OpenWRT 18.06 Released, Their First Update Since Merging With LEDE

[calc]

Other recommended devices for that type of usage are GL.inet minirouters. GL.inet contributes directly to OpenWrt as they use it as default firmware (with a proprietary interface) anyway. https://www.gl-inet.com/

When I got mine about a year ago they didn't have a AC model out yet iirc. The new GL-AR750S looks really interesting.

[starshipeleven]

When I got mine about a year ago they didn't have a AC model out yet iirc. The new GL-AR750S looks really interesting.

I got a bunch of GL-MT300N-V2 to use as VPN clients. I didn't care much about wifi ac on pocket routers, I don't need more than wifi n to share VPN-protected internet access to a few devices in the same room.

Their B1300 home routers are pretty good as VPN server (quadcore, 750mhz), I finally replaced the x86 OpenVPN VM I ran for years with a B1300 thing running wireguard.

[Zyklon]

I run OPNsense on my PCEngines APU, and having two different OS's in my interwebz chain is a big plus for me. I'm totally happy with that, but just out of curiosity - is there a recent field report, comparing those two systems?

[Zyklon]

@Michael: Wanna benchmark? 😁

[cynical]

My previous router (TP-Link TL-WDR3600) is very well supported, but I don't like the fact it only has an Ethernet interface. I'm using two Turris Omnia (2 GiB) at the moment, and they work really well too (but they're expensive), minus some minor quirks (RGB LED support). That said, the most amazing OpenWrt system I ever configured is based on a PC Engines APU2C4. If I needed to buy a router now, it would be my first choice, hands down.

That Omnia looks really nice. Do you think it's worth it despite the price, or would you get something less expensive?

[Ansla]

cynical Omnia Turris' strengths are the software and specs that you can't get from regular routers no matter the price. Like 2GB of RAM and 8GB of builtin storage. Those will really make a difference if you intend to host lots of services on it. Of course, if you only intend to use it as a dumb router, a cheaper one will sufice. But at least in Europe it is not an expensive router, it has an average price compared to other routers with decent specs.

[wdb974]

Yeah, even Marvell wifi chips (that are somewhat rare) have a good opensource driver now, they improved *A LOT* from LEDE 17.0x to OpenWrt 18.06 thanks to the opensource wifi driver guy employed by Marvell.

Overall, no. Although they did open up with time and are usually providing something now.
They do contribute some support for the CPU and basic SoC stuff, but the issue is the GPU (usually a Mali so no open driver yet), and also usually the media decoding accelerator (which is crucial in a mobile device), plus all the other stuff like touchscreen or bluetooth or wifi or modem or whatever else is a crapshoot (as it's stuff chosen by the OEM, not Mediatek).

Yeah, smartphone and tablet hardware is often very badly supported by manufacturers, hence my questions. Thank you for your answers! Much appreciated.

[starshipeleven]

That Omnia looks really nice. Do you think it's worth it despite the price, or would you get something less expensive?

It's main appeal is that it does not have Intel ME or AMD PSP (being a Mediatek ARM CPU).

But imho when the price goes beyond the 150 euro it's better to split functions out and buy multiple different devices instead of a single one. In embedded systems, the point where they are most cost-efficient is when they are performing one or two functions at most.

Turris is cool and all (as long as you need serious CPU power and RAM in a router anyway, as the other guy said, services, VPN, network shares, whatever), and is less stupid than Gaming routers what cost up to 600 euros and look like an alien ship (with obligatory RGB lights), but in my experience the rule of thumb above holds true more often than not. If you are breaking the 150 euro ceiling, start looking at what functions you can split out.

For example buying something cheaper to do the router/firewall job and an additional wifi access point you go and place somewhere else in the house (the only real way to "boost the wifi", the way "pros do it"), or add a small home NAS where you can run all services you want, or all three. Or a decent 5 or 8 or 16-port gigabit switch to bring each room its own gigabit ethernet cable.

It's also better in the long run for upgrades as if you bought many devices you can upgrade something by just changing one piece of the infrastructure, you don't need to buy a whole new 300 euro monster again.