Firmware for Freifunk Bielefeld

The firmware turns a common wireless router into a mesh networking device. It connects to similar routers in the area and builds a Wifi-mesh network but also opens an access point for computers to connect over Wifi. Included is Internet connectivity and a web interface.

Precompiled firmware images are available on our server. All other released versions here on github are out-of-date.

To build the firmware yourself you need a Unix console to enter commands into. Install dependencies for the build environment (Debian/Ubuntu):

    sudo apt install subversion g++ zlib1g-dev build-essential git python time
    sudo apt install libncurses5-dev gawk gettext unzip file libssl-dev wget

Build commands for the console:

    git clone https://git.openwrt.org/openwrt/openwrt.git
    cd openwrt
    git reset --hard a02d9a7d9fc8d005b27351509f02d3970e21972e

    git clone https://github.com/freifunk-bielefeld/firmware.git
    cp -rf firmware/files firmware/package firmware/feeds.conf .

    ./scripts/feeds update -a
    ./scripts/feeds install -a

    git am --whitespace=nowarn firmware/patches/openwrt/*.patch

    cd feeds/routing
    git am --whitespace=nowarn ../../firmware/patches/routing/*.patch
    cd ../../

    rm -rf firmware tmp

    make menuconfig

Now select the right "Target System" and "Target Profile" for your AP model:

For example, for the TL-WR841ND v3, select:

• Target System => Atheros AR7xxx/AR9xxx
• Target Profile => <*> TP-LINK TL-WR842N/ND v3

Or in case you have the Ubiquiti UniFi Outdoor, select:

• Target System => Atheros AR7xxx/AR9xxx
• Target Profile => <*> Ubiquiti UniFi Outdoor

For other models you can lookup the "Target System" in the LEDE hardware table. Your AP model should now be visible in the "Target Profile" list.

Now start the build process. This takes some time:

    make

You have the opportunity to compile the firmware on more CPU Threads. E.g. for 4 threads type make -j4 .

The firmware image files can now be found under the bin/targets folder. Use the firmware update functionality of your router and upload the factory image file to flash it with the Freifunk firmware. The sysupgrade images are for updates.

• Use openwrt-[chip]-[model]-squashfs-factory.bin for use with the vendor firmware.
• Use openwrt-[chip]-[model]-squashfs-sysupgrade.bin for use with OpenWrt based firmware.

Many routers have not been tested yet, but may work. Give it a try! :-)