Freedom friendly wifi router

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Mzee
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Iscritto: 07/10/2013

Hi guys,
I'm looking for a freedom friendly wifi-router which should fulfill the following wishes. It should:

- be able to run a completely free router os
- provide wifi and the possibility to switch wifi on and off via a hardware jumper
- provide (at least) 4 LAN ports
- not cost too much

I already found this router here (https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/free-software-wireless-n-broadband-router-gnu-linux-tpe-nwifirouter2) which seems to be endorsed by the FSF. However, I'm not so sure if this router provides a hardware switch for wifi and it's also quite expensive unfortunately.

Thanks a lot for any suggestion.

TheAngel
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Iscritto: 10/13/2014

Check Alix Board. Or Soekris Engineering,

You can install your own operating system. Deban, LibreWrt, netbsd or whatever.
If you bought an atheros wireless mini pci card you can have multiple wlan network and join the project on openwreless.org

Good Luck

pogiako12345
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Iscritto: 07/11/2014

How about trying one of the routers here? http://librecmc.org/
Of them, I own this: http://librecmc.org/librecmc/wiki?name=TL-WR841ND
Installed LibreCMC on it and it's my current router. TP-Link routers are probably one of your best bet for your requirements?
Good luck! ;)

t3g
t3g
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Iscritto: 05/15/2011

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR841N-Wireless-Router-300Mpbs/dp/B001FWYGJS
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR841ND-Wireless-Detachable-Antennas/dp/B0019EQ1RW

Is this the same router? I know I'm linking to Amazon, but the price is MUCH cheaper than the Think Penguin one at $20 USD. I've been looking to upgrade my existing router and if this is the one you say it is, it is at the top of my list. I've included the second link which may be the one you actually have and is more expensive. If BOTH are compatible, then that is great!

Oh and its also the #1 selling router on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/300189

onpon4
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Iscritto: 05/30/2012

Look again. Think Penguin doesn't even base its router on that one anymore. even when they did, it was only one specific version of that router which was suitable. (I don't know what it was, whether the other versions couldn't run LibreCMC, or just couldn't run a libre boot loader. Either way, Think Penguin sells you a router that respects your freedom; that router probably doesn't.)

t3g
t3g
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Iscritto: 05/15/2011

"Either way, Think Penguin sells you a router that respects your freedom; that router probably doesn't."

According to http://librecmc.org/librecmc/wiki?name=TL-WR841ND, the WR841ND DOES "respect your freedom" when using the LibreCMC firmware and is a fraction of the cost of the Think Penguin one.

Why would I take your word over the official LibreCMC site?

onpon4
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Iscritto: 05/30/2012

I'm just repeating what Chris said back when Think Penguin's router was actually based on this one (a couple months ago, I think). I don't see anything on that page even remotely resembling a promise that the router you linked to respects your freedom. It just says that LibreCMC works on two versions of it. In any case, it's true that some of these routers respect your freedom, but all of Think Penguin's routers respect your freedom.

t3g
t3g
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Iscritto: 05/15/2011

If the router can be flashed with free firmware and works with LibreCMC's libre kernel, embedded software, and web interface, then what is the problem as long as it all plays nice and the hardware?

onpon4
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Iscritto: 05/30/2012

Are you even reading my posts? I never said it wasn't OK, I said that not all of them are OK. It's OK if you do get the right version. That's why Think Penguin used to base its router on the one that respects your freedom. This is not all that complex.

NYNEX
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Iscritto: 04/27/2013

Well, most people don't re-flash the bootloader in their router. The libreCMC images don't include u-boot. Think Penguin ships their routers with a modified version of u-boot that provides a failsafe web-ui (so you can unbrick the router) and they provide a full source code CD.

onpon4
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Iscritto: 05/30/2012

There are cheaper routers than $52, but I still don't think $52 is expensive. (Note: Chris has clarified that Think Penguin includes taxes in listed prices if you're in Europe.)

Mzee
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Iscritto: 07/10/2013

Thanks a lot for suggestions. Do your suggested routers have a hardware switch to turn wifi on and off?

Trisquelian
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Iscritto: 01/23/2015

I have a TL-WR841N v8.4 at work (it's one of those that looks like a melted heap of plastic). It has a physical wifi switch near the ethernet ports. I am not sure if this particular model is compatible with libreCMC. You can check the hardware specifications of some of the versions on the OpenWRT wiki, but OpenWRT is not free. Some of the versions have different chipsets and there are a lot of revisions.

Edit: I checked librecmc and it seems that only the TL-WR841ND is supported of the two. However, the link for download does not include the "D" in it, must have been lazy typing.

NYNEX
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Iscritto: 04/27/2013

No, the TL-WR841n hardware is the same as TL-WR841nd with the exception where"ND" means it has non-detachable antennas. Both versions were targeted at different markets and different price points. The main thing to look at in the line of routers is the version number. vXX.* is the hardware version and V*.XX is the software revision.

Trisquelian
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Iscritto: 01/23/2015

That is what I imagined, but without a clear statement on the website, it is too much of a risk since I am depending on the router. I think this also happened, when I was looking at different Operative Systems for my router.