OpenWrt
OpenWrt is a Linux distribution for the LinksysWrt54g, AsusWL-300g and other devices which are based on the Broadcom BCM47XX and BCM53XX chips. Instead of trying to cram every possible feature into one firmware, OpenWrt provides only a minimal firmware with support for add-on packages. For users this means the ability to custom tune features, removing unwanted packages to make room for other packages and for developers this means being able to focus on packages without having to test and release an entire firmware.
Full documenation for installation and use can be found at the OpenWrt Project's site
Unlike SveaSoft OpenWrt is a true open source project with daily snapshots publicly available.
- "Tastes Great, Less Litigation"
Like SveaSoft OpenWRT has a web interface to make it easy to set up, unlike SveaSoft it's optional so you dont need to use up memory for it if you do not want it. You can easily include it in your install by grabbing interface-wrt with the amzingly simple ipkg command. Also dont forget to check out the plethora of other additions you can add to your OpenWrt like a Zeroconf server/client. PHP, NoCat Splash, an Asterisk server, and many many more
- OpenWRT compared to Sveasoft holds up well, not lacking as some believe.
Running OLSR
OLSR, The Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (OLSR) is a protocol to connect mobile ad-hoc networks, also sometimes called wireless mesh networks. It collects data about which network members can communicate, and then calculates an optimized routing table.
Here is a step by step guide to installing OLSR on a WRT54G with the Freifunk Firmware: http://www.vdomck.org/blog/?p=48
You can find Unik-Olsr demon binaries : http://wrt54g.free.fr/openwrt/ There are some instructions on how to install the OLSR demon. You need to install OpenWrt b2 and get olsrd binairies. Olsrd seem not working in demon mode, so you need to launch it with -d 1 debug mode option in background. You also need to configure /etc/olsrd.conf. OLSRd dynamicly changes the route table ; in my /etc/rc/olsr script, I removed the default route before running olsrd.
- There are 2 ways of running OLSR : Internet gateway mode, or client mode. You'll find 2 different configurations files (usr.local.wrt5[12].tar.gz) with the necessary environment for running a mesh network.
- Caution : filters are not filtering at all !
Running BGP
BGP, Border Gateway Protocol, is being used successfully by the WAFreeNet, after initial unsuccessful attempts with OSPF due to stability issues with route flapping.
The Quagga Routing Suite is an opensource software suite, and provides a stable implementation of BGPv4 for Unix platforms. It consists of a core zebra daemon, and daemons for supporting various routing protocols, including RIP, OSPF and BGP.
Any BGP node only needs to be configured with details of its immediate neighbouring nodes, and will then start exchanging routes. This means adding a new node to a network only requires BGP configuration on the new node, and its immediate neighbours, and routes to the new node will then propagate through then entire network.
For details on installing, configuring and running BGP on OpenWrt, see BGP Routing on OpenWrt with Quagga
AODV
tar.gz files also contains kernel-aodv and scripts startup.
- I have seen important latency when using AODV, so now I prefer working with OLSR.
ideas / request
- iplimit/connlimit extension for iptables
- easy htb/tc configurator or script generator
complex networking like this: http://leaf.sourceforge.net/doc/network_diagrams/Complex.txt
Links
OpenWrt website
OpenWrt forum
OpenWrt in french
The Personal Telco Projects use of OpenWrt including a NoCatSplash ipk
Author
- Marc Quinton
