bk99.de entertain the web since 1997

bk99.de
g · NetworksCurated

OpenWrt community wants to build its own hardware

Summary

In January 2024 the OpenWrt project announced its own router hardware for the first time with the OpenWrt One, fully usable with free software and for under 100 US dollars. Planned were a MediaTek MT7981B SoC, Wi-Fi for 2.4 and 5 GHz, 2.5 GbE and 1 GbE ports, 1 GByte of RAM, NAND flash, an M.2 slot and power via USB-C. Only the Ethernet and Wi-Fi firmware and the DRAM calibration were to remain proprietary.

Ideas

  • Free firmware from the boot loader to the kernel is meant to keep routers maintainable in the long term.
  • ARM Trusted Firmware and U-Boot are to be supported entirely as free software.
  • The board is compatible with the Banana Pi R4 so that cases can be reused.
  • The Software Freedom Conservancy receives a donation per device and helps with GPL compliance.

Insights

  • A community that defines its own reference hardware becomes more independent of manufacturers’ whims.
  • Even open hardware still needs proprietary firmware for radio and network chips.

Facts

  • Sales were to go through Banana Pi.
  • The idea had been discussed in the project since 2017.

References

Critique

  • The report gives no schedule because the project itself did not yet have one.

Remarks

  • The OpenWrt One did indeed come onto the market at the end of 2024.

Recommendations

  • Choose routers for OpenWrt by full mainline support and a free boot chain.
  • Use M.2 storage in the router for logs or services instead of wearing out the flash.

Read the original article

Search the Web Archive

g · 2018

Vodafone wants tax money for new 5G mobile network

In January 2018 Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametsreiter called for state funding for fibre in order to build a 5G network faster. Until then, funding had mainly gone into copper and DSL expansion. With fibre reaching two percent of households, Germany ranked 28th of 32 OECD countries.

g · 2004

T-Com wants to switch the telephone network to the internet protocol

In January 2004 T-Com, Telekom’s fixed-network division, announced that it would switch its entire telephone network to internet technology, well before 2020. With internet telephony, lines no longer have to be switched exclusively between two parties; allocating bandwidth is enough. The technology also needs less space and power than classic exchanges.

g · 2026

Wi-Fi 7 routers disappoint so far

In 2026 the magazine Rtings found none among 25 tested Wi-Fi 7 routers that implemented the standard satisfactorily. Multi-Link Operation (MLO) in particular was neglected: no model used true simultaneous MLO, and only one supported EMLSR as a fallback. In addition, manufacturers cause confusion with names such as “Wifi” without a hyphen, which are not subject to the Wi-Fi Alliance’s certification.