RaspberryPi 4 with Brostrend AX9L

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

I am wondering if anyone has used the Brostrend AX9L with a RaspberryPi 4 for OpenWRT, I am just wondering if it is supported already there site says "supported in-kernel since Linux kernel 5.18" I don't know if that means it is supported or not it uses the Mediatek mt7921au from what I read. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

2

mt7921au works in recent OpenWrt, so 25.12.0 should be fine. Be aware that while this is tri-band, it's not concurrent tri-band (one channel, on a single band only) and still a client-oriented WLAN chipset (with very minimal AP capabilities).

3

Thanks for the reply, can you recommend one that is better that is compatible with OpenWRT, I just know the one built into the pi is weak.

4

The strong recommendation would be against USB WLAN cards and the RPi in general for wireless needs, just like x86_64 it's not made for that - and a 15-buck plastic router will run circles around it (there are plenty prior, more detailed, explanations about the details). The RPi (or x86_64 or rockchip) can be very decent wired-only routers, but shoehorning wireless AP capabilities to them get both expensive, difficult/ 'experimental' and sub par compared to cheaper purpose built plastic routers.

Among your choices of USB WLAN cards, mt7921au is the best option - just not a good one.

My advice would be looking for a cheap (used?) supported filogic 830/ 820, ipq807x/ ipq60xx/ ipq50xx, mt7621a+mt7915DBDC (probably in that order) plastic router to use as bridged AP ("dumb AP"), at least for offloading the wireless functions to purpose built hardware (and maybe it can even replace the RPi altogether).

2 Likes
5

I very much agree with everything that @slh stated.

So, a good thing to do would be to understand the actual use case for this setup. Is it for home? travel? something else? Knowing the application space could help the community recommend suitable devices and/or topologies.

6

It is for home use, and it will be behind another router, it is just for the wifi, an AP would be fine. My only real goal was to have something that is upgrade-able by me so I did not have to keep buying a new router every couple years when the manufacturer decided to stop supporting it. If you have recommendations for this, they would be much appreciated.

7

Do you know of any specific Brands/Models that I can use for this?

8

That depends massively on the country you're residing in (regional availability and very different pricing schemes are quite pronounced for routers), as well as what's currently on offer (on the second hand markets).

1 Like
9

Not to mention the other variables:

  • Is this device being used as a router+AP, or just an AP?
  • What is the internet connection speed and/or speed required for internal lan devices to communicate with each other?
  • how many devices/users?
  • How large is the space that needs wifi coverage? Correlated -- what is the floor plan like and the building materials?
  • budget?
  • any special considerations/constraints you may have?
10

I am in the US.

11

It can be a router+AP, or just an AP, either I can make work.
1GB for both
20 devices/users max.
about 2000ft, pretty much a rectangle, made of wood.
I would like to be under a $100, that is not a set price just where I would like to be.
The only special consideration I really have is i want it to be something I can upgrade for at least a few years, like at least 5.