Looks like it isn’t even supported by OpenWrt, can I find a sense to this poor old device in 2023?
Thanks for any suggestion!
Just bin it and promise yourself never to buy Asus routers/ap’s again. They are too fond of chipsets that have no open support.
It’s a very old purchase, I was an ignorant Windows user at the time. :O
I’ve had quite a few asus devices - some still running today. They’re great for non tinkering people. What you can do is scavenge components like connectors and maybe reuse the plastic shell adding your own hw inside.
Signed: a windows userI’ve been using Linux for decades, and absolutely know better. I bought an ASUS about a year ago when my old router crapped out. I just wanted something fast, and cheap, from Amazon; my main priority was getting access to the internet in the house. Don’t feel bad. Dicking around with OpenWRT isn’t a priority for a lot of people.
That said, I don’t think GL-iNET was around, or I didn’t know they ran OpenWRT at the time.
If you have ethernet between the two points, you could do what I did and use it as a WiFi signal extender. I’m not using the COAX (cable) in the house, so I got one of these and ran ethernet upstairs without having to get into the walls. I put the (year) old ASUS upstairs and routed it (via that ethernet adapter) through the OpenWRT router, which VPNs all traffic. I considered putting the ASUS in repeater mode, but I read that it cuts the WiFi speed in half; so instead I did the ethernet thing, gave it the same SSID and password, and devices just connect to whichever signal is strongest.
I guess my first question would be: do you have a need that device can fill, or are you looking to take on a project for some other reason (education, boredom, etc.)?
I honestly don’t see to what great use a router (and modem) that was discontinued a decade ago can be put that couldn’t be accomplished with less complication and less power draw by using a modern device. I’m not trying to rain on your parade, but knowing nothing else about your situation I don’t know that I can see any utility in a device like that anymore.
I would like to find it a purpose because I don’t like to just put everything in the bin, maybe I can learn somethin idk! :D
Hey, that’s totally fair and I am definitely of a similar mindset when it comes to reducing e-waste.
Do you have any significant coding or hardware skills?
To add, I found a thread of someone attempting to find use in the same router. They seemed to have made some minimal progress over the last year, but it doesn’t appear they have anything functional yet. Seems the processor has little known about it, and there is precious little storage onboard.
https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ as a first step.
It isn’t on the list. There are maybe old releases for legacy hardware?
Oh, you’re right. In this case: https://freshtomato.org/
Same? I think this hardware is so useless that don’t even worth it to build a custom firmware. :D
Oh wow, apparently I didn’t see the “DSL” in the model name. You could try to figure out whether it is physical identical to another model that doesn’t have a modem built-in (except for the modem obviously) and use an image for that, if you don’t need the modem functionality.
Not much ig, maybe use it as a network switch?
