I'm looking around for a sub $30.00 device, preferably around the $20.00 mark which has at least
64MB of Ram and 16MB of Rom. Looking for something with pre-installed pins on the ports.

I'm using a gl.inet 6416A for example which has 5 free ports already pinned.

Wondering if someone might know of a tp-link or other model perhaps which has more than 5 ports.
Or, something sub $10.00 with lots of GPIOs and other ports for connecting sensors and other devices, which can be monitored by a $20.00 tp-link.

Thanks in advance.

(Last edited by projects on 14 Apr 2015, 20:25)

I see the hardware page but only one item mentions GPIOs

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start

(Last edited by projects on 14 Apr 2015, 20:19)

At this time, you are not going to find any consumer product with that much RAM and flash for that price point. Nevermind the GPIOs, which have almost no use on a consumer product.

The TP-Link TL-WR710N is down to $23 USD from Amazon.com. It has 8MB flash and 32MB RAM. I've written about it here:  https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?pid=238822

The GL-iNet 6416A sounds good. I didn't realize it had all those GPIOs on it.

Yes, and you can get the gl.inet 6416A for under $30.00. It would work fine if I could find a way of adding GPIOs via USB or even through the existing GPIOs.

Maybe use one of the supported GPIO expanders of the pcf857x or pca953x driver?

What are those? I can't seem to find such boards. Related to this article maybe?
https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/9617
This article mentions a few devices, including i2c-tiny-usb.

Do you mean the boards that sit on top and you need a whole new case? That would not work for me. I need something compact and fast to build so basically an openwrt device which already has GPIOs or something that would connect to the USB port of a tp-link or gl.inet for example.

(Last edited by projects on 5 May 2015, 17:30)

Search for PCF8574 (I2C portexpander).

And PCA9535/9536 (I2C portexpander).

Some more from my own notes:

    PCF8574
    MCP23008 8bit (I2C)
    MCP23S08 8bit (SPI)
    MCP23009 8bit (I2C)
    MCP23017 16bit - I2C interface | Breakout board | MCP23017 Shield
    MCP23S17 16bit - SPI interface (Using the SPI interface is a lot faster than the I2C)
    PCA6107 8bit (I2C)
    PCA9534 8bit (I2C)
    PCF8575C 16 bit I2C port expander

(Last edited by tmo26 on 5 May 2015, 17:38)

Example with MCP23017: http://www.exp-tech.de/i2c-lcd-interface-v3-kit

Wow, thanks!

I basically want to turn bits on and off using simple bash scripts on openwrt using a ready made, already packaged device that would simply connect to the USB port, then have it's own terminals I can connect external sensors to.

That's my first hope at least

Some more (with USB):

http://www.wvshare.com/product/FT245-US … type-A.htm
http://www.wvshare.com/product/FT245-EVAL-BOARD.htm
http://www.wvshare.com/product/FT232-EVAL-BOARD.htm

NICE!!! You are always a wealth of knowledge. Those are the style I'm looking for! I'm trying to avoid having to get into soldering. Have you used any of them? I've found some posts about the FT245 where you're in them .

I need to learn a little about these things to know if they can be controlled by connecting to usb and using openwrt scripting. I've been wanting to play with external sensors.

Your sig is interesting BTW.

Ordered a FT245 module several months ago on aliexpress, but havn't used it since.

You're the first one to notice my sig after 850 postings

You should post about what you've got going (sig), it sounds quite interesting to me

One more: https://www.tindie.com/products/jimpari … reakout-1/

"The MicroFTX is a low-cost, reconfigurable, and compact Micro-USB breakout board based on the FTDI FT230X full-speed USB Serial UART IC. [...] Bitbang GPIO mode for simple digital input and output"

Uhm, yes, I should, but currently I'm too busy improving the openwrt wiki.
(There couldn't be any better excuse

Well, if you ever get the chance to write about it, I'd love to know more. Fixing the wiki is a good thing too