Librebox & Fairrouter

[stepf]

 

Hello,

I wanted to "build" some kind of Libre Safebox and Libre Router (meaning as libre as possible, of course in this case). I searched around but I still didn't find anything really fully assembled (a part for the Project Turris router, but I was hoping in something more versatile, that isn't necessarily restricted to being a router), so I decide to, if possible, find/assemble a more custom solution by myself. It doesn't have to be anything particularly performing, just that it can handle 720p videos and resolutions smoothly enough, that it can be used to surf the internet even with several open tabs and maybe some basic office things. The most important thing is that it can be really as libre as possible, that has a good set of different inputs and outputs and, of course, that it doesn't have too critical unresolved hardware security flaws. It would also be important that the board can be enclosed into a proper case, that can protect the board and make it portable even when one needs to be on the go.
 

At the moment I'm aware of the Olimex boards, the Banana Pi BPI-R1 and the other Banana boards, the Mqmaker boards, the ClearFog boards, this page here: http://linux-sunxi.org/Buying_guide  and that should be more or less all. I mean, of course, I'm also aware of the Libreboot compatible laptops from minifree, but I would like to go with something a bit more portable than a usual laptop, maybe more like a tablet (on the guideline of the Nvidia Shield, maybe) and I also feel like minifree is charging a bit too much for the Libreboot installation, moreover, I heard that Libreboot can still be quite unreliable at times.
 

So, what would you suggest me?

[Tido]

A free tip from a Banana Pi BPI-R1 owner. Do not waste your money, just search the forum for Lamobo.

 

I don't know how well it will be supported software wise, but have you had a look at: Marvell ESPRESSOBin Board

[stepf]

 

Yeah, thanks, I also heard quite a lot of not so nice things about the Banana Pi BPI-R1.. but it was an option I knew about, so I cited it anyhow.
 

And why would you suggest me the ESPRESSObin exactly? Is there any special reason, or just a personal interest/preference? Because thing is that the ESPRESSObin has to be pre-ordered and it's still not available, while I instead would need something kind of soon, in not more than a month, if possible. Still looks promising, but it doesn't have any GPU from what I can see from the specs, couldn't then this lead to some stuttering or similar issues, for example with videos?

[tkaiser]

ESPRESSObin ... doesn't have any GPU from what I can see from the specs, couldn't then this lead to some stuttering or similar issues, for example with videos?

 

Nope, since it has no display output at all there can't be any stuttering. Same with the ClearFog you already mentioned. Also no stuttering possible.

 

I really wonder what you're after? Something that works like a normal PC (surfing the web, watching some videos), costs as much as an Android TV box but runs with 100 percent libre software?

 

BTW: On ARM devices the GPU is responsible for 3D acceleration (and maybe some 2D stuff) but totally unrelated to video. But fortunately that doesn't matter that much on routers that have not even a display controller.

[Jens Bauer]

A free tip from a Banana Pi BPI-R1 owner. Do not waste your money, just search the forum for Lamobo.

 

I don't know how well it will be supported software wise, but have you had a look at: Marvell ESPRESSOBin Board

I completely agree with Tido.

I have a Lamobo-R1, which I wonder if I could extract a few useful components from (such as resistors and diodes ...)

And I also agree on the ESPRESSOBiin board (or if you can afford it, take a look at Solid-Run's community board).

 

*Anything* is better than Lamobo-R1. Even an old DIR-655 would be. (TP-Link Archer AC3150 and D-Link DIR-879 seem to have very good throughput, so you might want to consider one of those - see smallnetbuilder.com).

-But if you want to place open-source software on the router, you probably should go for something from Solid-Run.

 

Most TV-boxes today have Gigabit Ethernet and some WiFi, so technically it would be possible to make a wireless router using one of those, but I don't think such a router would be as good as the TP-Link Archer AC3150 or D-Link DIR-879.

 

In all cases, you'll probably need to do a lot of manual work if you want to make a DIY GMAC router.

[stepf]

Nope, since it has no display output at all there can't be any stuttering. Same with the ClearFog you already mentioned. Also no stuttering possible.

 

I really wonder what you're after? Something that works like a normal PC (surfing the web, watching some videos), costs as much as an Android TV box but runs with 100 percent libre software?

 

BTW: On ARM devices the GPU is responsible for 3D acceleration (and maybe some 2D stuff) but totally unrelated to video. But fortunately that doesn't matter that much on routers that have not even a display controller.

 

Hey, sorry for the delay in answering I've been kept busy. Yeah, more or less. Ideally, would be like a cheap tablet who can evetually be used also as a router and possible this thing should run, as much as possible (it doesn't have to be 100% at every cost, but, just as much as it is practically possible these days), on libre software.

 

Ok, I didn't know that, thanks for telling me. But then I wonder would it maybe make more sense to have router and a portable on-the-go tablet on a separate boards? Would you suggest this? Maybe and for example something like the ESPRESSObin as a libre router and the Asus Thinker board or the Mqmaker MiQi as a cheap and libre tablet?

 

I completely agree with Tido.

I have a Lamobo-R1, which I wonder if I could extract a few useful components from (such as resistors and diodes ...)

And I also agree on the ESPRESSOBiin board (or if you can afford it, take a look at Solid-Run's community board).

 

*Anything* is better than Lamobo-R1. Even an old DIR-655 would be. (TP-Link Archer AC3150 and D-Link DIR-879 seem to have very good throughput, so you might want to consider one of those - see smallnetbuilder.com).

-But if you want to place open-source software on the router, you probably should go for something from Solid-Run.

 

Most TV-boxes today have Gigabit Ethernet and some WiFi, so technically it would be possible to make a wireless router using one of those, but I don't think such a router would be as good as the TP-Link Archer AC3150 or D-Link DIR-879.

 

In all cases, you'll probably need to do a lot of manual work if you want to make a DIY GMAC router.

 

Do you mean that to make something that it's at the same time a portable cheap libre tablet and a libre router would require a lot of manual work, or even if I separate the 2 boards with their different respective functions? Because in the ladder case, what I heard around it's not so tremendously complicated, or? What do you mean? And, if I should decide to go on and have them separated what would you suggest?