OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released [LWN.net]

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 11, 2015 15:50 UTC (Fri) by mmonaco (guest, #84041)
In reply to: OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released by michel
Parent article: OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

The TP-Link Archer C7 is well supported and is a popular choice for OpenWRT. Last I checked it's the nicest model that TP-Link offers that has an Atheros/Qualcomm chipset. The more expensive models use Broadcom and are not well supported by OpenWRT, but the only major feature the Broadcom models have is beam forming which is not useful to many people. I've been very happy with it -- it's been stable with four 2.5 GHz and three 5.0 GHz SSIDs. It's also pretty cheap.

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OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 11, 2015 16:32 UTC (Fri) by michel (guest, #10186) [Link] (7 responses)

Thanks, that's very helpful. Do you happen to know if it has TTY access on the board? That's sometimes helpful when messing around with custom builds, etc. However, how would I have known about this? Days of browsing through their forums and their web pages seems to not help too much for a seemingly basic question like that. Hence, my frustration.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 11, 2015 17:12 UTC (Fri) by lamawithonel (subscriber, #86149) [Link] (5 responses)

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wdr7500#serial

I find the OpenWRT wiki pages are one of the best resources for pre and post-purchase research. The index page organizes them into "supported," "unsupported," and "work in progress." And if a "supported" router has a good page like the Archer C7, it's a good sign it will work well without much hassle. Read through the pages, though. As with any project of this breadth, there are known problems.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 16, 2015 6:25 UTC (Wed) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link] (4 responses)

The OpenWrt wiki is awesome. I bought a TP-Link TL-WR1043N thanks to it and everything worked out of the box. Maybe because TP-Link bases their own software on openWRT? The only exception was a one-line fix in some obscure config or script file for a 3G USB dongle, and this was years ago. Using 3G was generally not even possible with other products at that time.

While OpenWrt is awesome, I also doubt it will last long once it becomes easy to find a embedded system under $100 with Wifi and the ability to run a standard Linux distribution. There's a price point under which "twice cheaper" stops mattering.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 8:16 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265) [Link] (1 responses)

> While OpenWrt is awesome, I also doubt it will last long once it becomes easy to find a embedded system under $100 with Wifi and the ability to run a standard Linux distribution. There's a price point under which "twice cheaper" stops mattering.

Sure. Do you also expect your "generic embedded system with Wifi" to have:

1. 4 or 5 gigabit ethernet ports?
(don't know about you but I have plenty of use for them)

2. WiFi radio capabilities that match those of a dedicated router?
(I need multiple routers to have full coverage in my whole house)

3. ?make ice cream?
(I love ice cream too!)

Do you also expect Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu/etc to become as easy to use, configure and optimize as a router as OpenWrt? Seriously?
The most expensive thing in my home network setup was the time I spent setting it up, not the hardware.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 16:25 UTC (Thu) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]

> 4 or 5 gigabit ethernet ports?

Would be happy to use a dedicated hardware switch if I needed too. It's now cheap and small, I mean small compared to the cables themselves anyway.

> WiFi radio capabilities that match those of a dedicated router?

Good question! I assumed many interfaces are on par with dedicated routers since... "dedicated routers" tend to use the same drivers anyway? Am I wrong?
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers

> Do you also expect Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu/etc to become as easy to use, configure and optimize as a router as OpenWrt? Seriously?

Yes, and no. I expect people who currently spend their precious time working hard and giving us OpenWrt for free to eventually redirect their effort to "DebianWrt" = yet another Debian derivative pre-configured and optimized for this job. The idea is the same: more software re-use, less maintenance, more security updates, and less... "cute embedded nonsense [build] hacks" ;-)

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 8:23 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265) [Link] (1 responses)

> Maybe because TP-Link bases their own software on openWRT?

I believe most of the vendors base their firmware on OpenWRT. In practice, the real deal breaker for OpenWrt support *without blobs* is the chipset support. If it is an Atheros chipset, there are good odds that it will be supported. If it is Broadcom or Marvell, it will (normally) not be supported. (This is an oversimplification, but you get my point).

For instance the TP-Link Archer C5 v1.2 is Atheros based and has full support. Now the updated version of it, TP-Link Archer C5 v2.0, is Broadcom based and unsupported.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Oct 9, 2015 23:37 UTC (Fri) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

It seems likely that the vendors will be seriously annoyed if OpenWRT becomes illegal to install, then, because they're relying on it for free development work.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 8:03 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265) [Link]

Two points:

1. I second the Archer recommendation. I own an Archer C5 v1.2, which is (as far as people have been able to tell) the same hardware as the C7 but with software limitations on the original firmware. It sells cheaper than the C7. Notice you cannot use the Archer C5 v2.0.

2. No idea how you managed to miss this recommendation. To the best of my knowledge the Archer C7/C5v.1.2 was the only router considered stable with N support, it is quoted as such in the forums very often.

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 15, 2015 9:12 UTC (Tue) by rmayr (subscriber, #16880) [Link]

We have now ordered a Zyxel NBG6716 (http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/zyxel/zyxel_nbg6716) because of the large flash. I cannot yet say how well it is really supported by OpenWrt without tinkering, but it looks promising (and arrived today, so we may have some more experience in the next few weeks).

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 15:15 UTC (Thu) by pj (subscriber, #4506) [Link] (1 responses)

How's that? http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wdr7500 says that 5.0GHz isn't supported ?

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 18, 2015 19:34 UTC (Fri) by lsl (subscriber, #86508) [Link]

Where does it say that? For the Archer C7, I think you're supposed to use the v2.0 revision. The page says that 5 GHz WiFi is not supported on the C7 v1.x and the WDR7500 (== C7R) v2.x, but is on the C7 v2.0.

From the link:
> The Archer C7 v2.x uses the BR4A (v2) variant which is supported in ath10k.

Gotta love router vendors and their cute naming schemes.