I thought we might as well round out the Table of .... conversation with USB devices.
USB data devices aside, there are other devices that can be connected to routers and thinking IOT, we can expect this list to expand.
I think that the basic requirement to make the list would be something that requires a driver and the driver is available.
The list is pretty much the same as on your average Linux distribution, I don't see anyone wanting to maintain such a list as it would be impossible in the end.
This is useful info but can be dealt with by adding more info to the driver packages themselves (like by adding a link to wikidevi to show all devices supported by the driver).
If we did make this list it should probably be communication devices only, else the list will be the same as the Debian list.
http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/
I would be interested in seeing more discussion on "good" USB WiFi sticks. Currently the only thing that I know works well is the TP-Link TL-WN722N with it's ath9k based driver.
I will agree that communication devices should be the short term focus, and much easier to address than a peripheral framework for the unknown. This is actually more than USB. There are PCI-E cards for both radio and modems.
I have tried twice to find a 5G USB adapter. WIKIDEVI is not current enough with devices and the "linux" drivers do not clearly map to OpenWRT drivers.
As for adding a link to the driver package, I tried that from wWIKIDEVI. One needs to "shop" for all the devices and I found most no longer available. (again not current)
Yes, devices will still go stale, but I think if one can see the most recently added devices, these would generally represent the most current product.
I do not think there is a clear path for new LEDE users to be able to do this outside of the project, and do not think that is the best way to service the community.
I will agree that the wireless KMODs can use enhanced information on their chipset support and other relevant info.
[quote="RangerZ, post:5, topic:162, full:true"]I will agree that the wireless KMODs can use enhanced information on their chipset support and other relevant info.[/quote]In general, when looking for a good supported wifi card (USB or whatever) the first thing to do is looking at drivers avaliable and their supported chipsets. Then you use sites like wikidevi to fetch most devices with that chipset. Yes, most devices are chinese things you don't find here and many others won't be on sale anywhere, but that's the same issue everyone on Linux has.
So adding some basic chipset support in the package info would be probably enough to start this procedure, trying to list peripherals that are supported by upstream isn't really the goal here.
[quote="weedy, post:4, topic:162, full:true"]If we did make this list it should probably be communication devices only, else the list will be the same as the Debian list.
http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/[/quote]That list would work fine for use here too, btw, as it is looking at stuff supported by linux kernel, the same also used in LEDE. (well, actually a depressingly old version, because Debian is about keeping things stable).
The guy is providing the source of his site/tool (scroll down, there is a small line of text with a link), that thing might be adapted to newer kernels like in LEDE.
[quote]I would be interested in seeing more discussion on "good" USB WiFi sticks. Currently the only thing that I know works well is the TP-Link TL-WN722N with it's ath9k based driver.[/quote]That's good for a general discussion topic to share experiences, but as sais above, the peripheral support comes straight from linux kernel (upstream), so it isn't really LEDE-specific. What runs well here will run well on any true Linux system.
That said, a usb wifi stick I've found that works well with Linux and has 2 antennas and also dualband is this https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Netis_WF2151
I can confirm that it works with mainline driver (you can also do some pentesting on 2.4ghz with it, if the forums on Kali are to be believed).
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Linksys_WUSB6100M
I'm actually really annoyed that realtek has cornered the market on USB WiFi adapters this year. I think nbd was at one point doing something with mediatek chipsets but I don't know if any of that extends to USB adapters (or if it even got finished). And I haven't read anything good about mediatek and hostapd.
I assume you are implying that this device works, but there are 8 "10k" drivers (search results from "software" in Luci) and none of them indicate they are for an Atheros QCA9377
There are 6 2800 related packages, 2 indicate USB, 1 MIMO, no 5572 drivers. Following the links from wikidevi, there is no clear indication for either that they actually support 5G.
While all this may be clear to you, I suggest that this info is lacking for many users to have some level of confidence that he can lay out the $35-50 or so for these devices and that they can configure them successfully in LEDE.
Maybe we can agree to disagree here. While not the highest priority, a stated project goal is improved documentation.
Very few people have very little info and it's extremely difficult (impossible) to find a search string that will return all relevant posts. I do not think it's feasible to add and maintain supported devices in a package, nor am I suggesting same. Even if we did, it's not a user friendly way get to a supported device. Centralizing this info in one place is a better solution.
I am not opposed to a simple (text) Wiki page which suggests a set of information to include (template). It's simple and if, like the old TOH, gets enough noise then can be improved.
[quote="RangerZ, post:9, topic:162, full:true"]There are 6 2800 related packages, 2 indicate USB, 1 MIMO, no 5572 drivers.[/quote]Ok, ok, I got it. I need to stop assuming all people here are linux users, sorry.
This is common practice for linux users, but it isn't obvious to others, so for the very least we need a "How to find a supported wifi/3g/whatever" in the wiki.
Here a more in-depth procedure (if you want to use this as a skeleton for a wiki article, feel free to):
Wikidevi lists existing devices and their specifications, so it is a good starting point. You find devices and look if they state a linux driver there.
For my usb wifi device they state that the linux driver is called rt-2800-usb (the name is usually the first chipset it supports, this driver likely covers more than one chipset. This is common in Linux)
If you want some more info about that driver you must search that driver name with google (the wiki linked by wikidevi is garbage), you would land on some linux distro wiki page or the driver developer's page where you get more info. Here Debian's https://wiki.debian.org/rt2800usb
The most crucial part is that the driver MUST be in mainline linux kernel as LEDE does NOT ship proprietary drivers at all (like most linux distros, anyway).
In this case, Debian wiki states:
"rt2800usb is a driver produced by the rt2x00 project, supporting Ralink 802.11n USB chipsets, introduced at Linux 2.6.31. "
Note the bolded part. This driver is in mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.31 (ages ago, 2009 or something). LEDE is at kernel version 4.4 now (for most devices), drivers in mainline are RARELY dropped, so it's safe to assume that it still is in there.
Anyway, usually the driver name from wikidevi is enough.
On LEDE we have the package kmod-rt-2800-usb that provides that driver (all drivers are prefixed with kmod- as they are "kernel modules", the linux naming for "driver").
[quote]Following the links from wikidevi, there is no clear indication for either that they actually support 5G.[/quote]Yep, I had to google around on my own to confirm that. I can also confirm personally that this device works fine in 5Ghz.
Both antennas seem to be used for both frequencies though (if I detach one, signal drops on both frequencies) and the stock antennas are for 2.4Ghz (of course) so it will perform a bit meh on 5Ghz until you replace one of the two antennas with a 5Ghz one (possibly directional, but I digress).
In general, a good place to search for better info and more powerful cards is the forums of the penetration testing suites and distributions like for example Kali Linux. (penetration testing = they try to crack your wifi like the bad guys do, to make sure that it is safe)
For penetration testing they need the best chipsets as they need to support special features and have better range. And since Kali Linux is Debian, again the driver must be in Linux or the card won't work.
[quote]Maybe we can agree to disagree here. While not the highest priority, a stated project goal is improved documentation.[/quote]No, I agree with this but I'm just pointing out that the issue here is upstream, Linux as a whole does not have decent documentation on these things so you need to have a good google-fu to find anything. The same issues plague also Ubuntu, or Debian, or OpenSUSE or whatever other linux distro.
I didn't buy that usb wifi dongle for LEDE, I'm using OpenSUSE (Linux) on my PCs, and I needed a decent longer-ranged dongle for the laptop as the integrated card was meh (from kernel 4.x it got supercharged, but that's another story).
[quote]Centralizing this info in one place is a better solution.[/quote]Yes, but the issue is that you have info all over the place, any such thing would require much effort to be anything more than a drop in the ocean (like listing a few dozen devices a few users decided to take the time to load in the table).
There are only 2 ath10k packages if you count the firmware too. There is one driver.
I have generally followed this process, but that does not mean we end up at the same place, especially if we do not know what we are looking for. If I search packages for rt2800 or rt2800usb (per wikidevi) I get nothing in LEDE. I did actually find this driver, but do not know if I need just the driver or also the firmware?
But we also make the assumption that users will update the TOH.
Probably should have used the word files. All say firmware. Not seeing what you are trying to show me. Do I just need a driver or do I need firmware too?
My point is it is just not clear
[quote="RangerZ, post:12, topic:162, full:true"]I have generally followed this process, but that does not mean we end up at the same place, especially if we do not know what we are looking for. If I search packages for rt2800 or rt2800usb (per wikidevi) I get nothing in LEDE. I did actually find this driver, [/quote]No wait, you "get nothing in LEDE" or you "actually find the driver"? I'm not understanding what you are trying to say.
[quote]but do not know if I need just the driver or also the firmware?[/quote]You (the user) only need to ask for the driver. Opkg (package manager) will check the dependency list and install any other package needed by it (the firmware for sure, also there should be a library for these drivers) automatically. This is (again) a very common linux operating system feature.
I don't know if it will install the whole wifi control subsystem if you don't have it already (wifi routers have it because obvious reasons, a NAS or a devboard running LEDE won't), but that's easy to change if needed.
[quote]But we also make the assumption that users will update the TOH. [/quote]Well, it's more reasonable to assume that people will keep more updated a table with LEDE-specific info than a table with info used only sparingly (most people does not usually attach a usb wifi dongle to a wifi router, the most common device running LEDE according to wiki and sources).
[quote]My point is it is just not clear[/quote]And my point is, you are showing we really need a tutorial to find/install drivers for peripherals in LEDE too, as what is obvious for linux users is not for you (not a linux user I presume).
Searching the string one finds in deviwiki, as a naive user might do, I found nothing in LEDE. I did find it by searching 2800.
[quote="bobafetthotmail, post:13, topic:162"]
(not a linux user I presume)
[/quote]Correct, but I do have a G-Parted disk.
facepalm 
The driver package in LEDE is called kmod-rt-2800-usb while the driver for everyone else is rt2800usb. Yeah, ok it's my fault again (I should have told the right name from the start).
I still hope I can address the need for some info on what peripherals are supported in LEDE with a tutorial, a page with dedicated views showing only the drivers for some kind of devices (only wifi, only 3G, whatever) and some info/links in the package's page of the driver to point at all chipsets/devices supported by the driver.
I forgot the ath10k firmware package got split.
Looks like you would have to ask for a packages to be made (or download the firmware manually)
