openwrt: what routers just plain ***work***?

[Giles Orr]

2009/5/14 Robert P. J. Day <rpjday-L09J2beyid0N/H6P543EQg at public.gmane.org>:
>  i'm currently waxing philosophical on the openwrt users mailing
> list, bitching about the fact that there's no simple list of
> commercially available routers that just plain *work* with a 2.6-based
> build of openwrt.  and by "work," i mean out of the box, install
> openwrt and wireless magically comes up and works properly and you're
> off to the races.
>
>  there always appear to be some caveats:
>
>  * a linksys wrt54gl is great, as long as you run a 2.4 kernel to
>    get wireless
>
>  * another router might have working wireless but it's not stable,
>    which i interpret as "not working".
>
>  * another router will work fine as long as you replace the broadcom
>    wireless card with an atheros
>
>  * the router comes with USB ports, but USB support isn't quite there
>
> and so on, and so on.  which inspires a simple question -- can anyone
> here point to an off-the-shelf router on which you can install openwrt
> that just ***works***?  ideally, i'd like:
>
>  * a router that takes the latest 2.6 version of openwrt -- i have no
>    interest in regressing to 2.4 to get working wireless, as you need
>    to do on the wrt54gl
>
>  * has at least one USB 2.0 port that works
>
> there's supposed to be a new release -- 8.09.1 -- out tomorrow and
> that might solve a bunch of issues but has anyone on this list found a
> router that works?  thanks.

What I've read suggests that making the list you want is extremely
difficult because manufacturers quietly and sometimes frequently
change the chips in their routers - often without bothering to change
the router name or even part or version number.  Thus we have lists
that say things like "Bonehead wireless router X5 (with red
faceplate)" because the faceplate is actually the easiest way to
distinguish the chipset!

Yes, it's a pain in the ass to navigate the lists.  Remember that
you're intentionally bypassing the manufacturer's intentions, and
usually voiding the warranty.  Let me re-state: they don't want you to
do this, and do not feel compelled to make it easy.

All that said, I'm with you: I wish that list existed.  :-)

-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
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