AnClar Premium Member join:2003-07-31 Belton, TX 3 edits
2 recommendations |
AnClar
Premium Member
2014-Jul-31 11:43 am
[OpenWrt] Driver for OpenWrt on Linksys WRT1900AC (Resolved)The chatter on the Linksys and OpenWRT forums the past few days is disappointing and frustrating to read. It seems as though Marvell is not going to release the source code for the wireless driver for the radio in the Linksys WRT1900AC router any time soon. According to a Belkin dev posting on the OpenWRT forum, Marvell is providing another closed binary of their poorly coded driver to the Belkin devs. This is being echoed in the Linksys forum as well. Belkin claims that there are ongoing "legal issues" that will prevent them from getting the source code for the driver. Bottom line is that the marketing dept. at Belkin made claims that the Linksys WRT1900AC would support Open Source FW without fully investigating whether or not that claim was supported by all parties. End result for users...misleading and potentially totally false claims about the WRT1900AC's Open Source support. IMO, Belkin should institute a refund program for users who bought this product expecting that it would be supported by OpenWRT, because of the false/misleading advertising claims. Best bet for those needing true Open Source support for their routers is to go with one with an Atheros chipset. Atheros seems to be the only company that "gets it" as far as Open Source support goes. I'm sending my WRT1900AC back to Belkin with a demand for a full refund. Really sad as it is a powerful device from a HW standpoint. It would have been a beast if the powers that be were truly interested in providing Open Source support. As it is, we're stuck with either the miserable stock Linksys FW or a half-assed implementation of OpenWRT. |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI TP-Link Archer C7 Linksys WRT54GS Linksys WRT54G v4
1 edit |
Re: [OpenWRT] Looks Like We Can Forget About OpenWRT on Linksys WRT1900ACThanks for the informative post. I've been trying to get up on the latest as my youngest OpenWrt compile dates from 2012 and my White Russian boxes are going to be old enough to vote... EDIT: More info here: » wiki.openwrt.org/toh/lin ··· rt1900ac» forum.openwrt.org/viewto ··· d=230686(Pssst... any mods listening... the forum tag should be OpenWrt NOT OpenWRT.) |
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to AnClar
dodged a bit of a bullet, as I just about pulled the trigger on one of these this past week. |
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to AnClar
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KoRnGtL15 Premium Member join:2007-01-04 Grants Pass, OR |
That is a Frankenstein build. Working with what they can get. Nothing officially out yet. I would highly advise not installing it. |
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I don't run open source firmware anyway, but thanks for the heads up. All in all this is still an amazing router and it's worth getting anyway. I love mine. |
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Mike Wolf |
to AnClar
Just received word from this report » www.pcworld.com/article/ ··· ces.html that the OpenWRT wireless driver is available. |
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KoRnGtL15 Premium Member join:2007-01-04 Grants Pass, OR |
Hell has frozen over! I suppose its better late then never. I was more excited about the high gain antennas until I seen the price. $130 for 4. They are smoking crack.... |
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I agree, I'm hoping that's just MSRP and the price will be reduced when it goes on market the same as how the WRT1900AC was $279 at last CES and it's being sold at $249. |
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ultram Premium Member join:2002-12-25 Wildwood, FL |
ultram
Premium Member
2015-Jan-5 8:01 pm
Amazon has it for $226.99 |
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Awesome. |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI TP-Link Archer C7 Linksys WRT54GS Linksys WRT54G v4
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to KoRnGtL15
said by KoRnGtL15:I was more excited about the high gain antennas until I seen the price. $130 for 4. They are smoking crack.... I'd like to ask those closer to this... how can a $200+ price be justified? I couldn't wait and went for a TP-Link Archer C7 v2 as a sweet OpenWrt ready upgrade: » wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp- ··· -wdr7500 as an excellent bang-for-the-buck at around $80. In relation, the WRT1900AC seems like a $120-$150 router, not $240. I know... they all look good compared to my WRT54GS v3. |
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it's a 1900 router though, not a 1200 router. I think the price is justified. Check out the WRT1200AC at $180 MSRP. It's pretty cool and a good cheaper alternative for those who want the same awesome design of the WRT but at a lower price point. Keep in mind pricing for everything can very well be cheaper once it's actually on market. |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI TP-Link Archer C7 Linksys WRT54GS Linksys WRT54G v4
1 recommendation |
I think it's AC1750 but I'm a long way from using AC. Yes... if you go spec-by-spec like needing USB 3.0 there's certainly many differences. I'm coming from the bang-for-buck and the OpenWrt connection - Atheros has a long history of Linux community support.
The price is also, obviously, a bit of the latest/newness, too. It's good to see Linksys/Belkin may be delivering on their promise of a year ago. |
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1 recommendation |
I put the blame on the chip manufacturer. I think Linksys was told by them "oh yeah it'll be open-source" when they were designing and planning it, then it ended up not being so. At least Linksys wants to offer open source for their customers and is making an effort unlike others who aren't. |
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KoRnGtL15 Premium Member join:2007-01-04 Grants Pass, OR
2 recommendations |
to Bill_MI
said by Bill_MI:said by KoRnGtL15:I was more excited about the high gain antennas until I seen the price. $130 for 4. They are smoking crack.... I'd like to ask those closer to this... how can a $200+ price be justified? I couldn't wait and went for a TP-Link Archer C7 v2 as a sweet OpenWrt ready upgrade: » wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp- ··· -wdr7500 as an excellent bang-for-the-buck at around $80. In relation, the WRT1900AC seems like a $120-$150 router, not $240. I know... they all look good compared to my WRT54GS v3. The build quality alone is so far above and beyond the competition. It is in its own league. Its built like a tank. You just don't see that any more. My previous router was a Linksys E4200 v1. The last good router Linksys ever made again before being bought by Belkin. 3rd party support was amazing and heck. Even the stock firmware was rock solid. I owned that router for 3+ years and thought it was time for a upgrade. Hence the WRT1900AC. It has been rock solid for me. I love this router. Yeah it might lack features and 3rd party support. Both Linksys are still working on. Other then that. Stability> features. Linksys wins hands down. I paid $235 for mine a few months back. And just recently during xmas sales. You could have got it for $199. Another thing that go me into this router. The WRT series is legend. Pure and simple. Its always been known for quality hardware, stability and most of all. 3rd party firmware support. I use to own a WRT54GL myself back in the day. They still sell that router to this day. What does that tell you about the WRT series? |
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Yup totally agree. I mean I have the WRT1900AC myself for awhile and it's amazing. I bought an EA3500 for my Grandmother in Florida because it has the Smart Wi-Fi which I can manage back home and in my quality control testing before I bring it down to her I discovered a lot of problems with the memory running out and causing reboots during Netflix streaming and sometimes even web browsing. I think the longest it went was 8 hours between reboots, where as the WRT1900AC has never had this problem. Yes I think it has to do with the EA3500 having 64MB of RAM where as the WRT1900AC has 256MB of RAM. |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI TP-Link Archer C7 Linksys WRT54GS Linksys WRT54G v4
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to Mike Wolf
said by Mike Wolf:I put the blame on the chip manufacturer. Yep, I'm sure there's NO doubt Marvell was the fly in the ointment. Having been in industry I could imagine engineers working on this only to be overridden by some manager getting all bent out of shape about it when he gets the word at a late phase of the project. Alternately, it could be a contractor to Marvell with agreements in place. Whatever it was, I hope it's gone. |
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My apologies. I'm not saying it was the engineers themselves at fault, I was saying that there could have been a breakdown in communication or misinformation further up the Marvell chain of non technical decision makers. Alternatively it could have been some sort of legal or security issue since for it to be open source Marvell would have to disclose source code and other information that they might not want competitors or malicious hackers to get ahold of. |
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Mike Wolf |
to KoRnGtL15
Antennas are currently $99 on their website. » store.linksys.com/adapte ··· prod.htm |
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AnClar Premium Member join:2003-07-31 Belton, TX
1 recommendation |
AnClar
Premium Member
2015-Jan-7 11:30 am
Re: [OpenWRT] Looks Like We'll Actually Have OpenWRT on Linksys WRT1900ACGiven all that's taken place in the Openwrt community and Linksys's own recent statements since my original post, I'm now (happily) compelled to want to retitle this thread...I can't actually edit the original post, but I'll update here to say that it looks as though we will have an official release of Openwrt at some point in the (hopefully) not too distant future. There are currently 3 active Openwrt forks including one by a member of the Openwrt dev team, and with Marvell now cooperating more than they have in the past regarding release of their wifi driver source code, there's every possibility that there will be a main trunk Openwrt release for the WRT1900AC at some point.
This whole process is a perfect example of how the open source community, working together, was able to influence a h/w maker (Marvell) to be forthcoming in releasing source code to the community. Bravo to all involved!! |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI TP-Link Archer C7 Linksys WRT54GS Linksys WRT54G v4
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to Mike Wolf
Re: [OpenWRT] Looks Like We Can Forget About OpenWRT on Linksys WRT1900ACsaid by Mike Wolf:My apologies. I'm not saying it was the engineers themselves at fault, I was saying that there could have been a breakdown in communication or misinformation further up the Marvell chain of non technical decision makers Gee, I'm not sure what the apology is for - I was agreeing plus imagining how the change happened on the inside. Like... who didn't get the word? |
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KoRnGtL15 Premium Member join:2007-01-04 Grants Pass, OR |
to Mike Wolf
$99 I can do! No pre order option?!?!? :/ |
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to Bill_MI
I read the "NO" as sarcastic and that you were defending the engineers as you were one I figure better safe then not. |
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Mike Wolf |
to AnClar
Re: [OpenWRT] Looks Like We'll Actually Have OpenWRT on Linksys WRT1900ACI'm looking at it as Marvell not having much choice in the matter since they've been getting a lot of bad press the past year (every time the WRT1900AC was reviewed) since Linksys was so public about the WRT being open source and not being able to deliver on that solely because of Marvell. I think Marvell was afraid that if they didn't start to play ball less manufacturers were going to use them and switch to Broadcom or another competitor that is open source friendly. |
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Bill_MIBill In Michigan MVM join:2001-01-03 Royal Oak, MI |
To support your thoughts, Marvell on Christmas Eve and Linksys at CES looks like the PR departments got activated to fix this at both companies. |
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to KoRnGtL15
Re: [OpenWRT] Looks Like We Can Forget About OpenWRT on Linksys WRT1900ACI'm getting the feeling the antennas are gonna be going on sale this month since of the WRT product pages it's the only one that says "temporarily sold out" where the others say "coming soon". |
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Tekrob to AnClar
Anon
2015-Jan-17 12:09 pm
to AnClar
Well Said. I just bought the WRT1900 and agree that we have been swindled. I have been searching for a high performance router and thought I found one that I can be a little more flexible with. Obviously, this is another case of poor planning and where assumptions ruled over closed lip policy until they were 100 percent sure of all OpenWRT Claims. Without the Wireless Driver code they are pretty much up the creek with this particular claim. You would think that they would check with their contractual partners of their products before they go spewing assumptions. Maybe this was their aim, but someone forgot to read the contract for the most important piece of hardware on the router. Namely, the radio, the most important part of the "Wireless" Router. |
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I feel like no ones paying attention that the open source firmware and wireless driver codes are available now thus the thread pretty much ran it's course. |
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