Openwrt Router Firmware

[xiaofan]

Example of QWRT for Xiaomi BE10000, which is not supported by mainline official OpenWRT. Just FYI. Take note I don't recommend QWRT as it is with close source components and the support may not be good.

 

[BBCWatcher]

$100-$150 budget, want openwrt. what are my options (ax\be5400+)

GL.iNet Flint 2: the best mid-range OpenWRT compatible router with dual 2.5G ports and quad 1G ports, MediaTek Filogic 830 chipset, 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC.
I am not good at finding lobangs though so I just point to official GL.iNet APAC online shop at US$132. You may be able to find online shops with cheaper price.
https://openwrt.org/toh/gl.inet/gl-mt6000
https://store.gl-inet.com/products/flint-2-gl-mt6000-wi-fi-6-high-performance-home-router

That's a good price, and I think it beats the Amazon.com offer I found earlier.

The Banana Pi OpenWrt One Wi-Fi 6 router is also good if you don't need as many wired ports. It has one 2.5GBASE-T and one 1000BASE-T port. It has some "geek" features like an M.2 (2230/2242) NVMe PCIe slot, battery holder (to keep the clock running), PoE support, and a mikroBUS expansion port which could be a lot of fun. And it typically costs about US$20-US$30 less than the Flint 2. Available from many sellers at aliexpress.com. And I suspect Wi-Fi 7 will be a simple board swap at some point, but that's speculative.

One possible option if you need two wireless routers is to buy one of each, and to run mainline OpenWRT firmware on both. That way if you somehow "brick" one device you're still in business to some degree. Typically you'd use the Banana Pi OpenWrt One as your "satellite" wireless access point since it has fewer onboard ports and run 2.5BASE-T between the Banana Pi and your Flint 2 (located adjacent to your ONR or ONT).

 

[SkyShroud]

$100-$150 budget, want openwrt. what are my options (ax\be5400+)

GL.iNet Flint 2: the best mid-range OpenWRT compatible router with dual 2.5G ports and quad 1G ports, MediaTek Filogic 830 chipset, 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC.

I am not good at finding lobangs though so I just point to official GL.iNet APAC online shop at US$132. You may be able to find online shops with cheaper price.

https://openwrt.org/toh/gl.inet/gl-mt6000

https://store.gl-inet.com/products/flint-2-gl-mt6000-wi-fi-6-high-performance-home-router

Taobao can get flint 2 cheaper though need to buy UK plug.

Can also get tx-ax6000 at taobao which is same as tuf-ax6000. It has better wifi throughput but less storage than flint 2. Also need to buy uk plug if don't want use adaptor.

If wait for those 4/4 or whatever sales, maybe got 20 every 200rmb discount.

Also, when searching on taobao, don't use english marketing labels, in this case search for...
mt6000
ax6000
asus ax6000

 

[xiaofan]

Nokia G240G-E ONR is used by Singtel/WC.

It is interesting that there is an effort to get OpenWRT support for it.
https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/bt/g-240g-e_1

Hopefully this project will be successful so that the eWaste may become something useful.

Unfortunately most or all of the ONT/ONR become e-Waste after the users change ISP or upgrade to new plans which requires new ONT/ONR (eg: from GPON ONT/ONR to XGS-PON ONT/ONR).

 

[xiaofan]

OpenWRT 24.10 has been released.
https://openwrt.org/releases/24.10/notes-24.10.0

1. ARM SBC
Xunlong Orange Pi boards are not famous for OpenWRT.
Sinovoip --> Banana Pi BPi-R3 (2.5G capable) and BPI-R4 (10G capable and WiFi 7)
Friendly ARM --> NanoPi R2S/R2C, R4S, R5S/R5C (2.5G capable) and R6S (2.5G capable)

OpenWRT 24.10 has brought in official support of quite some new ARM SBC with dual or more Ethernet ports.

Sinovoip Banana Pi BPI-R4, MediaTek Filogic 880 (MT7988A)
https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/sinovoip/start
https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/sinovoip/bananapi_bpi-r4 [10G capable, dual 10G SFP+ ports]

FriendlyARM Nano Pi R5C/R5S/R6C/R6S [Rockchip RK3568 and RK3588]
https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/friendlyarm/start
https://openwrt.org/toh/friendlyarm/nanopi_r5c
https://openwrt.org/toh/friendlyarm/nanopi_r5s (dual 2.5G ports)
https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/friendlyarm/friendlyarm_nanopi_r6c
https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/friendlyarm/friendlyarm_nanopi_r6s (dual 2.5G ports)
https://wiki.friendlyelec.com/wiki/index.php/FriendlyWrt [FriendlyARM's own OpenWRT fork]

 

[xiaofan]

OpenWRT One is a lower end option which has one 2.5Gbe port and one gigabit port, at US$89.
https://openwrt.org/toh/openwrt/one

The developers are starting a discussion on OpenWRT Two, a higher end version at the target cost of US$250 with MediaTek Filogic 880 chipset, 10G SFP+ port, 5Gbe RJ45 ports, 2.5Gbe ports and triband WiFi 7.
https://lists.openwrt.org/pipermail/openwrt-devel/2025-February/043722.html

Let's see how it goes.

Personally I tend to think dual 10G SFP+ ports may be better than 10G SFP+ port + 5Gbe RJ45 port.

starting a [VOTE] to get approval allowing me to begin the development
of OpenWrt "Two".

"Two" will have all of the features that "One" has with the following
upgrades.

* MT7988
* 10G SFP
* 5G copper
* 4 port 2.5G copper
* 1-2 port 1G copper
* Tri-band Wi-Fi 7

"Two" will be produced by GL.iNet and we are exploring options for US/EU
based distribution.

"Two" will (hopefully) be in the 250$ region with yet again a portion of
that being donated to the project.

expected availability is late '25.

 

[xiaofan]

Let's see how qualcommmax support will evolve in the next version of OpenWRT.
https://openwrt.org/docs/techref/targets/qualcommax

Xiaomi AX6/AX3600/AX9000 are supported since OpenWRT 23.05.

Linksys MX4200/5300/8500 are supported in the latest release OpenWRT 24.10.

Linksys MX2000 (IPQ5018) and MX5500 (IPQ5018) are only supported by snapshot release.

 

[yozyoz]

Let's see how qualcommmax support will evolve in the next version of OpenWRT.
https://openwrt.org/docs/techref/targets/qualcommax

Xiaomi AX6/AX3600/AX9000 are supported since OpenWRT 23.05.

Linksys MX4200/5300/8500 are supported in the latest release OpenWRT 24.10.

Linksys MX2000 (IPQ5018) and MX5500 (IPQ5018) are only supported by snapshot release.

mainline openwrt doesnt have nss support（qualcomm’s version of hardware acceleration network offloading engine). Not a very good idea to use mainline openwrt on these routers.

 

[xiaofan]

mainline openwrt doesnt have nss support（qualcomm’s version of hardware acceleration network offloading engine). Not a very good idea to use mainline openwrt on these routers.

Indeed that is true now.

There is a popular thread in OpenWRT forum about 3rd party NSS build.
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/qualcommax-nss-build/148529/347

 

[yozyoz]

Speaking of openwrt one. There is one very interesting router called Cudy
https://www.cudy.com/products/tr3000-1-0

Also running on mtk7981, 256mb nand, but only 512MB ram(why would a dual core cpu need 1g ram…) with ax3000 dual band wifi, one 2.5G wan port, 1G lan port, usb 3.0

you will be surprised by the price if you search it in taobao/jd.

i suppose part of the price for openwrt one is faith tax.

 

[yozyoz]

Indeed that is true now.

There is a popular thread in OpenWRT forum about 3rd party NSS build.
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/qualcommax-nss-build/148529/347

3 popular open source forks of openwrt that has nss support

https://github.com/coolsnowwolf/lede
https://github.com/VIKINGYFY/immortalwrt
https://github.com/LiBwrt/openwrt-6.x

Only few ipq5018 routers are supoorted by lede.
most ipq60xx and ipq807x routers are supported in all 3 forks.

Actually i think the Chinese community is more active on openwrt because they need it for bypassing the Great Wall.

 

[xiaofan]

Speaking of openwrt one. There is one very interesting router called Cudy
https://www.cudy.com/products/tr3000-1-0

Also running on mtk7981, 256mb nand, but only 512MB ram(why would a dual core cpu need 1g ram…) with ax3000 dual band wifi, one 2.5G wan port, 1G lan port, usb 3.0

you will be surprised by the price if you search it in taobao/jd.

i suppose part of the price for openwrt one is faith tax.

It is discussed here -- it is a travel router with limited coverage. I consider it as a replacement for GL.iNet's more expensive travel routers, but not so much for typical home use cases.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...-gl-inet-routers-for-new-users.6592979/page-9

Not so sure which one you bought.

Cudy TR3000 travel router at RMB239 seems to be popular now. It is officially supported by mainline OpenWRT now.
https://www.cudy.com/products/tr3000-1-0
https://openwrt.org/toh/cudy/tr3000

Not bad for the price, 2.5G WAN, 1G LAN, dual band AX3000, Filogic 820 chipset, 512MB RAM, 128MB Flash, USB 3 type A port for 4G dongle or for file sharing, USB Type C port for power.

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yea, this one is the one i brought
<200 RMB

just for fun

Very much worth the money -- watched quite some review videos and this one is pretty good after flashing official OpenWRT.

No need to consider any GL.iNet travel routers any more.

Slate 7 is dead.

Flint 2 or Flint 3 will still be alive though.

 

[yozyoz]

Also recommending another router called “Taiyi” (yes nezha’s master sifu)
Ipq6010, 2G ram, 8G emmc, usb3.0. you can actually run some docker containers on it. Downside is it doesnt have 2.5G port. It doesnt have wifi either.

only available in jd.

 

[a4973]

Hi community, I am thinking of flashing openwrt 24.10.0 on an EA8100 which doesn't seem to be receiving updates from Linksys anymore. Only thing holding me back is the possibility that wireless may take a hit due to something about drivers being closed source etc. I have searched but I can't find anything specific for the ea8100 whether it is affected by the drivers issues. Anybody experienced with openwrt on ea8100 can advise? Thank you

 

[BBCWatcher]

The OpenWRT community has released Version 24.10.2. This point release adds support for a few more devices, as usual.

Version 24.10.2 also addresses some security vulnerabilities present in prior releases. If you're using OpenWRT, try to get this update installed reasonably quickly.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Hi community, I am thinking of flashing openwrt 24.10.0 on an EA8100 which doesn't seem to be receiving updates from Linksys anymore. Only thing holding me back is the possibility that wireless may take a hit due to something about drivers being closed source etc. I have searched but I can't find anything specific for the ea8100 whether it is affected by the drivers issues. Anybody experienced with openwrt on ea8100 can advise? Thank you

There doesn't seem to be any harm in trying OpenWRT on the Linksys EA8100 to see what results you get. You should be able to fall back to Linksys's firmware if you're unhappy with the results.

Note that there appear to be two hardware revisions of this wireless router ("v1" and "v2"). If you got your Linksys EA8100 from StarHub it's probably v1.

 

[BBCWatcher]

In case anyone is wondering, here's the current short list of Wi-Fi 7 routers that can run OpenWRT that are reasonably obtainable in Singapore:

• Sinovoip Banana Pi BPI-R4
• Asus ZenWiFi BT8

The Asus BT8 could be fairly described as experimental with OpenWRT right now. (See the linked thread for current details.) The Banana Pi BPI-R4 is already supported in the mainline OpenWRT release, and users seem happy with it. The BPI-R4 is actually a development board, but it's also available in kit form with the main board, Wi-Fi module, antennas, case, power supply, and (optionally) other components. Pricing seems fairly reasonable on sites such as Aliexpress, Taobao, and Shopee.

There are a couple other Wi-Fi 7 routers listed in the OpenWRT database, but they seem to be Internet Service Provider-supplied models in other countries making them at least difficult to find in Singapore.

 

[xiaofan]

Interesting OpenWRT (24.10.1) small packet (64 Bytes) forwarding performance comparison with Router OS (7.17.2) and iKuai OS, for Intel N100 CPU based mini PC with dual 2.5Gbe Ethernet ports.

 

[xiaofan]

The above author also has an interesting video comparing the packet forwarding performance of Intel N100 mini PC running Router OS vs HW routers (Xiaomi BE7000 and Ruijie BE72 Pro).

This is usually one of the weak point for mini PC based router, but in real life, it is still good enough for typical use cases. And for the use cases which need CPU processing (no HW offloading), then the CPU performance of mini PC based router will be much better.

 

[tanchoo1]

There doesn't seem to be any harm in trying OpenWRT on the Linksys EA8100 to see what results you get. You should be able to fall back to Linksys's firmware if you're unhappy with the results.

Note that there appear to be two hardware revisions of this wireless router ("v1" and "v2"). If you got your Linksys EA8100 from StarHub it's probably v1.

I am running StarHub's Linksys EA8100 (indeed it is v1) on OpenWrt. Now currently running version 24.10.2 and it has gotten more stable since the 24.10 release. Previously there were occasions where a reboot would not succeed and I would need to power cycle it. Also WiFi speeds appear to have increased and it is super stable now. I am very pleased with it.

It works well if you're into using perfectly good solid old hardware. Sure, it is WiFi 5 only, but that still suffices for everyone I'd dare to say with a maximum 400 - 600 Mbps throughput easily achieved on mobile devices.