux based firmware out of the box, and is very well supported by OpenWRT. But it has 8MB of flash, 32MB of ram, and... drum roll please... a USB port. I use mine as a my network file server. Though I could equally well use it as a print server... or both. (I get about 12.5MB/sec raw throughput from the USB drive, and about 2.4 MB/sec transfer over the network via NFSv3.
Extensibility is what OpenWRT is all about. It uses ipkg for package management, and the web interface gives you point and click access to a whole plethora of officially supported packages, with even more available via 3rd parties.
I know I'm coming off like a sales brochure, but I honestly think that what these guys are doing is "Ice Hot" to cop a phrase from Doctor Who. ;-)
Posted Jun 8, 2007 9:01 UTC (Fri)
by niner (subscriber, #26151)
[Link] (2 responses)
I recently upgraded to the WL500G-Premium which now costs about the same (about 80 Euros here) and brings 266MHz, 32MB RAM 8MB(!) Flash and two USB2 ports. It's awesome what this little machine can do. I too use it as a file server. Brings me 3,5MB/s of transfer speed over the network :)
Downloading large ISOs via bittorrent over night with just 15W of power. It still exites me :)
I just hope that someone will manage to get the hardware crypto stuff working sometime. That would be just awesome, as that would spare me the old notebook doing VPN in our second office. The WL500G-Deluxe peaks at about 3MBit/s :(
But many, many thanks to the openWRT guys, you rock!
Posted Jun 8, 2007 16:05 UTC (Fri)
by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
[Link] (1 responses)
It sounds as if you are getting an almost 50% better rate and I'm very interested in why that might be.
Thanks,
Posted Jun 10, 2007 22:40 UTC (Sun)
by niner (subscriber, #26151)
[Link]
Posted Jun 8, 2007 15:21 UTC (Fri)
by sdoyon (guest, #4221)
[Link] (2 responses)
Mine is acting as a streaming digital audio player, reading vorbis and
Posted Jun 8, 2007 20:02 UTC (Fri)
by DRBaldock (guest, #30881)
[Link] (1 responses)
Thanks for any info,
Posted Jun 9, 2007 1:28 UTC (Sat)
by DRBaldock (guest, #30881)
[Link]
Posted Jun 9, 2007 17:37 UTC (Sat)
by man_ls (guest, #15091)
[Link] (4 responses)
If you want to play, get an NSLU2 (or a "slug" as it's affectionately called by its happy owners), also from Linksys; also 32 MB of RAM, one ethernet, two USB ports, half the size of an WRT54GL. I received mine a couple of days ago (for about 80 ) and it has been much fun. Instead of a toned down version, you get to run Debian! That's right, the full distro; just flash it, plug an USB disk and get going. You still have a spare USB port if you want to use it as a print server. Or go with Gentoo if you feel like it, in fact you have a full-blown computer that consumes just 8 W; the list of applications is endless. If you already have a router and want something absurdly extensible, get one of these.
Sorry to sound like a competing sales brochure, but I'm honestly amazed too! :D
Posted Jun 9, 2007 20:32 UTC (Sat)
by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
[Link] (3 responses)
Posted Jun 9, 2007 21:16 UTC (Sat)
by man_ls (guest, #15091)
[Link] (2 responses)
With scp I get only 1.2 MB/s, and this time it is CPU-bound: the process eats more than 90% CPU. I haven't tried Samba yet.
As a print server it is really slow: sometimes it takes more than a minute to start printing, and
Posted Jun 9, 2007 21:31 UTC (Sat)
by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
[Link] (1 responses)
I've not tried my unit as a print server, so I may seem a bit naive here. But have you configured the queue as a raw print queue on the NSLU2 side and set the machine that the printing client is running on to do the actual work? There is really no need for the NSLU2 to be running gs is there, when cat would do?
Posted Jun 10, 2007 0:09 UTC (Sun)
by man_ls (guest, #15091)
[Link]
Posted Jun 8, 2007 3:23 UTC (Fri)
by thedude13 (guest, #29229)
[Link]
Also, later this month Syngress is publishing a book on hacking the WRT54G written by two of the Pauldotcom Security Weekly guys. From the table of contents (http://wrt54ghacks.com/417_WRT54G_TOC_SAMPLE.pdf) and from listening to them talk about it on their show it looks like it should be a great book for getting the most out of your WRT54G. They also put a sample chapter up that covers installing 3rd party firmware: http://wrt54ghacks.com/417_WRT54G_03_SAMPLE.pdf
Posted Jun 9, 2007 18:58 UTC (Sat)
by cthulhu (guest, #4776)
[Link] (1 responses)
Slightly off-topic, but I can't help but lament that mass-market
It's chicken-vs-egg, too: routers don't support 5 GHz because there aren't
What will it take to finally get real support for 5 GHz?
Posted Jun 14, 2007 15:01 UTC (Thu)
by hmh (subscriber, #3838)
[Link]
Posted Jun 15, 2007 2:40 UTC (Fri)
by alfille (subscriber, #1631)
[Link]
Also have binaries for the NSLU2.
If you are looking for something cool to play with... something different than anything else that you have done in a while, I *highly* recommend picking up a $62 WRT54GL from Newegg or Amazon ($52 after rebate) and flashing it with OpenWRT.OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
IMHO even better than the Linksys models, are the ones from ASUS. I had an ASUS WL500G-Deluxe for 1 1/2 years and I know these moments of admiration, you described pretty well :) It has 200MHz, 32MB RAM, 4MB Flash and two USB2 ports.OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
And I have still 2MB free space on the flash and it's getting hard to find something worth installing. I already have screen, ctorrent, nmap, iptraf (how cool is that?), tcpdump and even the huge nsupdate (the binary has 1,3MB!) for dynamically updating my DNS.
Hey, could you post some more details about your set up? My WRTSL54GS has exactly the same processor running at exactly the same speed. And running OpenWRT Kamikaze with the 2.6.21 kernel, NFSv3 using the kernel space NFS server, and an rsize/wsize of 32768, I don't get that transfer speed. The limitation is definitely processor, as it sits pegged at 100% while transfering at 2.4MB/sec, and the NFS server thread is using 94%.OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
Steve Bergman
The only difference that comes to my head right now is that I'm still running whiterussian. Hope to come around to try kamikaze this week.OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
I have to recommend the WRTSL54GS. The USB port opens up all sorts of coolOpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
possibilities.
mp3 files from my PC over wireless NFS, and playing them out through the
little stereo in my kitchen. I've equipped the router with a cheap hub,
a so called USB soundcard, and a USB infrared remote control
receiver. It's kind of like a cheap Squeezebox without the LCD. It runs
the Music Player Daemon. 3 months uptime so far :-). 5000 songs in the
shuffle. I just love it.
Do you know if the USB port(s) on these units will support a USB740 EVDO Modem, rather than the Ethernet port, as the Internet Uplink?OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
David Baldock
CORRECTION: I'm pretty sure the device is actually a USB720 EVDO Modem. (I was posting from memory when I was at work earlier.)OpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
I have to say, I cannot recommend one of those things. I have a WRT54GL and it has seen very little use: yes, it has Linux and it runs busybox, but there is not much you can do with so little space. It still makes for a nice little router, but it doesn't connect directly to the ADSL line, so you need another gadget for that.
As far as toys go
What kind of NFS/Samba performance do you get from the NSLU2?As far as toys go
I have measured more than 4 MB/s over the network using NFS, consistently, and it does not seem to be CPU-bound. This is using As far as toys go
nfs-kernel-server, an in-kernel NFS.
gs is kept busy all that time. Keep in mind that the 266 MHz IXP processor is optimized for network performance, not for general computation; in my OpenSSL tests it is like 20-40 times slower than my desktop amd64 @ 2 MHz. So a task which takes 2 seconds here can consume over a minute on the slug. (I guess you, sbergman27, already know that, but other readers should take it into consideration.) Roughly like a 604 @ 166 MHz, for PowerMac veterans.
Thank you for the info. The cpu-boundness of the WRTSL54GS in file serving tasks seems to be in the networking code. ttcp with a blocksize of 32768 bytes gets me only 3.6MB/sec @ 100% cpu load when the router is the sender, and 5.0MB sec as receiver. This is over a 100mbit wired connection.As far as toys go
As far as toys go
But have you configured the queue as a raw print queue on the NSLU2 side [...]?
Hmmm, you are right. I was lazy and just set up the local machine to use the remote CUPS (via client.conf), instead of configuring a remote printer. Now I have done it properly and it prints as fast as local. Thanks!
I also recommend pickup up a WRT54GL. After putting OpenWRT on it, it becomes very powerful and alot of fun to have =DOpenWRT 101 (O'ReillyNet)
Hi,Wish there was more 5 GHz supported
manufacturers consider 5 GHz "dead". And now with WiFi Draft N coming
out, and there being no 5 GHz devices, it means more and more of a
pig-pile into the 3 non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels - except that with
Draft N supporting 40 MHz wide channels, you can't even get that.
many 5 GHz NICs, so NICs don't support 5 GHz, so routers don't either...
You can always buy high-end APs (Proxim, Cisco, etc) or a routerboard and a mini-pci abg card. The right routerboard can make powerful and reliable APs, with more than one radio, USB or compact-flash storage, lots of RAM and embedded flash, etc. Fun for the entire weekend!Wish there was more 5 GHz supported
We've been using the ASUS and Linksys routers as servers for cheap 1-wire monitoring and hardware control systems. Great for remote sensors and control. (weather station, control of everything for irrigation to aquarium to swimming pools. http://www.owfs.org/index.php?page=wireless-routerMonitoring station