On Mon, 14 Jan 2019 17:59:30 +0000, Tim wrote: > If anybody has any stories regarding OpenWRT I would interested to > hear them
On Sat, 26 Jan 2019 13:13:02 +0000, Ralph Corderoy wrote: > Every time I'm in the market for a new broadband modem, like now, > I consider buying one supported by OpenWRT, but never manage it. The last I checked, the only available ADSL or VDSL modem that OpenWRT appeared to actually have a driver for was the one inside the BT Home Hub 5 type A (a.k.a. Plusnet Hub One or BT Business Hub 5). It is not a badly specified device given how cheaply available they are. 802.11ac, 128MB RAM, 128MB flash, 500MHz CPU. I bought one and put OpenWRT on it. The main downsides I see are: * Though it has gigabit network interfaces, it is not capable of actually routing traffic at gigabit speeds. (I don't care about that: it's fast enough for me.) * It is too easy to press the prominently-located restart button while handling the device, causing an unwanted reboot. Presumably the stock firmware requires regular rebooting so they decided to make a feature out of it. * It makes a quiet ticking noise like a laptop hard drive when it is transceiving WiFi traffic. (This seems to be the power supply circuitry responding to the varying load, because connecting a USB- powered device that uses PWM to fade some LEDs up and down causes the Home Hub to provide an audible rendition of the PWM signal, providing many minutes of entertainment.) * Unlike the radio in my previous, lower-spec Buffalo device (also running OpenWRT), the WiFi radios don't seem to support operating simultaneously as both a client and an access point. Though, since it's dual band and has two radios, the unit as a whole can do this, provided you don't mind dedicating a whole frequency band (2.4GHz or 5GHz) to each of these functions. * It doesn't have many indicator LEDs (but all three are RGB, so you can squeeze quite a bit of information out through them). * No option for external WiFi antennae (it works well without them, but some people might have a specific reason why they need or want them). Its been very stable for me. The only unplanned downtime has been due to power failures. I've only tried the xDSL modem itself for an hour or two, to test it. Therefore, I can't vouch for the xDSL modem's long-term stability, but I was satisfied that it would probably do the job if I wanted it to. The modem took a loooooong time to make a connection on the first attempt: about half an hour. I put that down to the DSLAM on the other end of the line being surprised to see a different modem, but not before I went on a wild goose chase tweaking the configuration to see if anything would make it work. After the initial connection, it appeared capable of reconnecting much more quickly. On Sat, 26 Jan 2019 13:13:02 +0000, Ralph Corderoy wrote: > I realise their specialised devices, but I'm surprised that projects > like OpenWRT don't settle on a collection of chips that they > support very well, e.g. good quality Linux kernel drivers, and then > see if they can crowdfund a device built around them. If you are acquiring new hardware, it seems to me that the only product category where there really seems to be a lack of OpenWRT compatibility is modems. If you just want a router or a WiFi access point, there are plenty of options. I speculate that it would be difficult to compete with the existing choice in those categories, but the xDSL modem-router category would be more fertile ground for a crowd-funded product. Patrick Wigmore -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-02-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
