4 ms·

> Now a days with open wrt and dd-wrt firmwares for many routers, there is not much point in using RPis and switches unless they are just laying around in your

> Now a days with open wrt and dd-wrt firmwares for many routers, there is not much point in using RPis and switches unless they are just laying around in your junk drawer. I feel like it's the other way around. A Pi 4 is cheaper and more performant than many (Most?) consumer grade routers. They'll do cake at gig if you set the clock speed to 2 GHz.

cf100clunk 5y ago
There is often a good increase in performance of a consumer grade router once one of the wrt flavours is installed, so in my mind it would be simpler to just flash it rather than set up a Pi4 like this. Anyways, as was said earlier, if you have a Pi4 in a drawer and you have a need and a managed switch, this is a good use.
- danhor 5y ago
  You have very few consumer routers with a CPU capable of routing a gigabit with a firewall (using the Linux network stack). All (consumer) routers implement parts of this in hardware, most of which OpenWRT doesn't support. (For this reason, OpenWRT implements software offloading which skips a lot of the Linux network stack, but is partially broken in the latest release)
  - cf100clunk 5y ago
    I was getting at what options there might be with what is at hand, which a previous commenter mentioned, but your points are probably showstoppers for anyone comparing the Pi4 vs consumer router solutions as a starting point.
GhettoComputers 5y ago
Why not use an old laptop at that point? Pi4 isn't fanless anymore, and there is not a good reason to use one when there are better spec SBC, lower price ones, fanless ones, not even sure who the audience for it is. Edit: can't reply but show the specs to the Pi4 model that you want me to compare, and I didn't know about the new fanless Pi4, but they are still not stronger than many other SBCs that exist, and don't have fast interfaces in comparison to other SBCs, the Pine rockchip SBC comes to mind as one that has great performance for cheaper prices.
- dsissitka 5y ago
  > Pi4 isn't fanless anymore... They are. > ...there are better spec SBC, lower price ones... Show me another SBC that will do cake at gig, runs OpenWrt proper, and is cheaper than a Pi 4. :P
  - GhettoComputers 5y ago
    Sure you can run them hot, but do you want to? Which Pi4 model are you talking about, at which price?
- zozbot234 5y ago
  The Pi 4 has just been re-released with the newer and cooler chip revision from the Pi 400. This should make passive cooling (w/ a heatsink) viable for most workloads. Though the Pi 400 heatsink design still adds a lot of heat capacity which helps performance there.
Teever 5y ago
Check this out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255150863006?hash=item3b682d329e:g:kLEAAOSwuHthS8Gw https://www.ebay.com/itm/255150863006?hash=item3b682d329e:g:... https://www.linksys.com/ca/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-routers/linksys-wrt1200ac-ac1200-dual-band-wifi-router/p/p-wrt1200ac/ https://www.linksys.com/ca/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-rou... At $30 and with all accessories needed it's hard to beat the price and user-friendliness of a used router that supports openwrt out of the box. I have many raspberry pi devices on my network but at the end of the day I still one of these because of their reliability.
sigmaprimus 5y ago
I must clarify my wording on my original comment. When I said "junk drawer" it was not meant to disparage RPIs, I own a couple 3s myself and they are not junk. In fact most of the stuff in my junk drawer(s) is not junk, it is just a coloquial term for the drawer random objects of some value end up being placed rather than in their propper spot out of convenience or due to lack of organization.

cf100clunk 5y ago

There is often a good increase in performance of a consumer grade router once one of the wrt flavours is installed, so in my mind it would be simpler to just flash it rather than set up a Pi4 like this. Anyways, as was said earlier, if you have a Pi4 in a drawer and you have a need and a managed switch, this is a good use.

danhor 5y ago
You have very few consumer routers with a CPU capable of routing a gigabit with a firewall (using the Linux network stack). All (consumer) routers implement parts of this in hardware, most of which OpenWRT doesn't support. (For this reason, OpenWRT implements software offloading which skips a lot of the Linux network stack, but is partially broken in the latest release)
- cf100clunk 5y ago
  I was getting at what options there might be with what is at hand, which a previous commenter mentioned, but your points are probably showstoppers for anyone comparing the Pi4 vs consumer router solutions as a starting point.

GhettoComputers 5y ago

Why not use an old laptop at that point? Pi4 isn't fanless anymore, and there is not a good reason to use one when there are better spec SBC, lower price ones, fanless ones, not even sure who the audience for it is. Edit: can't reply but show the specs to the Pi4 model that you want me to compare, and I didn't know about the new fanless Pi4, but they are still not stronger than many other SBCs that exist, and don't have fast interfaces in comparison to other SBCs, the Pine rockchip SBC comes to mind as one that has great performance for cheaper prices.

dsissitka 5y ago
> Pi4 isn't fanless anymore... They are. > ...there are better spec SBC, lower price ones... Show me another SBC that will do cake at gig, runs OpenWrt proper, and is cheaper than a Pi 4. :P
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  Sure you can run them hot, but do you want to? Which Pi4 model are you talking about, at which price?
zozbot234 5y ago
The Pi 4 has just been re-released with the newer and cooler chip revision from the Pi 400. This should make passive cooling (w/ a heatsink) viable for most workloads. Though the Pi 400 heatsink design still adds a lot of heat capacity which helps performance there.

Teever 5y ago

Check this out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255150863006?hash=item3b682d329e:g:kLEAAOSwuHthS8Gw https://www.ebay.com/itm/255150863006?hash=item3b682d329e:g:... https://www.linksys.com/ca/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-routers/linksys-wrt1200ac-ac1200-dual-band-wifi-router/p/p-wrt1200ac/ https://www.linksys.com/ca/wireless-routers/wrt-wireless-rou... At $30 and with all accessories needed it's hard to beat the price and user-friendliness of a used router that supports openwrt out of the box. I have many raspberry pi devices on my network but at the end of the day I still one of these because of their reliability.

sigmaprimus 5y ago

I must clarify my wording on my original comment. When I said "junk drawer" it was not meant to disparage RPIs, I own a couple 3s myself and they are not junk. In fact most of the stuff in my junk drawer(s) is not junk, it is just a coloquial term for the drawer random objects of some value end up being placed rather than in their propper spot out of convenience or due to lack of organization.