Support of Fritzbox 7530

https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ipq40xx/generic/openwrt-ipq40xx-avm_fritzbox-7530-initramfs-fit-uImage.itb
https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ipq40xx/generic/openwrt-ipq40xx-avm_fritzbox-7530-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin

Keep in mind that this doesn't imply that the VDSL modem, DECT or the FXS ports were supported.

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Thanks, I understand DECT is likely never to be supported and VDSL is not guaranteed either.

I'm really just interested in more consistent 802.11ac performance than the Archer C7 while waiting for OpenWRT supported 802.11ax devices to come out (I bet that will be a while coming).

I think I will hold off trying until someone can confirm if performance is acceptable or not as I don't fancy trying to get stock firmware back on it if its not, if you even can.

I can only speak for a single Client 2SS <-> AP scenario, but i managed to get ~500Mbit/s to the LAN side. However, I can't speak for if it's worth the upgrade from a C7. From the raw WiFi speeds when directly near the device i had with neither of those devices any problems.

However, in case you consider buying one, i would go for the 4040. It has the downside of having less flash, but it sports an additional WAN port, additional USB 2.0 port but has the same core chipset. Way back to stock is relatively easy in case you have access to a Windows computer (on this device I've tested it personally, but i could try the same with the 7530 and report back if you wish).

The recovery tool can be obtained from AVM's FTP server: http://ftp.avm.de/

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That's very promising.

I got the router free with my ISP for signing a new 12 month contract, which also was cheaper for the same package, so quite a steal.

My Archer C7 is not performing great. Here's a comparison of the Archer C7 OpenWRT vs the Fritzbox stock firmware:

Reverse mode, remote host lcars is sending
[  4] local 192.168.1.2 port 49810 connected to 192.168.1.253 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]   0.00-1.00   sec  31.5 MBytes   265 Mbits/sec
[  4]   1.00-2.00   sec  31.8 MBytes   265 Mbits/sec
[  4]   2.00-3.01   sec  32.1 MBytes   268 Mbits/sec
[  4]   3.01-4.00   sec  36.8 MBytes   311 Mbits/sec
[  4]   4.00-5.00   sec  35.0 MBytes   293 Mbits/sec
[  4]   5.00-6.00   sec  35.0 MBytes   294 Mbits/sec
[  4]   6.00-7.00   sec  40.0 MBytes   335 Mbits/sec
[  4]   7.00-8.00   sec  41.9 MBytes   352 Mbits/sec
[  4]   8.00-9.00   sec  41.1 MBytes   345 Mbits/sec
[  4]   9.00-10.00  sec  42.2 MBytes   354 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   370 MBytes   310 Mbits/sec    5             sender
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   368 MBytes   308 Mbits/sec                  receiver

Reverse mode, remote host lcars is sending
[  4] local 192.168.1.2 port 49935 connected to 192.168.1.253 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]   0.00-1.00   sec  50.2 MBytes   421 Mbits/sec
[  4]   1.00-2.00   sec  51.6 MBytes   433 Mbits/sec
[  4]   2.00-3.00   sec  51.5 MBytes   432 Mbits/sec
[  4]   3.00-4.00   sec  52.8 MBytes   443 Mbits/sec
[  4]   4.00-5.00   sec  51.9 MBytes   436 Mbits/sec
[  4]   5.00-6.00   sec  51.1 MBytes   429 Mbits/sec
[  4]   6.00-7.00   sec  52.5 MBytes   441 Mbits/sec
[  4]   7.00-8.00   sec  52.0 MBytes   436 Mbits/sec
[  4]   8.00-9.00   sec  49.8 MBytes   418 Mbits/sec
[  4]   9.00-10.00  sec  49.8 MBytes   418 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   516 MBytes   433 Mbits/sec    0             sender
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec   513 MBytes   431 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

Even 2.4Ghz is dramatically different on the same channel and width:

Reverse mode, remote host lcars is sending
[  4] local 192.168.1.2 port 50623 connected to 192.168.1.253 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]   0.00-1.00   sec  3.92 MBytes  32.9 Mbits/sec
[  4]   1.00-2.00   sec  3.32 MBytes  27.8 Mbits/sec
[  4]   2.00-3.01   sec  3.73 MBytes  31.0 Mbits/sec
[  4]   3.01-4.00   sec  3.67 MBytes  31.1 Mbits/sec
[  4]   4.00-5.00   sec  3.42 MBytes  28.7 Mbits/sec
[  4]   5.00-6.00   sec  2.68 MBytes  22.5 Mbits/sec
[  4]   6.00-7.00   sec  3.61 MBytes  30.3 Mbits/sec
[  4]   7.00-8.00   sec  3.72 MBytes  31.2 Mbits/sec
[  4]   8.00-9.00   sec  3.89 MBytes  32.6 Mbits/sec
[  4]   9.00-10.00  sec  3.91 MBytes  32.8 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec  37.1 MBytes  31.1 Mbits/sec    0             sender
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec  36.0 MBytes  30.2 Mbits/sec                  receiver

Reverse mode, remote host lcars is sending
[  4] local 192.168.1.2 port 50835 connected to 192.168.1.253 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]   0.00-1.00   sec  8.21 MBytes  68.8 Mbits/sec
[  4]   1.00-2.00   sec  8.31 MBytes  69.8 Mbits/sec
[  4]   2.00-3.00   sec  9.41 MBytes  78.8 Mbits/sec
[  4]   3.00-4.00   sec  9.72 MBytes  81.7 Mbits/sec
[  4]   4.00-5.00   sec  10.1 MBytes  84.5 Mbits/sec
[  4]   5.00-6.00   sec  9.46 MBytes  79.3 Mbits/sec
[  4]   6.00-7.00   sec  8.73 MBytes  73.2 Mbits/sec
[  4]   7.00-8.00   sec  9.15 MBytes  76.8 Mbits/sec
[  4]   8.00-9.00   sec  9.26 MBytes  77.5 Mbits/sec
[  4]   9.00-10.00  sec  9.25 MBytes  77.6 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bandwidth       Retr
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec  93.0 MBytes  78.0 Mbits/sec    0             sender
[  4]   0.00-10.00  sec  91.7 MBytes  76.9 Mbits/sec                  receiver

I use custom scripts to aggregate a list of all connected clients, for security and to monitor range/connection issues, which is why if I can get that performance on OpenWRT then that would be great. I can repurpose the C7 on my friends cable line which is using an older WDR3600 that can't quite handle his full speed with QoS enabled.

You forgot the u-boot: https://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/ipq40xx/generic/u-boot-fritz7530/uboot-fritz7530.bin

Also that folder has the uploader for the 4040 instead of the eva_ramboot.py so I took the latter from github.

Everything seems to have gone fine, just need to configure it now.

UPDATE:
Everything works fine from boot but if you try to restart WiFi you get the following error and 5Ghz never comes back up, you have to power cycle.

[ 1154.642701] ath10k_ahb a800000.wifi: peer-unmap-event: unknown peer id 0

Apart from that speed seems much more stable than the Archer C7 (Channel 52 80Mhz Reg: GB):

Out of curiosity - How distant is now the scenario to get DSL support for 7530, given that drivers for vrx518 have now been obtained?

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Don't hold your breath.

--
Keep in mind that the Fritz!Box 7530 not only employs this new Intel/ lantiq VRX518 modem chipset, it also operates it outside of its natural habitat, connected via PCIe on a little endian QCA4019 ARMv7 system SoC.

It's a pity

For comparison, keep in mind that the Netgear D7800 is in a similar situation. Available since 2015, QCA IPQ8064 combined with a lantiq VRX320 modem, while the router itself is supported, the modem functionality isn't available. While this (for both devices) shouldn't be impossible to get working, it would require significant work on these specific combinations.

Very interesting what you say. When you say "significant work" could this be a matter of months/years or maybe just of couple of weeks of focused work for an experienced person?
I would be really interested doing this work for all of us if I knew how to do it, even if it took months, but unfortunately my professional expertise lies outside the technology sector. I guess this is not a realistic target for a novice in that field like me, isn't it?

It means diving into the unknown, because it's a previously "unseen[1]" combination.

--
[1] within the scope of OpenWrt supported devices.

@blocktrron Did you get the serial console of the fb 7530 fully working. I am able to get data from the fritzbox, but cannot send anything to it. I've already tried an 10k pull-up on the rx line without success. Is there anything else to equip apart from the 4-pin-header?

The Serial console works for me without further modifications in both directions.

Are you connecting with the mapping described in the patch?

https://git.openwrt.org/?p=openwrt/openwrt.git;a=commit;h=95b0c07a618fe5fd93a26931152ced483bba143b

Yes, I'm using this mapping and I also can the data on the rx-pin with my oscilloscope. My thought was now that perhaps still somewhere something must be equipped.

@blocktrron Can you please have a look at your pcb if the marked pads are also open on yours?
The route from "my" Rx-Pin seems to end there.

I can have a look later this week. However, judging fro mthe pictures here suggests this is fine: https://boxmatrix.info/wiki/FRITZ!Box_7530

Other thought - which USB --> UART adapter are you using? I've found the cheap FTDI knockoffs not very reliable TX-wise in many cases - I've had much better experiences with a CP2102 based adapter.

Hmm... the board looks a little bit different than mine.

I don't use an USB -> UART adapter at all. I use a "real" ttyS0 / UART from my PC with a little MAX3221 adapter for the level shifting.

Is this device NEVER going to get a stable release due to DECT being impossible to support?

If so that seems an interesting stipulation as its been FAR more stable than my Archer C7 v2 was and that WAS in stable, when this is not.

The 7530 will be supported in the upcoming OpenWrt 19.07.0 release (and already is in snapshots), be aware that DECT support is unlikely to ever materialize and that the xDSL modem won't work for the time being either (this is more likely to become supported in the future than DECT, but it's also far from a done deal and will require significant efforts to get working - which might not happen either).

The 4040 might be a better option for running OpenWrt now, as it's basically the same hardware (for just over half the price of the 7530) - except for the functionality (xDSL modem/ DECT/ FXS) not supported in OpenWrt (yet) anyways.

That's good to know, I was just confused what qualifies a device to make the move over as its been in snapshots for quite some time now and performing great. (I use it most as an AP only but have used it as a 4G router too to link my phone into my pfSense router)

I got the 7530 for free from my ISP so cost was not an issue.