All the images (mine and OpenWrt official) are plug-and-play. You install them using the "factory" image just like a Linksys firmware update. After performing the "update", it will boot in OpenWrt.
The main difference between my images and official OpenWrt is that the former contains a collection of software preinstalled, so is less likely that you have to install separated packages (and some packages such as Samba4 may be too big to be even installed). Official OpenWrt images have only the core system and a SSH server.
So, using my prebuilt is more similar to using DD-WRT which comes with software preinstalled and ready to configure and use.
Thanks for the info. Just one other, probably silly, question - I have always used the same network names (Netgear, Netgear3, Netgear_Guest etc) and ip addressing (192.168.0.*) on my routers, so it is connectible on all devices after configuration. Will I be able to change everything on this build okay?
Your question is a bit off topic because this thread is related to the device support, as is. But if you are wondering: the device is pretty capable of running almost all OpenWrt features. OpenWrt itself is a powerful firmware, so if you can do what you want with an OEM firmware, it's very likely that you can do it or even more with OpenWrt. As all firmwares, it starts with a generic configuration and from there you can personalize your router.
Related to configuration and setup: read the OpenWrt's wiki.
Related to my custom build, I will answer questions and problems if you open a issue in my GitHub's fork.
Related to this hardware, this thread is the correct.
Hi @NoTengoBattery, that test_calibration script sounds very interesting (even though I'm very pleased with the Wifi on Release 9 as it is). And you are correct, if it's that easy to change it's not out of my league anymore
I found the calibration board files at your github download page but I can't seem to find the scripts.
Or should I wait for release 10 of your firmware build?
All the thing I've done to get my custom build, and all the things you need to reproduce my work is on my GitHub fork of OpenWrt. For example, the script is here.
Those are a dedication to the public domain so feel free to do what you want without even noticing my existence.
You can, of course, use them in my custom build that I can guarantee that they work as expected, out of the box and as I documented them. But I will not send those files to upstream because they don't belong there, and I'm not searching to pass their quality control, but mine and the critical eye of people that know more than me.
P.D.: I will send the calibration board files to upstream and to infradead as soon as we feel confident of the results. Please: do not send the files yourself. Let's be really sure first.
Just created this account to say Release 9 is perfect so far for me. I started around release 4; at the time, 2.4G range was about 5 meters, and 5G wouldn't even authenticate. Now though it's flawless. Great range, great throughput.
I have now tested all the calibration board files for both 2.4 and 5 GHz, thanks a lot for making this possible @NoTengoBattery.
For 2.4 I would say that: hw_1_DK01 and hw_1_Y9803 are the best ones and gives very similar results. Hard to tell which one is the best, they are both great and much better than the other ones.
For 5 GHz I would say that ah_Y9803 and ic_Y9803 are the best ones, very similar results but if I had to pick one I would say that ic_Y9803 is the winner for 5GHz.
These results are the best I have seen, if you need more speed than this connect a cable
I also did my testing and I can confirm that hw_1_Y9803 is better for me than hw_1_DK01. On the other side, I don't know for what calibration is the log you sent.
I think that with this confirmation I can safely update the files in upstream and send them to ath10k@lists.infradead.org. I think they are a safe bet and if someone is experiencing poor performance, they can test other calibration files.
For the sake of clarification, the files that will be sent to upstream will be:
2.4 GHz: hw_1_Y9803
5 GHz: ic_Y9803
I didn't tested ic_Y9803 until yesterday, so my prebuilt use hw_1_DK01 for 2.4GHz; ah_Y9803 for 5GHz, but yesterday I changed my mind.
Edit: not ah_Y9803, it's au_Y9803. My documentation was bugged. LOL.
P.D.: New prebuilt available: v0.01. That prebuilt comes with my custom scripts. It have a little bug in failsafe mode but, well, it's not that bad. I've fixed it and it will be available in the next week (v0.02).
Hi @martin8, the current snapshot from the official openwrt website is broken, the build by @NoTengoBattery is very usable and has a lot of applications already installed.
If you are still on the stock firmware, it quite easy to switch back if you use @NoTengoBattery build as it includes advance reboot. So you can reboot to stock if you want
Hopefully this device makes it into the next official release, which will only be possible if lots of people test the builds and give feedback of any bugs
Hi all
Just a quick note to anyone testing the builds for this device.
As this device has two partitions i always reboot with advance-reboot to the partition i want to keep before flashing any new build.
That way my first partition is the one i use daily and the alternate one is the test one.
You are right, @imi2003. @martin8 First of all we cannot discuss about when OpenWrt itself will be stable. That's off topic. The device running OpenWrt (my prebuilts to be precise) is performing well and even if not bug free, it's pretty stable at this point (just some minor annoyances).
Answering to @imi2003 I just want to clarify that my build includes a script for reverting back to stick at any time. The only prerequisites are a shell with root access and an original Linksys firmware image (downloadable from the device's support page).
Edit: typo, change stick with stock
And a question for all of you: Shall we change the device name to Civic?
Also an announcement: I've sent the calibration files to upstream and infradead.
I just published a new prebuilt. I did this instead of waiting the next week because this has an important change that you may want to have as soon as possible. Some changes are as follows:
New apps
RP PPPoE ([1] disabled by default)
Ntftables QoS ([1] disabled by default, useful for bandwidth limit if you need or want a WiFi guest network with limited throughput. Built-in because it requires two kernel modules and those are not easy to install as I don't have a server .)
[1] Fixed minor annoyances with Dropbear and OpenSSH in Safe Mode
Fixed uhttpd/OpenSSL (https works on Safari but not on Chrome and I don't know why)
Not a full changelog.
[1]: The files changed in the running firmware will not be updated with the versions in the image: the changes are only effective on Fail Safe mode and after the first boot.
There's some question as to what the internal at the board level should be called (such as DTS), but, from an end-user perspective, I'm of the opinion that they should be "human readable" for someone trying to find the right firmware to flash, as well as to configure in the build tools.
Linksys, as almost all OEMs, uses code names for their devices.
I'm not saying to change the commercial/user friendly name (which is EA6350v3) to "Civic". I'm telling about changing the internal name to Civic.