I’m a total newbie when it comes to networking. I want to learn and have my eyes set on OpenWRT. I just bought both the Beryl and Flint 2 to play with based on the good reviews. The Flint is still in the box while I have the Beryl up and running.
So far so good, but now I’m reading that GL.iNet is using an older version of OpenWRT even though I’m using the latest GL.iNet firmware. Is my privacy and security worse off?
I have no actual experience using vanilla OpenWRT. Is there a GUI? I guess what I want to do is to copy the settings that I have on the GL.iNet firmware and “paste” it into the latest version of OpenWRT. Is that possible? Where do I start?
You have to ask GL.inet about risks of privacy.
OpenWrt stable releases (24.10.2) include LuCI gui, SNAPSHOT bleeding edge does not have it installed by default. You need working WAN connection to install it there.
Settings are not portable between OEM firmware and OpenWrt and vice versa. Check if their configuration backup contains like wifi in etc/config/wireless to act as a guide re-entering settings into OpenWrt, failing that - make screenshots of config screens.
Yes, there is. It might be just a bit different than the GL.iNet one.
If you want to switch to the original OpenWrt, please read this.
Yes, but it is not recommended. You should just note the relevant settings and use the GUI on the new firmware to set them.
Since you just started with it, there should be only a few things to set up.
Yes, it's a solid product. No, you don't need to be worried.
I just wasn't sure if you got the new Beryl (AX), or the old one which isn't a good choice compared to the new one (especially if you buy them new).
In theory it's possible to make a backup of your data from the gl.inet firmware and restore it on the original OpenWrt.
But that's highly discouraged, because there are differences between both firmwares and just restoring the settings from the stock firmware to original OpenWrt could brick the router.
So just use the backup as a template and enter the necessary settings by hand.
The best advice is: Flash your router to original Openwrt, don't keep the settings and configure it new from scratch.
Hello, I agree that it’s best to start from scratch. Is it easy to use vanilla OpenWRT and then essentially match the settings I already have on the Beryl AX?
Is there Adguard with vanilla OpenWRT? If not, what can I do to add blocklists like Hagezi Ultimate?
Since i don't have any devices from gl.inet, i don't know how different the GUI is. But since the stock firmware is based on an older OpenWrt, it shouldn't be to complicated.
Adguard Home is normally not included in OpenWrt, but is available as a package and can be installed afterwards.
There's a good description how to set it up.
I have a Flint 2 running mainline OpenWRT. I briefly looked at the vendor web UI before switching to mainline. I didn't like what I saw. It was entirely different: much more simplified and dumbed down.
That can of course be a problem both ways: on one hand it is easier and more similar to a typical consumer router, with limited options. On the other hand it doesn't let you do things that are outside the basics. There was no ability to configure VLANs for example.
GL.iNet does have access to luci (the mainline UI) though, on an advanced tab somewhere. At least on the Flint 2. That (and only that) is what you would get on mainline openwrt. (Except their luci seemed not entirely functional when I looked.)
This requires a slightly nuanced answer that may sound pedantic, but is important to be technically accurate.
Colloquially speaking, many people (including myself) will use VLANs as a synonym for "multiple subnets." But VLANs technically only apply to ethernet (or certain virtual interfaces), not wifi.
Therefore, from a practical perspective, you only need to create VLANs if you'll be using ethernet to access/distribute those networks. This would include broadcasting those networks across multiple ethernet connected APs (even if the clients are all wireless).
There are some small differences in terms of how you'll setup your router if you're using wifi only vs wifi + ethernet, but those are fairly simple to work with.
But with that said, wifi doesn't use 802.1q VLAN tagging, but you can easily associate the SSIDs and networks with each other.
Open the advanced settings (i.e LuCI) from the stock firmware, and go to the wireless settings. In this UI, my options were limited. You can also make changes directly in the /etc/config/wireless file.
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