Hi, I'm new to the forum but I have a small experience with OpenWRT.
Right now I'm using openwrt (lede) not supported for a S905X tvbox I had lying around, wifi is not working and I have installed an external USB Ethernet to be able to do VPN, thing is that I can't install wireguard because of a dependency that can't be met, (kmod-wireguard).
I've managed to use wireguard via a docker container and mess with it too much to make it work that I shouldn't have
My question, is there an SBC that its fully supported by openwrt with wifi working as an AP and be able to use WireGuard VPN without too much fuss and with adequate speed (>300mbps)?
I've seen that orange pi zero 3 is nowadays in supported state, that would be a perfect candidate because of low price and 1000mbit eth together with wifi and quad core arm cpu. But I don't know if everything is working as it should or there are some problems with it.
Any other SBCs that can check my requirements? (or even not all, but I should know the problems beforehand )
Thanks!
edit: I don't care so much for a fast wifi, anything wireless can have a slow access, as long as my cables are fast enough
You really should specify what you understand under "STB" though, and what exact features you're looking for.
Hints:
OpenWrt doesn't have a GUI (in the sense of X.org/ wayland and/ or KDE/ GNOME, etc.)
OpenWrt (by default) offers rather little in terms of media support (apart from cli/ dæmonized audio players)
most classic STBs have very little in the sense of I/O support (100 MBit/s ethernet or limited single-radio WLAN) and don't lend themselves for routing purposes. A fast CPU is not everything, the I/O side is even more important for a router (and compensate quite a bit, even if the CPU is lacking
a classic router needs two (fast) ethernet cards, which is something STBs almost never have
SBC as a single board computer.
I do know about openwrt web interface and I can work with shell.
I didn't wrote anything about media, maybe you misunderstand me that I re-used an old tvbox as an OpenWRT router?
nowadays most SBCs have Gb ethernets, as for wifi I don't really care about speeds, just to exist
Yes classic router have at least WAN and LAN ethernets, but on SBCs can be added via usb
like the tp-link UE300 as I've done with my tvbox that I turned it into a router.
Lets say, I just need a configurable router 1WAN,1LAN and wifi that I can run WireGuard VPN on at least 300mbps speed.
As you can derive from the first letters, the common abbreviation is SBC. You mention an S905 SoC, that's typically used in set top boxes. Understandably, that gets people confused.
What specifications are you looking for?
The vast majority of routers running OpenWrt can be considered SBCs.
A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer.
What do you require?
The Openwrt One might be perfect for your needs.
So I guess it might be off the table considering you want something where you don't have to build the image yourself. As for what else to get i'm not sure of anything in this budget category, anything i'd go for personally would be over $100
Yes, thank you very much, openwrt one is a serious candidate. Although its a bit more expensive like gl-net solutions with the same power, I'm more into it for the community support.
Yes I'm trying this firmware for the moment, it is a good start to learn how to build and I had the device lying unused. I am more into tinkering for learning purposes, that's why I asked for a supported SBC, but I think maybe I should get into deeper water of building firmware, its something I've never did in my carrier as an IT tech and I find its time on my early 50s to learn
What I've found out on ophub unofficial firmware is that I can't install kmod-wireguard because it's not available in the software packages.
I tried using a container with linux/wireguard with semi success, I managed to ping the container and configure it with my VPN client config but I had problem routing it, anyway it was a mess!
I'm now thinking of trying to build a firmware and to include this kernelmod into the building.
Maybe you can point me in the right direction to read of how to include it?
Thanks!
I'm coming back to my original question, what are the features (and budget) you're looking for (in detail).
If you need a router, just get a router.
The abilities of SBCs, STBs and routers differ quite a bit and you can rarely substitute one with the other (and x86_64 alderlake-n n100/ n97 with 2-4 ethernet ports should always be a consideration towards the upper end of the speed expectations).
Yes, e.g. a RPi >=4 can be used as router, but you need quite a bit of additional stuff (ranging from the required USB ethernet card, PSU, sdcard, various adapters, etc.). Once upon a time that might have been a reasonable choice for 1 GBit/s WAN links, today it isn't - pricing and the abilities of the competion (be it filogic 830 or x86_64) no longer make this a sensible choice.
Hi again
Yes I understand all these. As it comes to my needs (that is a secondary matter) I have a 300mbps connection with my ISP, so anything that can do wireguard client operations at that speed is enough for me. Yes I could just get a GL-MT3000 that I can find for about 80e shipped or an openwrt one that a fellow suggested above (both have about the same specs) and be done with it.
But for me it's more of an educational matter, that's why my question was too generic. Ofcourse the budget can't be more than 100-150e, and it's more of what I can learn and achieve.
Thanks for your reply!
Yeah I tried it myself and it's actually not easy, it's an interesting system there and it is easy to get it to make an image, it makes everything really fast but that's because it's all precompiled already.
I can see how to do it, basically you compile your own openwrt, then take the rootfs image from that, then you also compile your own kernel and run some script to make it all up how this thing wants, then the remake script mashes it all together into an image.
I might actually try myself tomorrow it's late now though, i'll see how it goes.
There is lot of similarity between the Android TV boxes and Single Board computers - the key difference, IMHO, is around documentation - most of the SBC vendors do have important docs around how to support the boards, which is very useful...
The TV boxes are tough, as even with the same brand and model, there can be undocumented changes that can and often do break things.
Some had mentioned Amlogic - they're good chips, but they are different across the various models - good point of reference for them is here...
I've got a really nice little SBC - Khadas VIM1S - nice board, decent quality, but there's not enough documentation to bring it up to mainline linux without a huge amount of effort - so it's stuck running an older Android kernel with ubuntu 24.04 userland - not perfect, but it works well enough for what I use it for (it runs a home network dashboard hooked up to a cheap HDMI monitor).
Pi4 as mentioned - it can do things, and a great way to learn - and importantly, impossible to really brick as everything pretty much loads from the SD card...
In my view, SBC devices are targeted primary at routing in a modular setup where Wi-Fi is provided via Access Points
(note that SBC's can be extended with Wi-Fi via m.2 or usb, however performance won't be stellar)
When looking for an All-in-one router I suggest to look for devices like:
mt7986 - Asus TUF-AX4200 / RT-AX59U
mt7986 - GL.iNet GL-MT6000
mt7981 - Cudy WR3000S / WR3000H / M3000
mt7981 - D-Link M30 Aquila Pro AI
mt7981 - OpenWrt One
i am also playing in my free time with an "old" TV Box , the H96max+, which is an amlogic based and I am trying to find the best solution to make the wifi driver of RTL8822CS to play correctly, but just for personal knowledge.
my main equipment is an Xiaomi AC2100 for the home network, but I am considering if it needs an update
I've been pleasantly surprised with rtw88_8822ce (the PCIe variant, instead of your SDIO based chipset) over the last couple of weeks, although I only tested STA mode. Getting Amlogic SOC support working is probably a more difficult than the Realtek wireless side.
