Mikrotik RB2011UiAS-RM with SFP DSL Modem supported?

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

Hello,
my old router is defect and I got from an friend an Mikrotik RB2011UiAS-RM with OpenWrt.
Now, that the Mikrotik has no DSL interface I thought of using an spf dsl modem.
I read that with the RouterOS from Mikrotik it is possible to use this one: https://shop.meconet.de/a/117361
Now I wanted to ask if it is possible to use it with OpenWRT too?
Greetings,
Tropaion

2

HI, Tropaion,

The OpenWrt support for the RB2011 is currently in bad shape. Support only exists in the End-of-life branch ar71xx. I'm not sure, that there are concentrated efforts currently to get into the modern ath79 branch.

On latest snapshot from this week on ar71xx RB2011 following things do not work:

  • SFP-Port
  • USB Host or OTG
  • LCD Screen control
  • Input events from the touchscreen.

I'm currently doubting, that these things will be worked on in the ar71xx branch, and support in the ath79 isn't there yet. So, you might need to find another way to connect to your DSL.

3

Ignoring the question of RB2011UiAS-RM support, yes these SFP modems are technically working on OpenWrt, but I would strongly recommend against them.

First of all these SFP VDSL modems are very power hungry, beyond SFP specs, and generate a lot of heat, both to an extent that might be problematic (or even damage) your SFP host. Another issue is that these modems aren't designed with CPE usage in mind, but are usually meant for master-slave inhouse connectivity - this means the vendor doesn't need to bother about interoperability with commercial DSLAMs from other vendors, which is important when connecting to your ISP's VDSL network. Furthermore these SFP modems don't allow firmware upgrades (for themselves, for the VDSL modem), which is very inconvenient if you see that firmware updates for normal CPEs often provide very tangible stability and throughput improvements over the lifetime of these devices (continued work on interoperability, link tuning tables, etc.), something these devices have to miss out.

Do yourself a favour and go with a dedicated standalone VDSL modem instead (you can even find some OpenWrt supported ones among the lantiq vr9 chipsets, often for a song on the used market), before 'wasting' an SFP+ port for sub-250 MBit/s communications and all the problems you might encounter.

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4

Thanks for your helpful answer.
My original plan was to use the Mikrotik with Ubuquiti AC Pro for Wlan, both with OpenWrt.
If I decide to not use the Mikrotik, do you have recommendation instead of it?
It should be not too expensive (max. 150$), OpenWrt compatible and integrated DSL.
Thank you for your help.
Greetings,
Tropaion

5

What is your DSL speed/modulation? (8a, 8b, 12a , 12b, 17a, 17b, 30a, 35b)

Everything up to 17b e.g. a Netgear DM200 can handle.

6

I also thought about using this one, but I dont want to have 3 running devices and you also said that the OpenWrt-Support for Mikrotik RB2011UiAS-RM is really bad, so I thought, using something like the Mikrotik with integrated DSL Modem and OpenWrt Support would be nice.

7

I said currently in bad shape, will probably get better at some point, but probably "too late" for you to wait for.

1 Like