Software Freedom Preservation (SFC) announced last week that OpenWrt One, a Wi-Fi router built with open source software in mind, is now available to buy For $89 on AliExpress. The SFC says the router “will never be locked” and gives its owners the “right to change, modify and repair it” as they wish.
OpenWrt One aims to provide owners with a “hacker-friendly device” that doesn't rely on update programs from private companies and doesn't lose support over time. The fact that OpenWrt One uses open source software (it comes with OpenWRT pre-installed) means, in theory, that you can keep it up to date for as long as you want to use it.
The SFC collaborated with single-board computer maker Banana Pi, which launched its own OpenWRT router called BPI-WIFI6 earlier this year, to make OpenWrt One. The router also comes as a independent logic board for $68.42, although as Thomas'hardware gradesthat doesn't seem to be available in the US yet. The router has a switch that allows you to separately upgrade the NOR and NAND parts of its flash memory, making it “almost impossible to brick,” according to its AliExpress listing. The board also features an M.2 expansion slot.
Otherwise, the OpenWrt One is a simple dual-band system that uses the Wi-Fi 6 standard on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. It can be powered through a USB-C port on the back or from the 2.5 GbE Ethernet port to the side, using Power over Ethernet. It also has a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port and has a USB-A and USB-C port on the front.
Compared to Banana Pi's cheaper $30 router, this model has twice the RAM with 1GB, and while it only has two Ethernet ports compared to the BPI-WIFI6's four, it has PoE support through its port. 2.5 GbE, where the BPI-WIFI6 router is located. All standard gigabit. The new router also supports 3 x 3 MIMO on the 5GHz band, so it should provide more data throughput to more devices. It's still not a wireless networking powerhouse, but with the lack of flexibility offered by many mass-market alternatives, it's worth celebrating that it's designed specifically for open source software.
