Help me build an OpenWrt router

Hey guys,

I am looking to build a router using OpenWRT. This will be the first time I have ever made my own router. However, I have used OpenWRT on multiple devices. I am currently using OpenWRT on my Netgear R7500V2 with a gigabit connection from Comcast. The router is not pushing the full speed though. When I connect directly to the modem I get the full speed of my connection. This is the reason for me wanting to build my own router. However, I have some question and need some help please.

Which hardware should I use? I have two laptops at my disposal. Both of them have Intel Celeron N3060 CPUs and 8gb of ram. They only have wireless cards no Ethernet. Therefore, I purchased two 2.5g USB Ethernet adapters for them which use the Realtek RTL8156B. Connected directly to my modem I am able to max out my gigabit internet using these Ethernet adapters. I also have two Dell computers and two Dell laptops given to me by a friend. They all have various speed Pentium 4s and at least 8fb of ram. Should I use one of these devices or should I just go with something like a raspberry pi 4? If so what parts will I need?

Like I said I have never done this before. Will I install an operating system and run OpenWRT inside of it, or will I install OpenWRT directly onto the devices? How many Ethernet adapters will I need connected to the drive that I choose to me the router? I would like to use the device I am using OpenWRT on handle all the wired connections. Then use my R7500V2 and some access points to handle the wireless side of things.I know I will also have to purchase a switch to connect the OpenWRT device I'm making to.

As far as installing OpenWRT onto the device is it a pretty similar process as flashing a router? Will I pretty much just install the softer and from there I can use luci to configure the device or how does that work? I know OpenWRT is built from Linux. I know very little about Linux. Will I need to know how to use it to accomplish this task? Is there a place I can read how to manually configure openwrt instead of using luci?

Thank you,
Rocky

I wouldn't use laptops, the cooling isn't designed for 24/7 usage.

The desktops could work, depending on the CPU.

Rpi4 works, but you'll need an extra USB port, which you've already purchased.

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Thanks for the info. I think I am going to go the raspberry pi route. I don't know a whole lot about them though. I know you want to use a raspberry pi4 due to gigabit lan. I see some articles talking about using the compute module 4. What is the difference between the compute module and a regular raspberry pi 4? Would a 2gb model be enough? If I'm not mistaken it's the CPU cores and clock that really matter as most residential routers don't have that much RAM?

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You might want to use the forum search. I'm sure it will yield some useful information for you, since raspis are quite often mentioned.

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I been doing that as well. Thanks

If it is not heated there would be no problem to use 24 hours?

It cost me nothing to try it out. I think I am going to install OpenWRT on one of them to just tinker around, and see what kind of performance or problems I run into. I think this will get me by until I have enough money for the whole pi4 build.

If it wasn't running warm, no it wouldn't be, assuming it's possible to disable the fans.

I say because I use a nebook and I do not see why it could not be 24 hours on.

I didn't say it wouldn't work, I said I wouldn't use one... ,)

Can someone point me to where I would get the OpenWRT firmware for an n3060 CPU?

It is an x86_64 processor.

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