iam searching for a router or AP that needs to fulfill these criteria:
WLAN with 2.4GHz and 5GHz band
runs a simple node.js application
easily available in Germany
it will be used to run node.js to create a OSC to Websocket bridge.
(+ serving a simple static-site-web-application)
i think from the recommend routers page
the TP-LINK Archer C7 AC1750 seems a good fit -
i think/hope the the 16MB flash and 128 MB RAM is minimum / a good fit to run node.js ..?!
or should i better look at on of the 8devices boards and build a custom housing for this?
any other thoughts on this?
looking forward to your ideas
The Archer C7 is a decent dual-band unit for AP use and for moderate speed connectivity (~100 mbps with SQM, ~300 mbps without), if you either have one already or can purchase one used (~US$40 here).
Most of the consumer-grade all-in-one routers will not have sufficient RAM and, depending on load, CPU to handle node.js. I'd recommend running your application on a stand-alone box of some sort, perhaps a Raspberry Pi-class device.
thanks for your replies.
that are good points...
i hoped that i did not need a second device (SBC) as server..
with the VM you mean like described in this articel?
that is an interesting concept and i have to try it
i will also try to get node.js running on a carambola1 and carambola2 - as i have one of both laying around already..
but i don't think that this works...
i also could do the same in python - but i don't think that this makes any difference performance/memory wise..
thanks again for your input!
i think for this it is 'solved'
(i try with hw i have around but don't buy something for try...)
I've run simple Python 3 scripts moderately successfully on one of my Archer C7s. "Gotchas" include that venv doesn't seem to work, pip isn't cooperative, and you can't build a module on the device. For more than the simplest Python scripts, you'll need external storage as the "light" install is devoid of many packages that one would consider "standard" in Python.
With the caveat that I think that the Archer C7 is overpriced unless you can buy one for 30€ or less, you can build (not add) Python 3 "light" into its 16 MB flash, at least without LuCI and its associated load (both in terms of file system and CPU/RAM).
node.js really is too heavy for a router, additionally it wants floating point support, which is extremely slow on mips (like the archer c7). While I still wouldn't suggest to run node.js on a router, chances will be better on ARMv7 based routers (e.g. ipq40xx) - which I'd recommend over the archer c7 either way (more modern wlan, 802.11ac wave2, faster quadcore SOC with floating point support, more flash/ RAM). The suggestion to offload node.js to a devboard like the RPi, the Allwinner/ sunxi range of devices or something similar is a better idea though.
