I am looking to try openwrt in my home network with 500mbps internet connection (& going to remain so for the foreseeable future). None of my current routers are openwrt compatible. As a beginner I won't be using openwrt router for anything fancy other than maybe running adguard home or maybe some advanced firewall rules which can apply between devices in the local network. In future I might experiment with vlans & wireguard for remote access to home network from abroad for checking on some things on local devices. I have searched a lot & nanopi R3S seems like a good option well within my budget of around $50. Anything from China with bulky dimensions (like AX3000T) or anything which require more than selecting an image in default web interface of device to install openwrt is not an option currently. Is there something better than R3S with these conditions?
Do you need wifi ?
Where are you located, geographically?
Wifi is not required, located in South Asian region but a friend's relative may be able to bring stuff from US.
I don't own a NanoPi R3S, but based upon specs this looks like an excellent 'value for money' choice. Next to this there is also a vivid community for NanoPi devices which will benefit in case you are running into issues.
In which country in South Asian region, if you are from Pakistan, India or Bangladesh, you can check your local market for a used dual Nic X86. Which can be had for as low as Usd 20 depending on make and model.
I am assuming you are talking about those cheap x86 pc but I want a low power sff device at the minimum & from all the reputed places I know in my region the cheapest such x86 pc I can get is Dell Wyse 5070 non-extended version (no pcie slot) for around $90.
there's plenty of used x86 gear on US eBay, if that's the route you'd like to take.
you can often get the SW301DA's for as low as $15.
ARK-1123's for $30.
ION 2000's around $20.
NCA-1010B's for $35.
Cheapest ARK-1123 I saw on ebay US for sellers located within US (important because otherwise too long delivery times & extra customs duty) was around $39. I couldn't find ION 2000 on ebay & the cheapest listing for NCA-1010B I saw was around $33. Compared to these, NanoPi R3S with 2gb ram & 32gb emmc along with metal case comes for $40 officially & I think I can get it with maybe $10-12 shipping charges.
correct, but it's a "Best Offer" sale, make them an offer.
this seller will accept $15, that's what I offered, https://www.ebay.com/itm/156591737212.
all those x86 boxes have upgradable storage and RAM, and will happily do 8GB RAM, something the R3S won't, plus you'll get the extra ethernet ports.
but yes, getting something new, locally, might be a better idea.
I bought a NanoPi R3S, from aliexpress. I am only using it for a 5g connection which currently maxes out at about 120Mb/s, with 802.1q vlan tagging and l2tp tunneling to my upstream ISP, and PBR using nftables/fw4.
Here's an htop during a speedtest:
The main issue is, I am not the one in US but a friend's relative so can't ask for too many things other than sending a simple link to click & buy. I don't think my usage or future requirements will use more than 2gb ram. As for extra ethernet ports, I have multiple switches & routers lying around so that's not an issue. If there is some good deal on ebay/amazon/bestbuy/newegg/woot etc from US based sellers for some device with official openwrt latest version support & a simple install/upgrade method using webgui without fiddling with command prompt resizing partition etc or opening the case to press some switch etc then that will help.
I am going to use with a 500mbps internet wired connection with some advanced firewall rules to apply between devices in local network & run adguard home & maybe wireguard in future just to access home network devices to monitor some software & some vlan stuff if I am able to understand it well enough.
you will run into the resizing "issue" with the R3S too, then again no one's forcing you to utilize the whole storage, on any hw.
if you want fire and forget, get a plastic box router.
What's the default storage size of openwrt latest version as I always assumed resizing partition as prerequisite to install openwrt is a special case for specific hardware?
"Plastic Box Router" like?
it's been 100MB for a very long time.
resizing can be done on all devices with extendable/replaceable storage, AFAIK.
there are some "plastic box" MediaTek based AX routers offering the same thing, by altering the layout of the flash, know as "ubootmod".
on the EX5601 (aka T-56) you get 400MB of flash space, if you switch over to the openwrt specific flash layout.
something like the AX3000T you mentioned earlier.
plastic box = plastic casing.
So if someone install openwrt on a nanopi R3S with 32gb emmc then openwrt only sees 100mb initially & one has to run commands via ssh to expand that 100mb to few GBs & whether it can be done via Luci gui?
It needs to be done for the R4S and R5S, so I would assume so.
Search the forum R4S or R4S resize.
Just bought R5S as I wanted an extra port. Otherwise, I would have gone with R3S. If you need ports and don't need QOS, ERX or ER605v2 are good as well (I just replaced my ERX which still works great after 9 years!) but initial installs are not as simple as nanopi's.
Yeah the initial install steps on edgerouter X & ER605v2 are relatively much more complicated compared to R3S so not going to consider them not to mention ER605v2 new cost almost $70 in my region while in US the cheapest one cost around $45 from amazon resale with "used" condition.
For now I have almost decided on nanopi R3S but need some clarification on difference between non-emmc & emmc version. Is there a difference in install procedure for open wrt on emmc vs installing on a microsd card in non-emmc version & whether one is recommended over other for whatever reason?