I'm not sure when the next OpenWRT update release will be, but wondering if there will then be a file available for the Reyee RG-E5 that will flash it via the default device admin GUI.
Currently there is only a snapshot release that requires disassembling the router and using UART. What I am not clear on is if this will be the only way to flash it going forward (because of some techical limitation preventing the router from being flashed with a non-vendor file.)
Thank you in advance for any information.
Likely, yes. Unless someone cracks the vendor's signing key for its own upgrades.
When I say yes, I mean that this will likely forever be the only way of getting the initial OpenWrt installation onboard. Once it has OpenWrt flashed on it, you should be able to sysupgrade it without opening it up thereafter. That said I recommend...
...that if you decide to go forward, it's always in your best interest to do some minor tinkering and use some header pins/wires and perhaps a judicially applied drill hole to expose the UART connections to the outside. A la:
Despite what I said above, there is always a chance of a failed sysupgrade, or that a future OpenWrt version will switch formats in an incompatible way. Plus, once you have the UART exposed, it gives you debugging and configuration abilities you wouldn't otherwise have.
There's no relation between snapshot and serial install.
I briefly tried the buttons on the Reyee, to see if I could force it into TFTP recovery, but uboot wasn't catching them 