OpenWRT developers want to make their own router hardware that cannot be bricked
A number of developers behind the open source router software OpenWRT are working on proprietary hardware with upstream Linux support. The OpenWRT One should be hardware that works specifically with OpenWRT and will cost less than a hundred dollars.
A group behind the OpenWRT Project describes those plans in a mailing list. The makers want to make a device that has OpenWrt One/AP-24.XY, is based on a MediaTek MT7981B SoC and has an MT7976C chip for WiFi. That would all be put on a PCB that, according to the makers, should be about the size of a BPI-R4 from Banana Piso about 100x148mm.
The device should also have two RJ-45 ports, one of which is for 2.5Gbit and the other for 1Gbit Ethernet connections. There will be three MMCX antenna connections on the router. The router also has a reset and on/off button. Furthermore, the makers want to make the schematics for the PCB available under a GPL license.
The developers say that the device will have two different flash chips on board. One of these, a NAND chip, is for the bootloader and Linux boot image, while a NOR chip is write protected and contains a recovery bootloader. The device will have a physical button to switch between the two bootloaders. The developers want the device to be virtually impossible to brick, because users can always switch between two bootloaders.
The router must also have an M.2 connection for NVMe storage. This also theoretically allows users to boot an alternative Linux distribution from the disk. The makers also want a USB-C connection for the energy supply on the router, in addition to a regular USB-A 2.0 port.
The makers want to collaborate with the makers of Banana Pi, a manufacturer of open source hardware, for the design and distribution of the hardware. According to developer John Crispin, Banana Pi has previously created devices “that came close to what we wanted to achieve.” The OpenWRT Project would also not have the knowledge and capabilities to sell a physical device. A portion of the sales then goes to the Software Freedom Conservancy, a foundation that promotes open source software and to which OpenWRT is a member.
No final price has been announced yet, but the makers say they want to keep it under a hundred dollars. The developers have made agreements with MediaTek and Banana Pi, but it is still unclear what the further timeline of the device is.