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 All other released versions here on github are out-of-date.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! :-)