OpenWrt (Archer C7)+Plex Media Server?

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Hello, I'm seeking help from the open wrt community with my new Archer C7:

I am looking to configure a wireless bridge Network as follows:

1.TV antenna signal (connected via coaxial cable) to

2.HDHomeRun (HDHR)(antenna signal processor) (connected by ethernet cable) to

3.TP-Link Archer C7 V5 (client)
...(to transmit satellite signal wirelessly)...to

  1. Internet Service Provider (ISP) modem/router ( Cogeco -Hitron CODA-4589 modem) (to allow broadcasting of the antenna signal to other TVs wirelessly in house).

I have now successfully configured the C7 with TP-Link firmware to pass the HDHR antennae signal to the ISP modem - with my HDHR mobile app I can watch live TV.

My challenge:

I would like to install Plex Media Server on the C7 to broadcast the antennae signal to Plex app on my 3 home Smart TVs.

(I can download Plex MS on my Windows OS laptop, but it will have to be always on with Plex MS active in the background to reach the TVs)
The Plex website allows downloading to a LINUX OS device...

My query on the TP-Link vendor forum indicated it's not possible to install Plex on the C7 (with firmwarw OS )

*Would OpenWRT (Linux) on the C7 allow downloading/running Plex Media server for this purpose?

Any assistance here is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

2

Archer C7 uses a MIPS CPU, it's underpowered for this purpose. In theory, you could run plex in a docker container on a powerful arm/x86 OpenWrt router. I would just get a SBC and run it there.

Edit: for clarity, plex doesn't run on mips cpu.

3

Thanks @Nico1320 -
I'm unfamiliar with SBC's (the little that I read online - they pertain to managing VoIP systems)

  • can you provide any links or resources that can guide me in that direction?
    I'll also look into a more powerful router as an option.
    Thanks.
4

I would advise first to check if plex transcodes live tv in your private network first (Check multiple channels). I have bad experiences with plex where it will transcode everything on Samsung smart TVs. IMO Transcoding in your own network is just a waste of energy and should be avoided when possible.

If it does need transcoding, you have to use hardware acceleration. In this scenario, you can`t use an arm-based SBC or router because there's no graphics acceleration available (nor it's powerful enough) I would recommend an Intel-based CPU with quick sync (Chips with Xe graphics is a beast for this).

By SBC I meant something like a Pi 4...

If you want to use plex outside of your network, you more than likely need to transcode the stream. (Depends on upload & download speeds)

All of this depends on what smart TVs you are using...
The easiest and cheapest solution to this is using an m3u/IPTV player of some kind and making a playlist from your HDHomeRun.