OpenWrt One - celebrating 20 years of OpenWrt

[Bas Mevissen]

On 2024-01-17 16:21, John Crispin wrote:
> Additional FAQ for OpenWrt One
> 
> This is a summary of some further questions regarding the OpenWrt One
> project gathered so far. After OpenWrt voted to move forward, it will
> be converted into a page within the OpenWrt wiki as a place for
> collecting the latest information.
> 
> Q: Will the various hardware buttons and switches be fully exposed on
> the outside?
> A: The latest iteration of the design will fully expose all buttons
> and switches.
> 
> Q: Will there be an option to purchase preassembled kits?
> A: We're considering that option but still need to explore
> possibilities with the manufacturer.
> 
> Q: When do you expect general availability?
> A: Once we vote to move forward, it will take around 45 days until the
> first PCBA engineering samples get shipped. These will be passed on to
> developers for testing. Once they are verified it will probably take
> another 30-45 days until they can be ordered. So we are looking at
> April timeframe.
> 
> Q: What kind of power supply is needed?
> A: While the initial announcement imprecisely referred to the power
> supply as "USB-PD 12V" the PCB will draw its required power from a
> USB-C PD 3.0/2.0 source.
> 
> Q: Why does the current design not feature any USB 3.0 connectivity?
> A: USB 3.0 always has the risk of interference with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. We
> would like to reduce risk as much as possible. Interference proofing
> the board would add considerable complexity and costs.
> 
> Q: Why did you implement a M.2 slot?
> A: After careful consideration we came to the conclusion that directly
> exposing a PCIe 1x lane in the form of an M.2 slot provides the most
> flexibility for potential expansions. It can be used for NVMe storage
> (up to 2242 when using an enclosure), e.g. to host containers or media
> files. It also enables the simple use of other, non-OpenWrt
> distributions with larger storage footprints.
> 
> Q: Why is there no consideration for Wi-Fi 6E/7 (6GHz / Tri-Band)?
> A: Neither is the mac80211 upstream support for Wi-Fi 7 complete, nor
> is there a fully integrated tri-band SoC solution available right now,
> let alone fully or partially supported upstream. Supporting Wi-Fi 7
> would drastically increase the overall costs and make it impossible to
> deliver sufficient software support in the foreseeable future.
> 
> Q: Why are there only two ethernet ports?
> A: We didn't want to impose additional complexity and costs by
> including an external managed switch IC. One port is 1GBit/s capable,
> while the other features a speed up to 2.5GBit/s. This is a limitation
> of the chosen SoC.
> 

Makes sense. Most people already have additional switches at home to 
accommodate more than the typically 4-5 ports router have.

Will there be no limitation on which of the ports is the WAN or the LAN 
(e.g. due to offloading)?

Would it be an idea to have a connector with SPI/I2C, power and 
preferably direct access to the media interface to be able to connect 
your own switch board? Then you can still control the switch from 
OpenWRT.

> Q: Why should I get the One? There are more capable, more featured
> devices available!
> A: The OpenWrt One is intended to serve as a robust and simple
> educational platform for OpenWrt enthusiasts, it is neither intended
> to be a competitor to off the shelf SOHO routers nor do we aim for the
> largest possible amount of features. It also serves as a donation
> vehicle for the OpenWrt project.
> 
> Q: Does that mean that OpenWrt will stop supporting other hardware?
> A: There is no intention at all to change the way OpenWrt operates or
> how it implements and supports current and future hardware. The
> OpenWrt One device will be supported as one device among many others
> and receive the same level of support.
> 
> Q: Doesn't this draw attention away from properly supporting existing 
> devices?
> A: The OpenWrt One project is a privately led initiative by a few
> enthusiasts, there is no intent to change the focus of the OpenWrt
> project in any way.
> 
> 
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