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socallinuxexpo / scale-network

SCaLE's on-site expo network configurations, wifi, tooling, and scripts
https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/
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Possible wireless hardware alternatives for APs #410

Closed sarcasticadmin closed 5 months ago

sarcasticadmin commented 2 years ago

Description

Keeping track of the existing alternatives in the space to replace the WNDR 3700v2, 3800 series of APs

Current options:

Acceptance Criteria

davidelang commented 2 years ago

one that was recommended (haven't researched it) is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LMQLG7X

linksys ax3200 with stock firmware it says max 25 devices, don't know if that limit remains with openwrt

lists at $150

David Lang

On Thu, 7 Oct 2021, Robert James Hernandez wrote:

Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2021 00:38:14 -0700 From: Robert James Hernandez @.> Reply-To: socallinuxexpo/scale-network @.> To: socallinuxexpo/scale-network @.> Cc: Subscribed @.> Subject: [socallinuxexpo/scale-network] Possible wireless hardware alternatives for APs (#410)

Description

Keeping track of the existing alternatives in the space to replace the WNDR 3700v2, 3800 series of APs

Current options:

Acceptance Criteria

  • Built in wireless chipset thats relevant with current client chipsets
  • Affordable price per unit ~ $50
  • Support well by recent versions of openwrt
  • Open hardware (nice to have)
davidelang commented 2 years ago

here is the openwrt page on it https://openwrt.org/toh/linksys/e8450

On Thu, 7 Oct 2021, David Lang wrote:

one that was recommended (haven't researched it) is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LMQLG7X

linksys ax3200 with stock firmware it says max 25 devices, don't know if that limit remains with openwrt

lists at $150

owendelong commented 2 years ago

One will arrive Tuesday and I’m planning on building OpenWRT and putting it on. I’m fed up with the stock firmware on my Netgear R8000P and it’s not supported by OpenWRT, unfortunately.

Owen

On Oct 7, 2021, at 07:52 , David Lang @.***> wrote:

one that was recommended (haven't researched it) is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LMQLG7X

linksys ax3200 with stock firmware it says max 25 devices, don't know if that limit remains with openwrt

lists at $150

David Lang

On Thu, 7 Oct 2021, Robert James Hernandez wrote:

Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2021 00:38:14 -0700 From: Robert James Hernandez @.> Reply-To: socallinuxexpo/scale-network @.> To: socallinuxexpo/scale-network @.> Cc: Subscribed @.> Subject: [socallinuxexpo/scale-network] Possible wireless hardware alternatives for APs (#410)

Description

Keeping track of the existing alternatives in the space to replace the WNDR 3700v2, 3800 series of APs

Current options:

Acceptance Criteria

  • Built in wireless chipset thats relevant with current client chipsets
  • Affordable price per unit ~ $50
  • Support well by recent versions of openwrt
  • Open hardware (nice to have)

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ptrlow1 commented 1 year ago

Another one that's supported is the TP-Link EAP615-Wall v1

Here is the wiki page on OpenWrt's site: https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/eap615-wall IEEE 802.11ax gigabit PoE+ (802.3af/at) wall-mount access point. Has a single PoE+ input ethernet jack on the back. Three additional ethernet jacks with one providing pass-through PoE output (802.3at) on the bottom.

Right now on Amazon it is priced at $89 (as of 7/27/2022; shipped direct from Amazon); has a MediaTek MT7621AT chip (880 MHz; 16MB flash; 128MB of ram); it's also has PoE.(don't know if the switches work with these...)

There's also the Ubiquiti UniFi 6LR, but advise not to use it. (The company has a hostile relationship against open firmware like OpenWrt.)

ptrlow1 commented 1 year ago

Also looking at the Netgear WAX202 which has gained official openwrt support (added in 22.03), it is rated at AX1800 and claims 128 64 max clients (stock firmware), is priced on Amazon around ~$50. Uses simular hardware as the mentioned "EAP615-Wall" but with more memory and ram.

There is also a Netgear WAX206 which has similar hardware as the Belkin rt3200/Linksys rt8450 which is also rated AX3200, but with a 2.5G wan port (update: 2.5G wan is useless to us as our equipment is 1G & 10G** only), also claims 128 max devices (stock firmware); price on Amazon is around ~$90. Note that currently isn't supported at this time, but a pr was submitted last month for official support (https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/11363). Note the 2.5G wan is supported but only with stock firmware, otherwise up to 1g when used with openwrt. (UPDATE: The Netgear WAX206 now has OpenWrt support; albeit "Snapshot" release. It also uses the same MediaTek MT7622BV chipset and CPU. (Also based on the 64-bit ARM Cortex A53.)

Openwrt hardware pages: WAX202: https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/netgear/netgear_wax202 WAX206: https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/netgear/wax206

ptrlow1 commented 1 year ago

Probability too late for 20x, but maybe for the following show ie 21x. Would be better than the tp-link poe ap. Hoping to get a WAX202 in for testing.

owendelong commented 1 year ago

A 2.5G WAN port doesn’t do us any good. Our infrastructure hardware is capable of 1G and 10G. It won’t do 2.5G.

Owen

On Dec 26, 2022, at 22:53, Peter Low @.***> wrote:

Also looking at the Netgear WAX202 which has gained official openwrt support, it is ax1800 and claims 128 max clients (stock firmware), is priced on Amazon around ~$50. Uses simular hardware as the mentioned "EAP615-Wall" but with more memory and ram.

There is also a Netgear WAX206 which has similar hardware as the Belkin rt3200/Linksys rt8450 which has ax3200, but with a 2.5G wan port, also claims 128 max devices (stock fw); price on Amazon is around ~$90. Note that isn't supported at this time, but a pr was submitted last month for official support (openwrt/openwrt#11363 https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/11363). Note the 2.5G wan is supported but only with stock firmware, otherwise up to 1g when used with openwrt.

Openwrt hardware pages: WAX202: https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/netgear/netgear_wax202 https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/netgear/netgear_wax202 WAX206: https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/netgear/wax206 https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/netgear/wax206 — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/socallinuxexpo/scale-network/issues/410#issuecomment-1365656663, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAK6GTVHR7HOR5YQUZ4POGTWPKG5DANCNFSM5FQTE6FA. You are receiving this because you commented.

sarcasticadmin commented 1 year ago

A 2.5G WAN port doesn’t do us any good. Our infrastructure hardware is capable of 1G and 10G. It won’t do 2.5G.

@owendelong while the 2.5G WAN port doesnt sway the decision, I think its still worth considering the hardware if its more widely available and the price is equal to/or better than the Belkin rt3200/Linksys rt8450. Assuming the support from the openwrt project is there

@ptrlow1 thank you for the additional insight on these options, this definitely is worth considering!

ptrlow1 commented 1 year ago

Linksys EA8450/Belkin RT3200 uses MediaTek MT7622BV (ARM Cortex A53; ARMv8 64-Bit).

davidelang commented 1 year ago

restating the requirements

MU-MIMO support OpenWRT support <$200 per unit

desirable PoE support no external antennas (they tangle in storage boxes and get broken) lower price is better :-)

nixinator commented 1 year ago

I think it's not off topic to mention this initiative. I've not used it, or don't know if its ready to use in any form. https://openwifi.tip.build/about/about-openwifi

davidelang commented 1 year ago

the fact that you have to sign up with them to get access to thier list of supported hardware is a strike against them in my opinion.

I'm considering it, trying to find from their public information what their big advantage is.

David Lang

On Thu, 16 Mar 2023, Lee Hughes wrote:

I think it's not off topic to mention this initative. I've not used it, or don't know if its ready to use in any form. https://openwifi.tip.build/about/about-openwifi

davidelang commented 1 year ago

looking through this, they are building everything into a single config (registry style) and that is far more limiting than OpenWRT that exposes a full linux system. As a result I'm not going to register with them to get access.

David Lang

On Thu, 16 Mar 2023, David Lang wrote:

the fact that you have to sign up with them to get access to thier list of supported hardware is a strike against them in my opinion.

I'm considering it, trying to find from their public information what their big advantage is.

David Lang

On Thu, 16 Mar 2023, Lee Hughes wrote:

I think it's not off topic to mention this initative. I've not used it, or don't know if its ready to use in any form. https://openwifi.tip.build/about/about-openwifi

sarcasticadmin commented 5 months ago

Closing as weve opted to go with and currently support the Belkin RT3200 (Linksys E8450): https://github.com/socallinuxexpo/scale-network/issues/532