The OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. Instead of trying to create a single, static firmware, OpenWrt provides a fully writable filesystem with package management. This frees you from the application selection and configuration provided by the vendor and allows you to customize the device through the use of packages to suit any application. For developers, OpenWrt is the framework to build an application without having to build a complete firmware around it; for users this means the ability for full customization, to use the device in ways never envisioned.
See the Table of Hardware for supported devices. For more information about OpenWrt project organization, see the About OpenWrt pages.
OpenWISP is a modular network management system built on top of OpenWRT (but designed to allow supporting multiple embedded operating systems) that allows managing and automating several aspects of IT network deployment, monitoring and management:
- registration/provisioning of new nodes
- creation of VPN tunnels
- possibility of defining configuration templates and configuration variables to make the maintenance of configurations easier and faster
- possibility of configuring mesh networks as well as wireless access points using WPA2, WPA3, 802.1x (WPA enterprise) , WPS, WEP, multiple SSIDs, etc.
- possibility of deploying any network configuration supported by OpenWRT
- monitoring, collection of metrics, active checks, threshold definition and alerts
- RADIUS (eg: for wifi access / hotspot systems or ISPs)
- responsive captive page with features like user registration, SMS verification, social login
- firmware upgrades
- web and email notifications for important events happening in the network
- network topology visualization for mesh networks and VPN networks
The preceding list is not an exhaustive list but more like an overview of what OpenWISP can do.
Gluon is a modular framework for creating OpenWrt-based firmware images for wireless mesh nodes. Several Freifunk communities in Germany use Gluon as the foundation of their Freifunk firmware.Freifunk