Installing OpenWRT on the Zyxel LTE5398-M904

[fyychs]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to everything OpenWrt and wanted to install it on my Zyxel router.

I can get as far as uploading the sysupgrade file to the router after installing the recovery from the Guide

When running sysupgrade, it seems to work, but after rebooting I still can`t access the web interface.

Is that because this version is a snapshot build?

Next, I tried flashing the stock firmware with sysupgrade -F, but no luck, my router (seemingly) only boots into the OpenWRT recovery.

As far as I can tell, my router is not completely bricked yet, as it boots into the recovery, which I can log into using ssh, but I have run out of ideas to make it work, I am just too much of a noob it seems.

My Questions now are:

1. How can I correctly install OpenWrt with the Luci web interface on said Zyxel router?

2. Is there something wrong with my router, because sysupgrade seems to do nothing at all?

I know this is a lot, probably too much to ask from a newbie like me, but please help me set up my router correctly, or at least revert it to stock firmware. I am at my wit's end (which I now realise isn't much of a statement since I know next to nothing about OpenWrt but I really want to learn about all this).

Thanks in advance

[frollic]

@fyychs

Is that because this version is a snapshot build?

yes

@fyychs

Next, I tried flashing the stock firmware with sysupgrade -F, but no luck,

probably a bad idea then, also not documented as a way back to stock.

@fyychs

How can I correctly install OpenWrt with the Luci web interface on said Zyxel router?

use the images from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=SNAPSHOT&target=ramips%2Fmt7621&id=zyxel_lte5398-m904, they include the luci package.

@fyychs

Is there something wrong with my router, because sysupgrade seems to do nothing at all?

probably not.

you could also try zycast from Method to flash any NR7101

[ncompact]

can you confirm these things:

you downloaded the two firmware files from this link:
OpenWrt Firmware Selector

have you checked sha256sum of the two files

did you use this part of the guide:

ZyXEL LTE5398-M904

or you used this part of the guide:

ZyXEL LTE5398-M904

do you still have the possibility to ssh to the router?

if so what does the following command show:

cat /etc/banner

[fyychs]

@frollic

use the images from https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=SNAPSHOT&target=ramips%2Fmt7621&id=zyxel_lte5398-m904 , they include the luci package.

Amazing! Thanks for that. I just flashed it and I can now log in to the web interface. Next steps will be me figuring out the interface and setting up the sim card and all that.

@frollic

probably a bad idea then, also not documented as a way back to stock

I agree, rookie mistake. I guess i am lucky that it seemingly didn't cause any damage. Won't happen again.

Again, thanks for your reply, and finding the answer for me that quickly.
I believe from here on out will be smooth sailing.

[ncompact]

ok, great news then

However, if you can answer the questions in my post you would be doing me a favor as I too will soon switch this router to Openwrt

and keep me informed (private or pubblic) of your experience which can help me avoid running into the same problems as you

[fyychs]

Sure, sorry for not doing so earlier:
I followed the OEM web GUI part of the guide to flash the recovery, downloaded the firmware through the selector (the one with luci preinstalled, see frollic's answer) checksums checked out.

As for progress updates, I assume I will find the time later today to fully check out the new firmware and set up everything accordingly.

[fyychs]

Alright, did the whole setup and it was (almost) smooth sailing.
The real problem I ran into was that by default, this OpenWrt snapshot does not have the needed packages for connecting the 4G modem.
Orienting myself along this guide, I modified the snapshot firmware @frollic posted further by adding the two packages qmi-utils luci-proto-qmi, which seem to be necessary for setting up the modem.
Further following the guide (though I did delete the default WAN interface) I got it all up and running, reboot-persistently.
This is what my Interfaces page looks like:

Hope this helps. I am just happy to have gotten it all working so quickly, so thanks again, frollic, I might have given up without your advice.

[ncompact]

Can you tell us if you noticed any differences in download/upload speed (LTE module) when switching from OEM firmware to Openwrt

[fyychs]

Definetely will report on that, speeds so far seem good (better than my phone in the same room), as I am not at home right now I will post the comparison results here after christmas eve.

[fyychs]

Sorry to make you wait, but I bring good news:

The speeds are similar to before upgrading to OpenWrt, fluctuations are as expected and withing the parameters I observed before.
Anyways, I believe it's safe to say now that the upgrade to OpenWrt is worth it, and good luck @ncompact.