Hi! I have an old nexus 7 2012 GSM lying around. Currently it's a brick but I could get it fixed, if adding OpenWRT support for it would be considered. I understand that it's an usual device, a tablet, but it's supported by mainline Linux, has full(??) postmarketos support, which means that all drivers got ported and 1GB of Ram. Since it has no ethernet ports, OpenWRT could broadcast a passwordless Wi-Fi by default or include some USB to Ethernet drivers. (That's my hypothetical use-case for it, attaching Ethernet dongle and then connecting it to a switch). I don't have such abilities, but I would be glad to provide testing and feedback if it were ever to be considered
You mean someone should do all the work for you, and you the testing ?
No, I don't mean that. I mean that if I could possibly help with something, I will. Just that I don't have much programming knowledge, etc
OpenWrt doesn't target phones and tablets. You'd have to develop from the ground up -- and the onus would be on you to do so.
Why not simply restore Android back to that unit?
Why would you have to develop from the ground up, since all the necessary software has already been ported? Isn't it a matter of just flashing the kernel and the rootfs(there are many arm openwrt routers)? It's already possible to boot debian, fedora or anything else there, since it's already mainlined. I am honestly trying to understand. If there's much more to it, I'm sorry for trying to start such a silly topic
that's like saying that building a skyscraper is just a matter of hanging some steel beams. A very large part of the development work is "just flashing kernel and rootfs" and getting it to function properly.
Feel free to give it a shot, though... you can download the development environment and start modifying the code to fit the device.
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Also, it's worth pointing out that if you can install a mainline distro of debian linux, you can actually do everything that OpenWrt does just by installing the relevant (debian) packages and configuring appropriately. What makes OpenWrt special is that it targets devices with as little as 8MB flash and 64MB RAM (although this is not advised anymore... minimum 16/128 is now the starting point).
Yeah, but the flashing part is also already sorted out, no? Have a look at here https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Nexus_7_2012_(asus-grouper). It uses standard android fastboot, the bootloader is easily unlockable, etc. Where would I start if I were to try this myself?
I like OpenWRT for these purposes much more
What's the goal here ?
To have it running as a router?
No matter how little time and money you invest in this, a used router will always be cheaper.
Yeah, pretty much. Where would you get a used router with 1gb of ram, and several gigs of storage for 10USD(the price of a used nexus 7 2012)? List of hardware with 1GB is quite small in openwrt and none of those are gonna cost 10USD. The only other option is x86, which are much bigger and costlier, even used
I read the web page and none of that touches on what's im trying to do 
The WRX36 is $80, but I guess you've got all the time in the world, since you're only counting the cost of the hw, and not the time spent.
Or do you still think someone else will do the work for you?
Another option are the slim client routers, they are often in the $50 range on ebay.
I've also bought the Roqos RC10, Trustwave TS-25 and Cyberoam CR35Wing for $25 on ebay, they're all fully working x86_64 5 or 6 port gigabit routers, with upgradable storage and RAM (up to 8GB).
Compared to them, the tablet's a really bad buy, even at $10.
Keep in mind that a device of this category will not be a good router. It will have very limited throughput... USB 2.0, 802.11n with real world performance ~30Mbps, and so on. It also doesn't have a routing optimized SoC, so you're not going to get hardware accelerated routing, meaning that it will lean heavily on the main CPU.
So, sure, 1GB RAM is nice, but any purpose-built all-in-one wifi router with 64MB or 128MB RAM (that you could get for $10-$20USD) will probably outperform a tablet of this type and age.
USB 2.0 is 400+ mbps, quite a lot. Not a 1gbit, but more than most people's internet connections. Hardware accelerated routing is? If you mean hardware accelerated NAT, than it's already disabled by default in OpenWRT and not supported by SQM at all. All the high-performing OpenWRT devices rely solely on CPU. Thinking that a 64MB or 128MB single-core mips router will outperform a quad-core 1GB RAM SoC is optimistic AT BEST. No 128MB devices is gonna reach even 400mbps USB limit in openwrt, neither by wifi or by wire
Roqos RC10 is 180EUR on ebay currently. Trustwave TS-25 is 414EUR. Cyberoam CR35Wing is 173. Not even the same price range and all of them are quite rare. Much rarer than what I have in mind. Finding any of them for 25EUR must be a quest
USB 2.0 is 480Mbps theoretical max bandwidth. Real world throughput is much lower because of overhead. You'll probably max out at <200Mbps for any practical USB 2.0 solution.
Tell you what... try it using debian. Should be able to setup a dumb AP type configuration (just bridge wired to wifi) in the debian world... Then, test the throughput that you get when doing an iPerf3 test from a host on the wired network to one on the wifi AP that you would configure on the Nexus 7. Let's see what you get.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/nexus-7-maximum-wifi-speed.1933899/
You posted the price of the tablet in $, so I assumed you were shopping in US. But I've bought the TS-25 for 25€ too, on DE ebay, can post a screenshot, if you'd like.
The thing is that I want to use as a wired router. And have WLAN by attaching a dumb AP