Software Alternatives & Reviews

OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers subtitle

OpenWrt Reviews and details

Screenshots and images

  • OpenWrt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14

Badges

Promote OpenWrt. You can add any of these badges on your website.
SaaSHub badge
Show embed code

Videos

Upgrading Your Home Router to OpenWRT and Why It Is Worth It

Playing with OpenWrt Wireless Settings

Make Your TP-LINK Router into a High Power Router with OpenWrt

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about OpenWrt and what they use it for.
  • Recommendation for a wifi router with L2TP or other VPN server support?
    If your current router supports a custom firmware like openWRT then you could do this without having to buy a new one. Source: 5 months ago
  • OpenWrt Site Account Creation
    Unfortunately, I can't create an account via Github on the openwrt site. Source: 7 months ago
  • openwrt.org not loading
    Anyone else having trouble reaching openwrt.org right now? I can't get the forums, main page or downloads. I've done plenty of troubleshooting and there isn't anything else on my network having trouble reaching anything else on the internet. Source: 8 months ago
  • Things just got a little weird, my current network is down, I'm a newb trying to start from the ground up and I found out I actually have another (newer) wifi router.... what to do?
    On the router. openwrt.org has lots of great documentation that lays out exactly what you're looking for and then some. Source: 10 months ago
  • As of June 2023, what is the best router that I could buy specifically for ease of use with all things pi-hole related
    Is the Verizon one a combined modem/router? If you want to add your own router, you might have to call them and ask them to put it into bridged mode. I like OpenWRT because it gives you a lot of customization options. I've just been running it on an old TP-Link Archer C7 for the past 5 years or so and I haven't had any issues, but that's ancient hardware now. Source: 11 months ago
  • Can I create a secondary virtual wireless access point on one of my proxmox nodes
    Some linux based routers OS would be OpenWRT and VyOS (VyOS is CLI based and does not have a UI). Source: 11 months ago
  • BT broadband with 3rd party router
    One thing to think of in the future, if you’re brave enough, is can you stick different firmware on it. OpenWRT or, my preferred software for older routers, ddwrt. I’ve used this to set up a second WiFi network that connected to a VPN provider directly. Handy if you want to, say, get foreign TV (iPlayer like). Source: 11 months ago
  • How would I use IPTables or NFTables to route internet from 1 ethernet port to another?
    The Linux equivalent of PFsense is OpenWrt. It has images for x86 which can run on hardware or virtual machine, and Arm virtual machine. Source: 11 months ago
  • What happened with Asus routers this morning?
    Hello, idk ... But if your model is in the device compatibility-list, your should always be able to change to an alternative FOSS firmware. For example to https://openwrt.org or to some maintained tomato-clone like https://freshtomato.org ps. I'm a happy owner of a 10+ years old RT N16 - it runs really great on openwrt ... cheers,. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Working in neigbouring countries - EU citizen
    For OpenWrt look on the official website for compatible routers and follow the instructions for your device - https://openwrt.org/. Source: about 1 year ago
  • High ping at certain times of the day, will new router help?
    If it's indeed from a single particular router, replacing it with a router that has a good SQM capability might help. If the old router is actually not that old, you could try to see if custom firmware like OpenWRT or somesuch would give such a capability -- though it may be more of a headache since you'll have to configure a bunch of things. Source: about 1 year ago
  • How can I keep this leech off of my wifi?
    Let me preface this with "buying a lockbox is going to be much easier and much less time consuming than this". That said, depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you are willing to and if the router you have is supported by OpenWrt, you could do the following:. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Anyone has any Issues accessing OpenWRT.org and its related subdomain?
    Openwrt.org has an IPv6 record. Try to disable IPv6 and see if that fixes it, you might be experiencing IPv6 routing issues from your location. Source: about 1 year ago
  • VPN on router
    If you are on a budget, take a look at MikroTik, or some more obscure Chinese routers/used known brand routers that can be flashed with OpenWRT or DD-WRT. Source: about 1 year ago
  • How do I write custom firmware for a router?
    I actually discourage rolling your own build, because it’s easy to get lazy and having to keep up with point releases and security patches and all that. As well as not being able to use stock kmod and needing your own source for modules, etc. After doing all that, just reflash back and not have to do much except check https://openwrt.org a few times a year. If there’s a new release spend a few minutes updating and... Source: about 1 year ago
  • AP with LAN
    Go to http://openwrt.org/ to verify that a device you want to purchase can be modified--whether you want to or not, to support brands that don't promote e-waste. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Is this a good combo? I have a 800 mbps plan with xfinity. How long will these last?
    Openwrt is a good place to start for firmware modification abilities: Https://openwrt.org/. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Turning my laptop into router
    You're better off using something like OpenWRT, which was designed for exactly this. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Build a Linux wireless router out of spare parts in 1998
    OpenWRT [0] OTOH is actually Linux. Also very full featured, including a GUI (LuCI) that even though some times lags a little behind the command-line and config file stuff, is still pretty good. As another FreeBSD-based alternative, there's the PFSense fork OPNSense [1], which started out as a fork of PfSense after the Netgate takeover and complaints about their openness and support for the community. [0]... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • What more should I be doing more for my home network security?
    You could check if your router is supported by openwrt. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Using mobile internet instead of paying for home internet separately?
    For anybody wanting to take this idea a little further, one can use a wireless router to connect to the phone’s hotspot and create a normal network for other devices to join. Most commercial router software isn’t designed for this, so it probably needs to be replaced with, eg, OpenWrt (indeed, here are instructions for implementing precisely this idea on OpenWrt). This provides some advantages:. Source: about 1 year ago

External sources with reviews and comparisons of OpenWrt

Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
Both pfSense and OpenWRT are formidable and versatile alternatives for network administration software. While OpenWRT is designed for embedded devices such as routers, Pfsense focuses on firewalls and routing functions that are more complex. Pfsense is more user-friendly, while OpenWRT provides more configuration options. Both are supported by thriving online communities that offer an abundance of resources. The...
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
OpenWrt also offers a range of advanced networking configurations, including support for Quality of Service (QoS), network address translation (NAT), and virtual LAN (VLAN) tagging. These features make OpenWrt an attractive option for businesses and organizations that require more advanced networking capabilities. The open-source nature of OpenWrt means that users can contribute to the development of the software...
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Unlike IPFire, OpenWRT has a large number of optional packages in its repository. As a result, you can configure this OS in countless different ways. Most importantly, OpenWRT has drivers for all hardware supported by Linux. This means that almost all Wireless hardware is supported, making it the most versatile OS for creating Access Points.
Top 7 pfSense Alternatives
OpenWRT is made primarily to replace the software on existing routers, but it can also run on x86 (PCs, server hardware, VMs) machines. It is a very mature OS and has some of the best Wi-Fi support around, unlike a lot of other router software options. It has a pretty good GUI and a ton of add-on packages.
7 Best Router Firmware | Open Source | 2022
OpenWrt Project is a Linux based alternative open source firmware for routers in 2022 and embedded systems. And it is one of the best Open Source Firmware that offers you an utterly writable filesystem along with package management. It allows for full customization and lets you customize the device for any application.
7 Free Alternative Router Firmware – Unlock Hidden Features
OpenWrt ​is a highly extensible ​GNU/​Linux ​distribution for embedded devices ​(typically wireless routers). Unlike many other distributions for these routers, OpenWrt ​is built from the ground up to be a full-featured, easily modifiable operating system for your router.
DD-WRT vs. Tomato vs. OpenWRT: Which Router Firmware Is the Best?
OpenWRT is the oldest open-source router firmware project. It’s the precursor to both DD-WRT and Tomato, and it has earned its reputation as a powerful choice with a ton of options. OpenWRT, as it is now, is actually a merger of the classic OpenWRT and LEDE.
Best free Linux firewalls of 2020: go beyond iptables for desktops and servers
It also has a surprisingly decent GUI, and offers a number of optional packages in its repository to allow OpenWRT to be configured in a variety of ways for all kinds of uses. Despite all its flexibility, OpenWRT is still one of the least demanding distros, and is fast to run.

Do you know an article comparing OpenWrt to other products?
Suggest a link to a post with product alternatives.

Suggest an article

Generic OpenWrt discussion

Log in or Post with

This is an informative page about OpenWrt. You can review and discuss the product here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.