Support for Netgear WAX625 - IPQ5018

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

I 'thought' the WAX625 might work since I see the WAX620 and WAX630 listed:
https://openwrt.org/toh/views/toh_available_16128_ax-wifi

However, when I try to upload the firmware via the OEM firmware update / load page, I get the error, invalid firmware format.

Is it possible to get OpenWRT running on this device? Are the 630 and 620 supported via the normal upload process?

2

Every model requires a bespoke firmware image. It's probably a good thing that the vendor firmware upgrade page failed to allow you to install OpenWrt built for another model... if it had allowed it, you probably would have a brick on your hands.

So, no, your device is not currently supported.

3

Thanks, so the 620 and 630 are?

4

Yes, the 620 and 630 are supported by 24.10 (still in RC phase as I write this). But the 625 is not supported by any current version, including snapshot.

5

Ok, that is a shame. The 620 and 630 for some reason are much more expensive than the 625. Any idea if it would be supported in the future? The 625 is $100 USD less than the 620 and 630.

6

No idea, but if you want to get things started...

https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-developer/add.new.device

7

Hello,

I'm pretty new to OpenWRT, but I'd also really like this device to be supported. Which of course doesn't mean that I am expecting anyone to "waste" their time on it.
This link contains internal pictures and documentation of the WAX625 from the FCC, which might be very useful for anyone trying to figure out how to get OpenWrt working. It was a bit hard to find the device on their website, so I thought that posting it here might help someone.
As far as I know, this device might become unsupported by Netgear since certain versions have already reached their EOL date according to a Netgear pdf. This means that there might be hope for more people wanting to work on this in the future.

8

IPQ50xx is still a no go.

1 Like
9

Thank you very much for letting me know, I had to search the forums to figure out that this isn't supported yet.

I'm not sure if IPQ5018 will ever get kernel support, but at least if it will, this thread might be useful for WAX625.

EDIT:
I'm no kernel developer, but there seems to at least be some hope, according to this commit history.

10

Not 'no go' (for devices with >=512 MB RAM), but neither 'soon'.