Hello to all. Turris Omnia 2020 routers are available for I think is a good price right now ($150). Hardware specs are great but are they good Openwrt routers? Openwrt installation instructions seem a little complicated but is the end result full Openwrt capable? I use WRT3200ACM's right now and Openwrt install, personalize and operate can't be better. I just love Openwrt but alas the WRT3200ACM is discontinued and I will be forced to move on hardware wise. Sooo......what say you ... anyone have an experienced review of the Turris Omnia 2020. Thanks for your feedback.
Yes they are very good from what I've heard, almost the same hardware as the WRT3200ACM / WRT32X. I use a WRT32X with OpenWrt, currently around a 150 day uptime, incredible device, fast performance on SQM, Samba, etc. Paid $120 for it renewed on amazon like 5 years ago.
Anyway, Turris tweeted some time back they are working on a new model for 2022 or 2023 that'll have wifi 6 and a new SoC, might want to hold off and see when that releases. Although it'll be bigger and more expensive.
I think you are right. I was attracted to the M.2 WiFi cards used in the units. I took that to mean can be upgraded to WiFi 6 and 6e cards as they become available but further reading seems to say there is no guarantee the unit will be compatible with any M.2 WiFI6 cards. OpenWRT I think runs on top of a base OS that is needed to run the unique hardware. Kinda like early Windows versions that ran on top of a loaded MS-DOS. Flash ram is slow but there is a lot of it. OpenWRT Table of Hardware notes that 21.02.3 does not support RGB leds. Don't know if that translates to no leds or no colored leds. I am always disappointed that the WRT3200 leds can't be switched off so that the bulb life can be extended. Bulb burn out is common.
You can turn off about half the LEDs on the WRT3200ACM / WRT32X, unfortunately the LAN leds are tied to the driver and can't be turned off, yea there is nothing you can do about it. The stock oem firmware does let you disable them but oh well.
There is no base os, they run openwrt with their additions. And as long as you find wifi6 cards which fit in it and there are drivers for it you can run it. There is no DRM which locks down the Omnia to specific cards.
Compared to a ssd yes, compared to other routers no.
A turris Omnia is completely supported by the turris team. So everything works, you can do whatever you want with the LEDs. They are addressable from the os.
While correct, it isn't that simple either, wifi6 cards tend to require (above mini-PCIe specs) power and generate a lot of heat. Therefore not all wifi6 cards will run in older devices, let alone run reliably long term - and while not as much of an issue for the rather fast mvebu SOC, the main CPU also needs to be fast enough to keep the wireless cards busy (and to service their interrupts in time), which is not a given on all platforms with removable wireless cards.
See https://forum.turris.cz/t/asiarf-aw7915-np1-802-11ax-wifi6/15686 for attemps of running WiFi6 hardware on a turris omnia and the challenges.
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Thank you for your reply.
I'm not saying that I am right or not. Just quoting from OpenWrt "Table of Hardware" Database where it states that Unsupported Functions include RGB LED. I did not find any followup information to clarify any details to exactly what is not supported related to the LEDs. LED control has been a common obstacle for other Marvell Armada based units.(WRT1900 WRT3200ACM)
In the OpenWrt "Index of releases" image files there is only an upgrade path image. "cznic-omnia-sysupgrade.ing.gz" That seems to say that there must be something already installed so that it can be "upgraded". I take that to mean the OEM Turris variant of OpenWrt. The upgrade only works when the Turris variant remains installed. Image packages for many other [mvebu]/cortexa9/ routers contain a factory.img file which replaces the router firmware completely.
I did not intend to say Turris does not support their unit. I think Turris even posts the open source code for their OS. I'm guessing Turris also limited access to Marvell code much like Linksys lack of support.
As for the WiFi6 card compatibility there is video of a Turris representative during a electronics show event where he stating that they have not yet found a WiFi6 card that works with their Omnia.
Wonder if that could be a Marvell problem also?
I have to say I didn't look at the OpenWRT Table of Hardware at all because I didn't see any reason to flash a stock OpenWRT image on a omnia, since you have already a OpenWRT with everything installed if you get a omnia. Why do you want to do that?
Regarding wifi6 you just need to look at the thread already posted, the cards work and if you look here https://forum.turris.cz/t/asiarf-aw7915-np1-802-11ax-wifi6/15686/63 the performance seems to be good since you are limited by that gigabit port of the omnia.
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