I want to run Openwrt from a VM (on a x86-64 PC) to manage a TP-Link wifi router and basically let me use the Gigabit LAN ports on the router as if they were ports on a switch but also to let me run the wifi from the VM
The main reason for this is my PC is obviously better hardware than the 128MB in the TP-Link router. I’m getting lag on Whatsapp calls I’m making from my mobile, it’s that bad.
Is this possible?
It's not clear what you mean by the phrase using an OpenWrt VM "to manage a TP-Link WiFi router". Additionally, it's not apparent what OS/firmware the TP-Link is running. OpenWrt doesn't contain software to manage other devices (some third party software exists though.)
Unless you'll be using the PC as router, instead of the TP-Link, how is it going to help?
“Do you mean operating the WiFi radio in the TP-Link from the VM?”
Yes exactly that. The TP-Link is running Openwrt 24.10.3. The exact model is Archer C7.
The PC hardware is way faster than the hardware in the TP-Link. I heard about people connecting up their router to their PC hardware like this for the extra performance though I am unclear about how different hardware setups would work.
The guy suggesting it to me initially didn’t use Wifi but I kind of need it because I use my mobile phone a lot on it.
Can you provide a link to this discussion?
This statment is making little sense. There's no remote management software in the official firmware, and it's not clear what you're asking about.
To be clear, connecting like what?
Can you provide a URL to this discussion?
Lastly, maybe it woud be better to explain the expected results of operating the radio of another device via a VM - and the knowledgeable users here could offer ideas for possible solutions.
You may also want to explain how this integration differs from connecting to the router via Ethernet cable as normal.
Otherwise the following user provided sound advice:
Will you be?
(And if so, how?)
I guess what you want to do is run the OpenWrt on the VM as the main router, and use the TP-Link device only as an access point.
The 128 MB is enough for what you can do with this router.
But the single core SoC running at approx. 750 MHz does really hurt.
Whatsapp calls don't need such a high bandwith...but the idea from
does make sense.
it wasn’t a discussion on this site, it was on a home server related discussion thread somewhere. the person telling me may very well have been wrong about all this.
I’m asking about how to manage the Wifi on my TP-Link router from a Openwrt instance running from a VM. The intention is to run Openwrt on a separate device which will take advantage of the better hardware on the device the VM is running on.
Connecting from a Openwrt VM basically. It’s like how some people run their router on PC hardware using Opnsense. The main difference being that it’s Openwrt rather than Opnsense.
The TP-Link Wifi Archer C7 router is lagging and having trouble when under load.
I have a bunch of PCs doing nothing whose hardware is way better than this router.
This integration differs because the network processing/routing/whatever is taking place on a more powerful device. I don’t know how many more times to say this is about using better hardware. I guess I could buy another router but I thought I would try this first as I prefer not to buy any more hardware than I already have.
Yes, that’s exactly what I wrote
Yes that’s correct!
I agree but the quality was noticeably worse. Maybe the router had overheated from a lot of other traffic/load but it made me consider alternative ways to do this.
The good news is that you can fire up your computer, create a VM, install OpenWrt and tinker with it; if it works, you can then configure the TP-Link router as an access point and enjoy.
Just in case it isn't entirely clear already.... you will manage the TP-Link device by logging into it directly and administering as needed. You can do this via the LuCI web interface or using ssh.
While there are methods of managing multiple OpenWrt devices in a "single pane of glass," most of them are far more complex and are designed tor large deployments. There was a recent thread about interest in a simplified (i.e. very basic) method to have one OpenWrt instance control another (specifically useful for setting up APs), such a system doesn't yet exist (I can't find the thread right now).
Ultimately, you'll be making your VM into a router and then your TP-Link device will be a simple bridged AP. You'll configure each individually (by logging into the one you need to administer), but the TP-Link's settings are essentially all just the wifi related things while the VM will handle all of the routing/fireall an other such services.
That said, running OpenWrt in a VM is not necessarily easy, and there are some downsides. You may be better off simply buying a newer all-in-one wifi router that is powerful enough for your needs (and it will also likely have much better wifi performance, too).
If you’re saying it’s possible and that it’s been done before, then that’s basically what I was hoping to hear
"Hope springs eternal". It's not clear what you extrapolate from the the user's response as 'possible'.
Managing the TP-Link (even if you manage to do so with some additional software) will not give the radios the resources, memory or CPU of the Virtual Machine managing it. You would be able to configure and control the radios, though.
You can provide that URL also.
Thanks for the URL.
What you're describing is not what the person in post described. The post says nothing about a TP-Link router or managing it from a VM. You said that your "Openwrt TP-Link Archer C7 just isn't cutting it", and you then asked for a recommendation "that isn't crazy-ass expensive".
The post you linked describes:
It mentioned nothing about managing the TP-Link.
In fact, it appears to be you who inquired about such management from the VM. The users on the form never said you could manage the TP-Link from the VM (in fact, they seemed confused as to what breath of control you expected for an AP).
I am just trying to figure out what is possible tbh. I have probably taken the wrong meaning from what the person replying to my post stated.
Yes my TP-Link wasn’t cutting it when under heavy load and when they mentioned
When your router is virualized, instead of plugging your modem/ont into your router, you will make a WAN VLAN and plug your modem/ont into a switchport on that VLAN, include that VLAN into your trunk to the hypervisor and give your VM an interface on the WAN VLAN
I thought that I could just abstract the LAN ports onto a VM running on a x86 machine. Thanks for trying to help. I have basically changed my behaviour to stop overloading the router but at some point it’s likely I will need to run some heavy load on it again. Also I’m not 100% sure but I think it may have been related to having a lot of torrents going at the same time as well as watching Youtube and probably a couple of other things. This kind of load was manageable on my ISP router (which is actually a pretty powerful device in terms of hardware, 1GB RAM etc). But the TP-Link struggles.
So yeah, my original hope was to abstract the i/o traffic into my x86 machine away from the router and only have the router running as a switch-type device. I guess from what you’re saying this isn’t possible and it’s probably better to just upgrade to a more powerful router? If necessary I don’t mind paying. I just thought there could be a way to cheap it out.
You've been told multiple times what you asked is possible, but then you describe some control of the TP-Link that's unrelated to reality, and referenced a discussion about this control that doesn't exist.
Abstract what LAN ports?!
I'm starting to believe you're using pseudo techno-jargon. I still have no clue what this actually means. I think you're still describing other hardware (or virtual hardware) magically controlling some other motherboard/hardware (i.e. the TP-Link). Otherwise, people have told you that what you're asking for is possible, multiple times.
The user explained creating a OpenWrt VM router that can handle everything you need without overloading, and using the TP-Link only as an Access Point. You were also told that here in this forum too:
You were also told that on the Server Forum - not sure why you purposely omitted that portion:
and set up a router VM.
Also:
Yeah, if you decide to keep using it, you can use it as a switch and access point.
But for some reason, you keep insisting/suggesting some "management" of the TP-Link via this VM. This keeps causing the discussion to result in confusion.
You do have a cheap way out - you been told a few times, but for some reason, you keep ignoring it.
You have been told you can setup A.) an OpenWrt VM router (for FREE) that can handle the load and B.) connect and continue to use the TP-Link as an access point on your network.
You do not need to make a purchase to accomplish this.
Do you need clarity on anything else?
Thanks. I will read the thread again because it’s clear I am not getting something, and sorry if I’m missing something obvious. I’m trying to deal with a lot of things other than this, I just have a lot going on so that may be why my brain is still catching up. Please don’t be annoyed.