@dlakelan You're right. I'm cloning my note from the other thread to continue the "initial setup" question here. Thanks.
@thompdre841 I love stories like this. It shows the value that OpenWrt can bring to thoughtful people even when they are new to the project.
The challenge lies in the balance between simplifying everything as much as possible (but no further) to produce a basic router that is secure, robust, and does "the things people need". Let's take @anon50098793's suggestion about a wizard to the extreme:
How few questions can we require for a "good-enough secure router" setup? I think the minimum is Login Password and Router name . Let's call it the Essential Secure Router:
- Could the router auto-fill the SSID's based on the router name?
- Could the device automatically determine up/download speeds to set SQM?
- Could the router automatically configure a Guest Wi-Fi network?
- What other settings could be automatically set in a 'basic secure router' to minimize the expertise required?
- (Of course, the additional OpenWrt GUI or settings in
/etc/...allow experts to extend the router.)But if we could design a system where people could get a good-enough secure router running with a minimum of hassles, we would have accomplished something really important.
And to address some of the questions asked in the other topic:
Who decides which packages...? - We can decide and make a recommendation for essential packages for Recommended devices. We act as mentors in the forum every day: we answer people's questions on the forum, we know the essentials that everyone should have.
What's essential? My list includes routing, enabling both radios with sensible SSIDs and credentials, SQM for low latency, tight firewall rules for V4 & V6 (remember these are "Recommended" devices.) It would be "just a router" - but a secure one, that really worked.
What about ...? Adblock, VPN, guest network, printers, external storage, etc. We're not taking anything away from OpenWrt. If someone wants more from their router after it's up and running, they can always add those packages and configure as they do today.
Let's hash out the full list of "essential packages" here on this thread.
Finally, as @dlakelan points out above, most of the essential features are already in place/easily installed, and only require some form of "discovery" to enable/configure them to good settings.